Permanent Exclusion from School Advice and Advocacy Volunteer - Hart & Rushmoor

When a Hampshire child is permanently excluded from school, their family needs to be visited to make sure they have been sent the correct information from the school, understand the process, and their rights.

Volunteers will provide advice for children who are permanently excluded from school, meeting with families to advise them of their rights and provide information about the exclusion process. The meetings will be held either in the family home or local office. The volunteer will complete a questionnaire with the family and enquire as to whether the family feels they will need additional support. Depending on the needs of the family, this may be provided by the volunteer, or through the Support4SEND team.

When the head teacher makes the decision to permanently exclude a child from school, the governing body has to hold a ‘Governors Pupil Disciplinary Committee’ meeting to review the decision. The pupil and family are invited to attend. This meeting has to take place within 15 days of the notification to exclude.

Volunteers will receive a full training program on how to deliver support which will equip them to provide guidance and advice. Volunteers will also have access to Volunteer Coordinators, who will provide guidance, advice, and supervision whilst they delivering their volunteering activities.

The Volunteer will:
Receive details from the volunteer coordinator about the exclusion and the required timescales for the meeting.
Contact the family to arrange the meeting at an agreed location and time.

Meet with the child/family to provide advice about the exclusion process and the child’s rights,

Record the meeting on a standard form.
Agree with the family any follow on actions.
Feedback and return the completed form to the volunteer coordinator.

Be prepared to travel outside of their local area and district if needed.

Requirements/ Commitments:
Because these are one-off pieces of work, the time commitment for this opportunity is flexible; volunteers can opt to give a couple of hours as and when they are available. If the family requires additional support through the exclusion process, the volunteer may be asked to visit again, for a follow up piece of work. Please note, our next training sessions will be in early 2023.

Skills

Training and support will be provided therefore previous experience is not essential.

We are seeking volunteers who feel able to:
Communicate and ensure people, with varied levels of ability, understand information.
Listen and remain calm and impartial when dealing with families.
Record information.
Respect differing views of individuals and work in a non judgmental way.
Respect confidentiality and the agreed information sharing process.
Have the confidence to report concerns to their Volunteer Coordinator.
Be able to describe their role and maintain professional boundaries.

Volunteers ideally have access to their own transport and must be aged 18+.