B was permanently excluded from school for failure to follow staff instructions.
B had suffered bullying at school both inside and outside of the classroom. During the school day, a bully decided to make comments and shout at her in front of her peers. Rather than react violently or aggressively, B stood her ground and was defiant; she was not going to take the abuse any longer. When the bully did not get the reaction they wanted, they became more aggressive and continued to shout. B continued to stand up for herself. The situation escalated to attempted violence, but once again, B did not engage.
However, staff felt it was necessary to take B away from the situation. This seemed wrong to B as she had not done anything to initiate or escalate in the situation. When she was disciplined by staff for her ‘behaviour,' B decided that she had had enough and that she needed to contact her family to report what was happening. Despite staff instruction not to do so, B contacted her family to tell them what she was going through. She was pursued through school by staff, who attempted to physically restrain her to stop her doing so. Eventually, B was sent home and she was then permanently excluded from the school for failure to follow staff instructions.
B’s parents contacted CEN to request assistance in fighting the permanent exclusion.
The PEX was overturned by the Governing Board of the school following the Governors’ Disciplinary Committee hearing. The Governing Body concluded that Permanent Exclusion was not an appropriate sanction given the nature of the case and B was reinstated at the school with immediate effect. The decision of the Head Teacher was therefore quashed.
CEN Education Advocate Ben Hale represented the family at the Governors’ Disciplinary hearing.