School suspension of a 5y child with ASD

Being stabbed with a pencil in the wrong place can cause a lot of damage. Even without a "weapon" a kick can cause serious injury. Bites can also be very nasty.  An out-of-control infant pupil can be a serious risk to staff. An average five-year-old weighs about forty pounds. That is a lot of kinetic energy if they run at you.

Iain  Caelus There are training programmes for staff that deal with de-esclation, containment, and finally safe handling (restraint). Staff should be trained in TEACHH and how to avoid or limit violence. There is (English) caselaw where a TA was injured by a child, and the school was found at fault for not training her in safety measures.  Meltdowns are a predictable hazard where you have ASD kids, should be part of the risk assessment, and staff training should be part of the risk mitigatiion. 

Zero tolerance policies are almost cetainly illegal. The Head Teachers and governors considering exclusion are required to act "quasi-judicially" and to consider all the circumstances, including allowing the child or parents to express their views. The question is what caused the meltdown?  Was it preventable? If the child does not have an EHCP, are there sufficient, knowledgable staff to support them and a suitable environment? (Probbly not.)

The parent says that " the school has has agreed that proper strategies are not yet developed specifically for my son."   There is your answer - Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, s2a employer's duty to have safe working practices, and 2c to provide training. s7a  is the employee's duty " to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work;... " this means that staff should insist on having the necessary training, safe systems of work etc. before blaming the child. "Where reasonably practicable" is interpreted differently when it comes to HASAWA - the court is less likely to accept arguments about budgets or delays in getting EHCPs, CAMHS appointments etc.

Remember that staff may also find theselves in serious trouble if a child is injured by unreasonable force. "Self defence" by an adult, depending on size, fitness etc. against a five-year-old can be problematic. If the staff member has not been trained to use the proper procedures and the child is injured, the staff member could face a child protection investigation, suspension, disciplinary proceedings or even dismissal.

Sometimes the safe action is to remove the other children, secure any sharp objects etc., call for back up from a senior leader, then stand back and monitor from a safe distance. Sometimes the adults have an approach that escalates the conflict. They don't want to "lose face" in a fight with a five-year-old. They see it as power issue, a matter of "maintaining discipline" when in fact that autistic kid is not deliberately breaking the rules ... they are acting out distress, not disrespect or hostility.

As a governor who has been involved in hearing both exclusion appeals and "unreasonable force" disciplinary cases against staff in similar circumstances, it is not easy. The statutory guidance is complicated and often conflicting.

I always advise parents to get advice, from SEN specialists such as IPSEA, the NAS helpline, or a specialised education lawyer.

[This is not legal advice, usual disclaimers apply.]

Iain  You may consider removing a five-year-old from school as "essential" ... I am afraid I don't, and more to the point, nor do the DfE and SENDIST.  The school has a duty to meet the child's needs... that includes having enough staff trained to handle a meltdown. The rules on exclusion are very specific about exclusions not being used because schools cannot meet a child's needs. They are generally illegal. There is a recent case law that states that where violence is a result of disability, the school must take this into consideration, including whether staff have had training in de-escalation, safe restraint etc.. In addition to any rights of appeal to the governors, the parent may also apply to SENDIST. The Tribunal may overturn a permanent exclusion, and will also rule on fixed term exclusions, although because of timescales etc. the parent probably needs to go to the governors first.

The exclusion should trigger an EHP request by the school. If not, the parent can apply to the LEA themselves.

generally youd draw the line right away with discipline, but our society has ruined that and deleted discipline from the world, and so we got chav culture didnt we? lol

Caelus said:

5 year old violence against staff.... sounds like their staff are incapable and weak.

You are missing the point - any violence in the workplace is completely unacceptable. You were inviting violence from your nephew in a play environment, not uninvited rage in what should be a safe setting.

Not only is the teachers wellbeing threatened (chairs may be thrown, scissors used etc) but the trauma for some is at a very different level to what you experience.

It also opens the doors for others to start to see violence as normalised which is deeply unhealthy.

If the kid carrys on doing it through age 10 or 15 - where are you going to draw the line? Once the kid can break a bone or take out an eye? The answer has to be zero tolerance.

I get where you are coming from, but having suffered violence in the workplace I agree that no matter who is perpetrating it, it cannot be tolerated.

a 5 year old cant hurt you... unless they have sharp object.... but then again that would be the teachers fault as kids of this age shouldnt have sharp objects, all sharp objects would be safety versions. like the safety scissors we had in school

We don't really know the full extent of the violence here, but I don't think blaming the staff is the right way to go. Or indeed, blaming anyone.

I just hope the child gets the support they need.

5 year old violence against staff.... sounds like their staff are incapable and weak.

a 5 year old has very little capacity for actual dangerous violence that to a adult would be even less than play sparring.

i allowed my nephew to let rip and hit me as hard and fast as he can in my chest when he was around 14 or something. didnt really hurt. the teacher is supposed to adapt to the child and be able to offer a outlet for them, control them, in taking their hits and it being nothing which it should be nothing they can control that and direct that energy to positive use. the teachers these days are just incompetent. i always said they should stop using terms like learning disability and instead think of whether the teachers have a teaching disability instead. not everyone can teach. most teachers are not there to teach but to claim a wage.

I would argue that the education setting isn’t appropriate for your child. More than likely this will happen again and again. I have been there with my eldest. We had police called on my child when he was 6 as a staff member said she feared for her life. Completely over reaction. Thankfully police were on our side and let the school know that they shouldn’t have been called and that school could have taken action to prevent the situation getting so out of hand. 

I would find out the sequence of events and what caused your child to act in this way. what were their methods to de escalate? Do they have sensory room? Or a soft play area or a dark quiet area with some toys and ear defenders etc or whatever his favourite toy/special interest is? 

NAS89194 said:

School’s reason for suspension is due to repeated violence against staff. 

I would side with the school I'm afraid - violence, whatever the cause, is completely unacceptable for any staff member to have to tolerate, even from a 5 year old. Removal from school until the vilonce can be prevented is essential.

The correct approach would be to identify the cause of the violence and work to prevent it in future. This is ideally done in conjunction with the schools team and it is possible this could take some time.

The failings of the school to develop an EHIP plan is something they need to work on and I have seen this work at wildly different levels in different schools as it is not something many have the budget to have ready and waiting.

This lack or resourcing is why I think everyone is taking as long as they are to get back to you and the root cause is the lack of education budget in a country that is getting more bankrupt by the year.

Since the official support is failing then all you can effectively do is try to get some private support - possibly a child psychologist with a specialisation in autism and whatever related issues your son has. It won't be cheap.

Sorry it isn't a better outlook, but this is a very tricky subject.