Attendance and exclusions

Attendance

Attendance refers to when a pupil is not attending their school or setting but is expected to do so. If the school or setting is telling you that your young person is not allowed to attend, then this is considered an exclusion.

Some children struggle to attend school because of anxieties or difficulties that may be associated with their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

They may feel overwhelmed and this may present as emotional distress, physical complaints (complaining of feeling sick or have tummy ache) or be threatening to harm themselves if you make them go to school.

 

What should I expect school be doing to help?

Schools have a legal duty under the  Children and Families Act 2014 to work with you to identify and support any special needs that your child may have.

This means that if your child is struggling to attend school because of their SEND, their school should be working to offer appropriate support or to further investigate your child's SEND if not enough is known about it.

They can also take advice from and make referrals to other external support services and teams.

 

What can I do?

If you think that your child doesn’t want to go to school because of their SEND, you could ask for a meeting with the school to discuss this. Read our "How to have a successful meeting" guide here.

If you feel that the school are not able to meet your child’s needs you can also consider an Education, health and Care (EHC) needs assessment.

If your child already has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it may need to be reviewed. For example, it may be that your child has developed new social, emotional or mental health needs that are not covered by the existing plan. 

Support for parents:

• Parents guide to school anxiety and refusal (external link)

• Support for children experiencing school attendance problem (external link)

 

What are reduced and part-time timetables?

All schools, academies and free schools have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all pupils of compulsory school age.

Education should be:

• Full-time

• Efficient - the education must achieve what it sets out to achieve

• Suitable - to their age, ability and aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. The education must also equip the child for life within the community and must not limit a child’s options in later life.

In exceptional circumstances, schools may decide to propose a reduced timetable to support a pupils needs.

There must be a clear reason and some evidence as to why this approach is needed.  

The Equalities Act 2010(link is external) says that it is illegal for schools to discriminate against pupils on the basis of their special educational need and/or disability, including those with social emotional and mental health difficulties.

Key points for using reduced timetables

• It must be done with parent agreement, otherwise it could be considered unlawful exclusion

• Exclusion must not be threatened as a means of getting parent agreement

• It must not be viewed as a long term solution, usually with a maximum of 6 weeks

• It must plan towards the pupil increasing their time in school and for any support that they will need upon their return

• It needs a time limit by which point the pupil is expected to attend full-time, or be provided with alternative provision

• It needs to be monitored and reviewed regularly

• Where a child is Looked After, subject to Early Help plan or any other services are involved, the timetable should be discussed with and agreed by all parties

• If there is an EHCP, a review must be held and the local authority must agree to the reduced timetable and planning

• A risk assessment should be done to look at the possible impact of the pupil being out of their education and agree how this can be managed

• The arrangement should not negatively affect any agreed SEND transport arrangements

• If the pupil is entitled to free school meals, these should be provided (perhaps as a packed lunch)

• Absences should be formally recorded using an appropriate code as an authorised absence 

 

Statutory guidance

• The law on school attendance and the powers of the local authority in enforcing school attendance (external link)

• How schools and local authorities work together to improve school attendance (external link)

• Statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school (external link)

 

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Exclusions

If your child has been sent home from school and you have been told that you cannot send them back, then this must be recorded formally in writing as an exclusion. If the school does not wish to formally exclude, then your child is still legally allowed to attend.

If your child is sent home for lunch, even with your agreement, then this still needs to be recorded as a half day exclusion.

Exclusions can provide evidence that your child's needs are not being met in their current placement and that there could be some underlying SEND. This is why it is important that they are formally recorded.

 

Only the head teacher of a school can exclude a pupil and it must be on disciplinary grounds.

 

What happens with a fixed term exclusion?

Your child is not allowed to attend their school for a set number of days. The school will inform you of this normally by letter or email.

A pupil may be excluded up to a maximum of 45 days within a school year. After that, they may be permanently excluded.

During the first five days of exclusion, your child should not be seen in a public place during school hours. It is your responsibility to arrange childcare or supervision.

If the exclusion is for more than five days, then the governing body is responsible for providing some alternative education until your child is allowed to return to school.                                         

If your child has an EHCP, the governing body must speak to you about any proposed new placement. It might be that the EHCP will need to be reviewed.                         

At the end of the exclusion a re-integration meeting may be offered to discuss how to avoid exclusion happening again. Your child can then return to school.

 

What happens with a permanent exclusion?

Your child is not allowed to return to their school or setting.              

It should only be used as a last resort when there has been either:                         

• a serious incident 

• repeated breaches of the schools behaviour policy

and...

• where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or other pupils in the school.

During the first five days of exclusion, your child should not be seen in a public place during school hours. It is your responsibility to arrange childcare or supervision.

If they are of compulsory school age, the local authority has a duty to find them alternative education from the sixth day of the exclusion.

If your child has an EHCP, the local authority must speak to you about the new proposed placement.    

 

Guidance on the suspension and permanent exclusion of pupils from local-authority-maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units.

• Independent advice on school exclusions (external link)

• School suspensions and permanent exclusions (external link)

• School exclusions - Guide for parents (external link)