My seven year old has been suspended TEN times. I’m terrified he’ll end up in jail

On By Pranco

MUM Kym Linton is at her wits’ end after her son Josh was suspended from primary school ten times last school year, despite being just seven.

But she says that before you judge her child and her parenting, you should know that Josh did special educational needs (SEN) and his mainstream school simply did not have the resources to support him.

Kym Linton, 45, from Buckinghamshire, says her son Josh and other SEN children deserve much better

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Kym Linton, 45, from Buckinghamshire, says her son Josh and other SEN children deserve much betterCredit: Sonja Horsman
Since he was a toddler, Kym suspected that Josh had additional needs

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Since he was a toddler, Kym suspected that Josh had additional needsCredit: supplied

Here, the 45-year-old from Buckinghamshire explains why rising school suspension rates are a symptom of Josh being let down by the education system and facing a bleak future if nothing is done to help…

When the phone started ringing, fear coursed through me. I knew who would call.

“An incident has occurred and we are suspending Josh again,” a familiar voice said. “How soon can you pick him up?”

I had dropped my seven-year-old son off at school only an hour early, but bringing him home early had become a habit.

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Last year he was suspended ten times, causing him to miss more than forty days of learning.

As his mother, I am acutely aware of how challenging Josh can be. His crimes are serious and usually involve lashing out at others.

On one occasion he hit a staff member with a piece of wood, and during lunch he stabbed another with a fork. He also set off the fire alarm.

But his actions were also a child crying out for support and help.

Football-loving Josh does ADHD, autismpathological demand avoidance and sensory processing disorder.

It means he struggles emotionally with the strict rules of a busy school and can be overwhelmed by all the noise and people.

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We are not the only family dealing with this.

Last week it was announced that there were suspensions in the primaries in the English state schools have more than doubled in the past ten years.

There were 37,700 autumn term 2023-24, according to the Ministry of Education — almost as much as in the entire 2012-2013 academic year.

The permanent exclusion rate has also increased by almost 70 percent over the same period.

I suspected that Josh had additional needs from the time he was a toddler, but it wasn’t until November last year that he received official recognition and training. Health and Care Plan to document the support he needs.

Devastating consequences

His mainstream primary school was unable to provide this and manage his behaviour, even after introducing a one-to-one teaching assistant and reducing his teaching schedule to a few hours a day.

Josh’s young age and neurodiversity prevented him from understanding what he had done wrong and why he was not welcome at school

Kym Linton

The suspensions put me at a breaking point.

As a solo mom, I struggled with the consequences of Josh missing so much school.

He regularly has meltdowns at home and can become aggressive. He also struggles with his sleep.

I worried that he would never get an education if he rarely attended classes and struggled to participate when he did.

He was only in year 2 and it felt like society was already failing him.

As a former prison guard, I am convinced that my son will end up behind bars if he does not get the right support now

Kym Linton

Josh’s young age and neurodiversity prevented him from understanding what he had done wrong and why he was not welcome at school.

Like Josh, 97 per cent of those suspended or excluded from primary school in the past five years also had special educational needs, according to analysis carried out by child protection organisations. good cause Chance Great Britain.

The consequences of these decisions by schools are devastating.

I believe they send a terrible message to children who are already experiencing great difficulties in their young lives.

It tells them: you don’t belong. You are not welcome.

Then there are the academic impact and the long-term consequences for individuals and society. That should be a concern for everyone, not just their parents.

Chance UK says 90 percent of children are excluded from primary school failure to pass GCSE English and Maths.

As a former prison Officer, I am convinced that my son will end up behind bars if he does not receive the proper support now.

I’m not being overly dramatic; I have seen firsthand the impact of school absenteeism. I worked in a male-only Category A prison for four years.

Many of the prisoners I worked with were neurodivergent and trapped crime after missing school and being failed by an education system that failed to provide for them.

I was a key person for five prisoners and part of my job involved taking them to weekly meetings, such as appointments at an ADHD clinic, as well as reading to them.

Many did not have a basic reading level because they had missed much of their education.

I got to know their backstories well, and whenever I asked how they ended up in prison, it was almost always the same premise: they had been expelled from school.

Their stories resonated with me because one of my relatives dropped out of school at the age of eleven and ended up in prison, where he could barely read and write. I was also expelled from school at 15 for being disruptive. smoking and skipping school.

Fortunately, the local government allowed me to take my copy with me GCSEs while I was lucid.

It wasn’t until Josh was diagnosed that I realized I also had ADHD and understood why I was struggling with school. I wasn’t “naughty” – I needed extra support.

Why don’t we build more specialized schools, instead of building more prisons?

Kym Linton

Only now that I am in my 40s have I managed to realize my dream of going to university to study a degree in forensics and criminology.

But it’s extremely difficult to make this work when you’re caring for Josh, especially when he’s constantly being sent home.

There are tens of thousands of parents in a similar position.

The We Can Learn campaign, led by charity SEND Reform EnglandAccording to The Disabled Children’s Partnership and Let Us Learn Too, 80 percent believe their children do not receive enough support to attend school, while almost four in ten have had to leave school. employment as a result.

I don’t blame the schools. Teachers are under enormous pressure to get good grades and ensure that other students can learn undisturbed.

But I do blame successive governments who are failing SEN children through a lack of investment and an obsession with league tables.

Given that almost all those excluded from primary school are SEN pupils, it would benefit everyone if they were able to access education in an appropriate and safe way.

This means faster diagnosis, more support within mainstream schools, more specialized classes and more SEN schools for those most in need.

I believe we will see a huge reduction in crime in the future – and fewer people going to jail. Why don’t we build more specialized schools, instead of building more prisons?

Heartache along the way

It makes financial sense. It costs £65,000 to jail someone once Police, court costs and everything else steps are taken into account.

Then it is £40,000 a year for the duration of their sentence. A SEN school place costs £10,000 per year.

The system is broken and the rising suspension rates are a symptom of that.

Families are completely abandoned and the treatment of these children is inhumane, leaving them on the margins from an early age.

Josh eventually moved to a SEN school in September.

But it took me three years of fighting to get him this specialist provision – and a lot of heartache along the way.

Because he misses so much school time, Josh struggles to maintain friendships and is not invited to parties.

He feels rejected and thinks everyone is talking about him, which has damaged his self-esteem.

Kym explains how Josh struggles emotionally with the strict rules of a busy school and can become overwhelmed by all the noise and people

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Kym explains how Josh struggles emotionally with the strict rules of a busy school and can become overwhelmed by all the noise and peopleCredit: Sonja Horsman

I also often felt like I was being judged, usually by other parents or strangers when we were out.

I do my best, but it makes you feel like a bad mother. I have no help and when I asked for a carer assessment I was told I didn’t meet the criteria.

Even now, after Josh moved to the SEN school, the problems persist.

He only goes to school about half the time because of all the trauma he’s been through.

My son – and all our children – deserve so much better.

‘Failed support leads to record exclusion levels’

UNMET needs and the pressure to achieve top results are driving suspension rates up, according to Beth Prescott of think tank the Center for Social Justice

“Exclusion should be a last resort, but one that is available to schools to ensure safety and fair education for all,” said Beth, CSJ’s exclusion and absence program leader.

“But the most common reason for suspension and exclusion is persistent, disruptive behavior – and often this is the result of unmet needs, with the impact of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, mental health issues and a rise in the level of livelihood. of SEN that contributes to this.”

The CSJ is calling for a national parent involvement strategy to improve the relationship between school and home, together with a national inclusion framework to support vulnerable students.

They also want changes to the league tables and Ofsted so that schools do not have “incentives” to remove “underperforming” students who could reduce their performance.

Five hours of extra extracurricular activities a week, such as sports and drama, would also help students stay in school, they say.

“Not only would this re-engage children who are slipping away from education, but it would also teach them soft skills such as leadership, teamwork and discipline,” says Beth.

“It is important that action is taken now – and that money is made available to make that action a reality.

“A previously excluded child is less likely to achieve five good GCSEs and ultimately enter education, work and training. They are also at greater risk of ending up in the criminal justice system.

“The government must get a grip on this and work to get these children back into the classroom. If they don’t show up, they can’t catch up.”