School suspensions and permanent exclusions

The Exclusions Team provides support with preventing exclusions, promoting inclusion and ensuring that excluded pupils receive suitable education.

The Exclusion Team works with partners to prevent permanent exclusions and to ensure that those children and young people who are permanently excluded from school receive an alternative education within 6 days.

Exclusion as a last resort

DfE guidance makes it clear that exclusion from school should only be used as a last resort: ‘For the vast majority of pupils, suspensions and permanent exclusions may not be necessary, as other strategies can manage their behaviour. If these approaches towards behaviour management have been exhausted, then suspensions and permanent exclusions will sometimes be necessary as a last resort. This is to ensure that other pupils and teaching staff can work in safety and are respected.’

Suspension and permanent exclusion guidance

It is therefore expected that schools will have not only followed Worcestershire’s’:

Graduated Response to Preventing Exclusions (PDF)

But can evidence through documentation their consideration, conclusions and the services or resources made available to support the child to prevent exclusion. The responsibility to exclude a child rests with the Headteacher. It is therefore important that before a decision to exclude is made, the full content of School suspensions and permanent exclusions is understood to ensure the exclusion is lawful, reasonable and fair and that the exclusion review process is in line with the principles applicable on application for a judicial review.

The Local Authority maintains responsibility for arranging a suitable education from the sixth day of a permanent exclusion, however the school has the responsibility to inform the parent of such arrangements. Therefore, any school issuing a permanent exclusion needs to submit a leavers notification form to the Children’s Services Portal. The Inclusion Team will then make contact with parents or carers to inform them of next steps.

Support from the Exclusions Team

The Exclusions Team provides support with preventing exclusions, promoting inclusion and ensuring that excluded pupils receive suitable education. In partnership with colleagues across Children’s Services, we can help schools with identifying strategies and interventions to improve pupil behaviour and engagement, thus avoiding suspensions and permanent exclusions.

Where a pupil’s behaviour has met a school’s threshold for permanent exclusion, we work with schools to identify alternative options to exclusion.