(Article first published in Contact a Family magazine - written by Lesley Black, Information Officer)

The exclusion of children with additional needs is a subject that tends to make my blood boil, as my colleagues will attest.  As well as working as Information Officer at Contact a Family Southwark, I am also a parent to a twenty three year old young man with Asperger syndrome.  Years ago, when my son was seven, he was very suddenly excluded from a fairly tough inner London primary school, initially indefinitely, then permanently.

In some ways things have moved on in the last sixteen years.  Primary schools particularly are more inclusive, more specialist help is available and parents' rights have been strengthened.

However, a depressing number of the phone calls we get to Contact a Family in Southwark are to do with children being out of school, either having been formally excluded or just sent home.  Parents are not aware of their rights, neither are schools of their duties.

I have been struck in particular by two things, the prevalence of unofficial exclusions and the failure of some schools to take proper account of their child's disability when excluding.

Sent home but not excluded

Many parents deliver their child to school in the morning, only to get a sinking feeling when the phone rings a couple of hours later.  It's the school on the line,  'Could you come and pick up Johnny, he's rather upset this morning and it's affecting the other children'.

Or, the parent may be told, 'You know we are putting in a lot of resources to help Billy, but the local authority doesn't give us enough to provide lunchtime cover.  As Billy finds lunchtime difficult, you will have to take him home then'.

'Please don't bring Ellie in next week.  Her year group is doing SATs and it wouldn't be fair on them as she can be disruptive'.

And so it goes on; lots of phone calls, parents constantly fetching a child home, yet nothing in writing, no formal exclusions.  Parents on the whole don't want to rock the boat and recognise that their children may not always be easy to handle.  They may feel guilty at imposing on the school, so keep their child at home when asked, even though it plays havoc with their own lives.

What most people don't know is that such informal exclusions are illegal.  Education is a right, not a favour, for children with SEN as for others.  A child should not just be sent home.  The school should either accept the child or exclude him formally.  If a child is barred from school at lunchtime that counts as a half day exclusion on every occasion.

Why does it matter?

Often the response is, 'Oh, we don't like to exclude, it will go on his record.  It seems kinder to ask for him to be kept at home'.  What parents are not told is that they then lose any right to make formal representations and that informal exclusions will probably be logged as 'authorised absence'.

What can you do?

Pick your battles - you may want to let it pass once or twice, if there are special             circumstances.  If it carries on, you need to take action:

• Log all the times you are asked to take your child home.  Contact your local authority's Education Welfare department.  They may well be willing to speak to the Head on your behalf.  It is also a good idea to ask for a meeting with the Head, to find out how your child is supported in school and whether additional or different help may be required.
• If you are asked to come and collect your child, ask if she is excluded.  If not, ask how the absence will be recorded.  Point out gently that just sending children home is illegal.  You can quote the government guidance 'Improving behaviour and attendance' paragraph 22.  'Informal or unofficial exclusions are illegal regardless of whether they are done with the agreement of parents or carers.'
• If you feel strongly enough, bring your child to school as normal - this may force a     formal exclusion, but then you have rights and the school also has to set work.  If it's a permanent exclusion the local authority has to provide alternative full-time education after 14 days.

Exclusion and special needs

Exclusion should never be a response to not being able to cater for a child's special needs.  Especially for children with special needs, exclusion should be a last resort.  If the child has a statement, an interim annual review could be held.  It can be a good ploy to throw questions back onto the school.  Ask 'What would you need to be able to cope?' and then offer to help push for this.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act, disabled children should not be excluded for reasons connected to their disability e.g. a child with ADHD for not sitting still or a child with Tourette syndrome for swearing.  All too often the behaviour complained about is directly related to a child's disability and some schools persist in applying a 'one size fits all' approach to discipline.

If a child is formally excluded then there are important rights for parents and duties for schools.  Information about timescales, representations and appeals can be found from organisations such as IPSEA, ACE or Network 81 (see the SNAP Directory for details).