Do I have a say?

See your schools behavioural policy for information if you do not agree with the exclusion and what the process is, as every school will be different.

The governors of the school must meet within 15 school days of the head's decision to consider whether they agree. Parent/carers have the right to go to this meeting and "make representations", i.e. tell the governors their views and those of their child. This is important if you feel that the school has not offered your child adequate support around their behaviour and/or their special educational needs or not treated him/her fairly.

If your child has been excluded from school, guidance can be found on the Department for Education website: School Exclusions

Parents have the right of representation to the Governors Discipline Committee for: 

• Permanent exclusions
• More than 15 days of suspensions in a term
• Or if the pupil will miss a public examination or NCT due to exclusion

In local authority controlled schools, parents have the right to a local authority representative to attend meetings for longer suspensions (15 days or more) and permanent exclusions.  In academies and free schools, the local authority representation is at parental request.

If you would like a local authority representative at a GDC, this will be from the Education Welfare Service and contactable at education.welfare@wokingham.gov.uk to discuss in advance.  Please notify your school that you are request EWS presence.