Children’s Services
Notification of Pupil Exclusions
Guidance for Schools
January 2015
We have reviewed our current procedures for notification of pupil exclusions to reduce the administrative burden on both schools and the LA. The previous process involved triple data entry and excessive production of paperwork. Now that electronic data exchange is happening on a weekly basis from the schools’ SIMS systems directly to our local authority ONE system, we are able to cut out a number of the previous manual form filling processes.
A key benefit of moving towards electronic processes is the ability to ensure that exclusions are monitored more effectively to identify and safeguard our most vulnerable children.
This guidance explains the new processes in detail :
1. Fixed Term Exclusions
2. Permanent Exclusions (and exclusions of more than 5 days)
3. Using s2s to return Permanent Exclusion Notifications
4. Contacts
5. How to record exclusions in SIMS
1. FIXED TERM EXCLUSIONS
As data is now transferred every weekend from your SIMS system to our ONE system via B2B, there is no longer a need to complete the Exclusions form in Word and post this on the s2s website. Schools should :
Ø Enter all fixed term exclusions data into SIMS on a weekly basis, before mid day on a Friday
Ø Retain a copy of the letter sent to parents and any documentation. These may be saved electronically and attached to the student record in SIMS.
Ø If requested, send copies of all documentation to the LA electronically via the s2s website. This will only be necessary if a Disciplinary Committee Hearing is required.
2. PERMANENT EXCLUSIONS (AND EXCLUSIONS OF MORE THAN 5 DAYS)
Notification of permanent exclusions (and exclusions of more than 5 days) is still required immediately on decision. Therefore the existing forms will still need to be completed to ensure appropriate action is taken. Schools should:
Ø Telephone the Education Welfare Service on 0118 974 6193
Ø Complete the Notification of Pupil Exclusion form the same day
Ø Paste a copy of the letter sent to parents at the end of the form
Ø Post the completed form via the s2s website the same day
Ø Enter exclusions data in SIMS before mid day on Friday of the same week
Ø Retain a copy of the letter sent to parents and any documentation. These may be saved electronically and attached to the student record in SIMS.
Download the Notification of Pupil Exclusion form (Word document) from Wokingham Schools’ Learning Community website at the link below.
http://wsh.wokingham.gov.uk/leadership/data/exclusions/
Complete the form electronically for permanent exclusions and exclusions of more than 5 days only, and paste a copy of the letter sent to parents in the space at the end of the file. Save the document and name the file as follows :
872nnnn_872LLLL_ExclusionAA - where nnnn is your 4 digit school DCSF number and AA is the initials of the pupil to whom the form relates.
Remember where you have stored the file, as you will need to be able to find the file when uploading to the s2s website.
3 USING S2S TO RETURN EXCLUSION NOTIFICATIONS
This procedure only applies to permanent exclusions and exclusions of more than 5 days. Send the completed form to the local authority via the s2s website on the day of exclusion. Log in to the s2s website at the link below using your school user name and password. Once logged in select the Upload Generic File option. Click the Browse button to locate the file you wish to send. Click on the file name, click Open then click Upload File. Wait for a message to say the file was uploaded successfully. Log off the s2s website using the LOG OFF button.
4 CONTACTS
If you have any queries about the exclusions process, please contact the Education Welfare team on 0118 974 6193 or by email to
If you have any queries about the s2s website, please contact the Information Management Team on 0118 908 8358 or by email to
If you have any queries about how to enter exclusions in your SIMS system, please contact the Capita help desk on 0844 893 8000 or by email to
5 HOW TO RECORD EXCLUSIONS IN SIMS
Double click on the pdf document below to view the SIMS quick reference guide on how to record an exclusion. Up to date quick reference guides are always available through the Capita support net website at the web link below.
http://support.capitaes.co.uk/newlogin/login.asp
G:\pdm\targeted groups\excluded pupils\Guidance for exclusions recording in schools v1 October 2010