How ignorance about SEND nearly caused a school to go into "lockdown" (allegedly) - a true cautionary tale...

Cleo is a 14 year-old Caribbean-heritage girl with ADHD, a history of mental health needs, including suicidal ideation. She is tall for her age and yet vulnerable; being at risk of sexual exploitation by older young people. She was the victim of an unprovoked attack during the summer holidays, by a group of girls from another school. At the time of the incident which led to her exclusion, she was receiving treatment from CAMHS and is on the "ASD Pathway" for autism assessment.

Following a number of suspensions, mainly for verbal outbursts, which arose out of her dysregulation, Cleo was placed in a nearby school, under an Off-Site Direction (OSD), to 'improve her behaviour'. This was misleadingly sold to the parents as a "Managed Move" by a Deputy Principal who was sadly ignorant of the DfE Guidance.

Cleo's Pupil Passport included the following:

• advance warning of any changes to routine or timetable;
• a Time-Out / Toilet pass, to allow her to leave a classroom when dysregulated;
• an agreed "safe space" where she can go when dysregulated, in order to regain her equilibrium;
• a quiet, non-punitive and non-confrontational approach to de-escalate potential crisis situations.

Cleo started at the OSD school without a proper induction. On Day One, she was not given a Time-Out / Toilet card and the "safe-space" room was vaguely pointed out as being down the corridor. Day Two was the same as Day One. Nonetheless, she seemed to be settling into a new and very unfamilar environment.

Day Three was fine, until the last lesson of the day, which was timetabled to be Dance. This would have been fine, Cleo liked movement and the structure of a Dance lesson would have suited her, especially at the end of the day.

When Cleo joined her class, there had been a change. First, there was a replacement teacher, who knew nothing about Cleo or her needs. The Pupil Passport had not been shared with the replacement teacher. Second, the teacher had decided that the whole class would not have dance, because some of them had misbehaved the week before. Maybe the replacement teacher wasn't able to teach dance, or didn't like it.

The whole class, including Cleo, were moved to a classroom, where they all had to copy out part of the School's behaviour policy. Cleo pointed out, politely, that she had not been in the school the week before, and therefore the sanction was unfair. She asked to join the other class, who were doing PE. That fell on deaf ears. She asked to go to the toilet, and was told that she could only go if she had a Toilet Pass (which, of course, she didn't yet have).

Cleo was able to contain her mounting frustration for a while, but in the end it became too much. She stood up and said she was going to leave the classroom. By this time she had reached Rung 3 on the school's ladder of ever-increasing sanctions and she was "on-called". A member of the SLT came and told Cleo she would have a detention. Cleo exploded.

According to witness accounts, Cleo's verbal outburst was of such volume and ferocity that one of the SLT seriously thought of going to Reception and putting the whole school into "lockdown"! (You have to wonder at their judgement). Cleo's attendance at the OSD school was terminated and she spent the next 3 days at home, in unlawful limbo, after which she was excluded from the school where she was still on roll.

The parents appealed to the governing body. In the appeal hearing, the Principal and some of the SLT spent several uncomfortable hours being held to account for the failures of both schools to follow the DfE Guidance and to secure effective reasonable adjustments. The exclusion was overturned and Cleo was reinstated by the GB. However, the relationship between family and school was irreparably damaged and Cleo could not possibly return there. Cleo is currently waiting for a suitable mainstream school to be identified for her.

I'm sure many colleagues can spot the several mistakes that were made. The key mistake was the failure to make sure that Cleo's disability (ADHD) was properly understood by all, and the collective failure to make simple reasonable adjustments. Apparently several teachers at the OSD school were traumatised by the incident. It seems that the failure to properly understand and adjust for a SEND condition threatened the health and well-being of many people, not least Cleo and her family.

I'm Nick White, SEND and Inclusion Expert. I support schools and school leaders with overcoming their challenges: through consultation, guided learning, facilitation and bespoke support packages. The difference you, your staff and your pupils will experience, as a result of engaging me, is that everyone's health and well-being will improve.