Equality and Human Rights Commission

Schools are expected to set rules about conduct both inside and outside the school. All schools must have a disciplinary code which promotes good behaviour and sets out what action they will take if pupils are disruptive or break the school’s own code. The same standards should be expected of all pupils.

Example

A seven-year-old boy punches another student in class because he was annoyed by him. The school sends a letter to his parents and withdraws certain privileges, such as freedom at break time, for a day. A week later, a seven-year-old girl punches another pupil in similar circumstances. She is excluded from school, because the class teacher feels that a girl throwing a punch is a worse offence than a boy doing so. This could constitute direct sex discrimination, which cannot be justified.

Increasingly, schools are expected to involve children and parents in the development of the school’s disciplinary policies. In England, parents are asked to sign up to home-school agreements, showing that they support the school’s approach and will ensure that their children follow the rules on attendance, discipline and homework. Pupils should be directly involved in the drafting of any home-school agreements and are also required to sign them. 

Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is now banned in all schools, including independent schools, in line with the right to live without threats or mistreatment.Teachers are allowed to use other forms of punishment to impose school discipline, including after school detention.

Exclusions

Children can be excluded from school for a short time if they have broken a rule that the school considers important. They can be excluded permanently (expelled) if the school decides that their behaviour has been unacceptable.

Exclusions should only be used as a last resort. They can be for one or more fixed period but cannot exceed 45 days in one school year, unless it is a permanent exclusion. In England and Wales, the head teacher must:

• inform the child’s parents of the exclusion
• inform the child and parents of the reason for the exclusion 
• state whether he or she intends to apply for permanent exclusion and
• explain that parents and pupils may be allowed to appeal about the exclusion to the school governors or the local authority.

If pupils aren’t told that they can appeal, the decision to exclude could be the subject of judicial review.

The school governors can order the head teacher to reinstate a child who has been excluded.

The parents of a student who is not reinstated after an appeal can take an appeal to an education panel.

In Scotland, the local authority must, on the day upon which a decision to exclude a pupil is taken, inform the child's parents of:

• the decision to exclude, and
• the date, time and place where the headteacher, teacher or official of the education authority, can discuss the decision with them. This meeting must be within seven days of the decision to exclude.

The authority must subsequently write to the child or parent to inform them of:

• why the child was excluded
• the right of appeal and how to do so, and
• any other relevant information, such as a proposed action plan which sets out respective roles and responsibilities for the child's return to the school, if applicable.

An appeal is then made to the Education Appeals Committee. If a child is not reinstated after this hearing, another appeal can be made to the sheriff court.

Permanent exclusions

If your child has been permanently excluded (expelled) from any school, the local education authority has a duty to provide other suitable education. This may be:

• at another school in the area
• at a school in another education authority area, or
• in a local special educational unit (or via other special arrangements in Scotland).

Schools can refuse to take a pupil who has been permanently excluded from at least two schools. This rule applies for a period of two years after the second exclusion. It does not apply if a pupil has been reinstated following the exclusion.

If a pupil is refused a place under this rule, then neither the parents nor the pupil can appeal.