Exclusion

Exclusion is when a pupil is not allowed to go to school for a fixed period or permanently.

Find out more about our responsibilities and where you can find more information.

All schools have a behaviour policy for pupils, which sets out how pupils should behave in school, during lunchtime and out of school, for example at bus stops. You should be able to find the policy on your child’s school website, or you could ask for a copy from your child's teacher.

If your child breaks the rules set out in the behaviour policy he or she may face a fixed-period exclusion or even permanent exclusion. 

You can find out more about exclusions on the Government’s website or you can ask your child's school for guidance.

The Government’s website includes:

• What exclusion is
• Who can exclude your child
• The reasons for exclusion
• The types of exclusion
• Challenging an exclusion.

Education during exclusion

If your child is excluded for a fixed period the school is responsible for his or her education during that time.

If your child is permanently excluded, it is the local authority’s responsibility to make sure your child’s education continues from day six of the exclusion. We are the local authority.Your child’s education, from days one to five, is the responsibility of the school.

Exclusion: challenging the school governors’ decision

If you ask the governing body to review the head teacher’s decision, but you think the result is wrong, you can challenge the governors’ decision in some circumstances.

Fixed-period exclusions

If the school governors decide that a head teacher was right to exclude your child for a fixed period, you cannot challenge that decision.

Permanent exclusions

If your child is permanently excluded and the governing body agrees with that exclusion, you can ask an independent panel to look at the case again. To do this, you must apply to us (or to the academy trust if your child goes to an academy). You must apply within 15 school days of the governing body's meeting.

The panel will either:

• Agree with the exclusion of your child
• Tell the governing body to think again about its decision
• Overturn the decision and tell the governing body to think again about the exclusion.