I don’t want my child in school assemblies. Do I have a say?
Absolutely. Schools have a statutory obligation to perform what the law calls a ‘daily act of worship’ and, in the UK this needs to be ‘mainly of a Christian nature’. Now, in practice, nobody ever actually checks up on or enforces this and in today’s multicultural and secular Britain it is true to say that the overwhelming majority of schools are probably interpreting this statute to fit their own context.
However, every parent has the right to withdraw their child from the act itself and it is the school’s responsibility to accommodate this wish as well as to provide the pupils with an activity and the appropriate level of supervision.
Thursday 8 October 2009
Sunday 4 October 2009
Expulsions, or fixed term exclusions
We often still tend to talk about children ‘getting expelled’ although for a long while now the term has changed to ‘excluded’. There has been a huge drive by local and national Government to reduce the numbers of these exclusions but, of course, they are still an option open to schools.
There is, however, a fairly clear and transparent approach to exclusions these days. A Headteacher cannot simply and out of the blue, exclude a child for a one-off misdemeanour unless it is incredibly serious.
Usually, there will be a number of steps that would come before it ever got to the stage of permanent exclusion. These would be a number of ‘fixed term exclusions’ – ranging usually from between 1 and 5 days in the first instance. Each of these would be accompanied by a letter from the school clearly setting out the rationale for this course of action, defining its length and – crucially – notifying you as a parent about your right to have the case heard by an appeals tribunal which may even overturn the school’s decision. So, if you do not feel that the process is just, you should definitely take this as an option.
It will vary from school to school, authority to authority, but it is increasingly prevalent to have several of these fixed term exclusions before a permanent exclusion is considered.
There is, however, a fairly clear and transparent approach to exclusions these days. A Headteacher cannot simply and out of the blue, exclude a child for a one-off misdemeanour unless it is incredibly serious.
Usually, there will be a number of steps that would come before it ever got to the stage of permanent exclusion. These would be a number of ‘fixed term exclusions’ – ranging usually from between 1 and 5 days in the first instance. Each of these would be accompanied by a letter from the school clearly setting out the rationale for this course of action, defining its length and – crucially – notifying you as a parent about your right to have the case heard by an appeals tribunal which may even overturn the school’s decision. So, if you do not feel that the process is just, you should definitely take this as an option.
It will vary from school to school, authority to authority, but it is increasingly prevalent to have several of these fixed term exclusions before a permanent exclusion is considered.
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