Children with disabilities and additional needs face illegal exclusions from schools, new research suggests

A survey carried out by Contact a Family has revealed that children with disabilities, special educational needs or additional needs are frequently being excluded from their schools illegally. The survey has been published in a report titled ‘Falling through the net – Illegal exclusions, the experiences of families with disabled children in England’.

Contact a Family, a charity for families with disabled children, carried out their research from 8 November 2012 to 21 January 2013 which focussed on parents who care for a child with a disability. They found that 22% of these illegal exclusions are taking place every week and 15% every day.

The research uncovered the following:

• 53% of exclusions are due to a lack of support staff for children with disabilities.
• 56% are because a classroom activity or school trip is found to be unsuitable.
• 62% are as a result of children needing to ‘cool off’ after an incident has taken place.
• 70% are because of the school finding that it is for the child’s ‘own good’.
• 60% are because a child is put on a part-time timetable.

The research suggests that these exclusions are resulting in significant negative impacts both on the children themselves and the parents who are caring for them. Excluding a child from school is a last resort and should only be executed once all other options have been exhausted by following the correct procedure.

Contact a Family has made a number of recommendations which include undertaking more research within schools, making more support available to children with disabilities and additional needs in schools and ensuring that the correct procedures are followed to ensure that the families’ rights are protected.