About the Bassetlaw Primary Behaviour Partnership

B.P.B.P. is a not-for-profit partnership supporting pupils (and families) with SEMH difficulties in Bassetlaw Primary schools. Through operation of this behaviour partnership, we are identifying and developing support that schools need in place to best meet the needs of identified SEMH pupils. Together we can target resources in a more proactive and preventative way.

We support 57 Bassetlaw Primary Schools (representing some 10,000 pupils) from across the district, working in a multi-agency capacity. Our experienced team support teachers, TAs, Head Teachers, parents, medical professionals and most importantly, children!

Key to our purpose is the reduction in exclusions. We believe that by working together, children's needs can be quickly identified and met meaning that they achieve their full potential.

The purpose of the BPBP is to ensure that decisions around funding, training for schools, support and managed moves for pupils with challenging behaviour in Worksop Town, Elizabethan, Retford Oaks, Tuxford and Serlby Park Families are fair and transparent.

• Ensure parity of provision for pupils with similar levels of need across all school families.
• Develop a shared understanding of challenging behaviour across the Bassetlaw district.
• Equip schools with the necessary skills to support pupils with challenging behaviour.

The Suspension Process

1. 1
   Contact BPBP firstDo this before anything else

   Before you decide to suspend, contact a member of the team. We will ensure the decision is lawful, rational, reasonable, fair and proportionate.

   This is the single most important step. Decisions made without contacting us first are far more likely to be successfully challenged by parents.

   📞 Call 01909 534 062 ✉ Email admin@bpbp.co.uk
2. 2
   Evidence the Graduated Response

   We require evidence that you have followed the Graduated Response before we can support a suspension.

   Without this evidence, BPBP cannot support your suspension decision — and an unsupported suspension is at much greater risk of legal challenge.

   📈 Graduated Response & assessment tools →
3. 3
   Complete the Suspension Form

   Once BPBP agree that a suspension is warranted, complete the online Nottinghamshire form. A copy of your responses is automatically emailed to you and the Local Authority.

   📝 Open Nottinghamshire Suspension Form (opens in new tab)
4. 4
   Write the parent letter

   Use the correct suspension letter template for the length of the suspension — under 5 days, 6 to 15 days, or over 15 days. If you notify the parent by telephone, you must follow up in writing within one working day.

   A delayed or missing written confirmation is one of the most common grounds for a parent's challenge. Do not leave this step until later.
   
   Always check GovernorHub for the very latest wording.

   ✉ All suspension letter templates →
5. 5
   Complete the Reintegration Meeting

   Following the suspension, use the pro forma to complete a reintegration meeting. Focus on what will change when the child returns to school.

   📄 Reintegration Pro FormaAll documents →

What happens after a suspension

The flowchart below shows the governing board's duties and timescales depending on the length of the suspension, and what follows if a permanent exclusion is made. Always ring BPBP before taking any action.

What is a Permanent Exclusion?

Permanent exclusion is when a child is permanently barred from the school premises and their name is removed from the school roll. Permanent exclusion must only ever be used as a final, last resort sanction — reached only after a wide range of other support strategies and disciplinary measures have been fully exhausted and documented.

A permanent exclusion can also follow a single serious incident, even where the pupil has never been in trouble before. Because the consequences are so significant, the guidance must be read carefully and followed precisely.

When Can It Happen?

Permanent exclusion may be considered where there has been a serious breach, or persistent breaches, of the school's behaviour policy, and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others. Examples include a pupil who:

• Has a history of persistent disruptive behaviour where the school feels it can do no more — this view must be supported by the Behaviour Partnership.
• Has committed a single serious one-off offence — for example a premeditated serious assault on a pupil or member of staff, threatening others with a weapon, or bringing drugs into school.

Follow Every Step, In Order

Most headteachers will go through this process once in a career, if ever. Each step below must be completed in the order shown — the order matters, and skipping or reordering steps is the most common reason a permanent exclusion is later overturned.

1. 1
   Carry out a full and objective investigationBefore anything else

   Before any decision is made or communicated, the Headteacher (or a senior leader in the Headteacher's absence) must complete a comprehensive, objective investigation into the facts of the case. This includes interviewing the pupils and staff involved, and recording carefully what happened.

   Do not pre-judge the outcome. You may well suspect the case points towards permanent exclusion — but the evidence has to sit behind the decision for the decision to be lawful. An investigation carried out to justify a decision already made will not stand up to challenge.
   
   Where staff compile a witness statement, ensure it is signed and dated both by the person writing it and by a witness to the date and time it was written.
2. 2
   Contact BPBPImperative

   Contact a member of the BPBP team before making — or communicating — any decision. BPBP acts as a sounding board and will help ensure your decision is lawful, rational, reasonable, fair and proportionate.

   Do not make, or communicate to parents, any decision until you have spoken to BPBP.

   📞 Call 01909 534 062 ✉ Email admin@bpbp.co.uk
3. 3
   Notify parents and the Chair of Governors

   The Headteacher notifies the parents of the exclusion and the reasons for it, without delay. The Chair of Governors must also be informed on the same day the exclusion is issued.

   If contact with parents cannot be made straight away, keep trying every contact method available and record each attempt.
4. 4
   Notify the Local Authority

   Notify the Local Authority of the permanent exclusion by completing the LA's Permanent Exclusion online form. This must be done promptly so the LA can arrange suitable full-time education from the sixth school day.

   ⚠ Link pending: the correct LA Permanent Exclusion form link is being supplied and will be added here. In the meantime, contact BPBP on 01909 534 062 for the current link. Note for future maintenance: the LA changes this link frequently, so it needs periodic checking.

   📞 Call BPBP for the current link
5. 5
   Write to the parents

   Send the exclusion letter by recorded / signed-for delivery. If emailing, use a read and delivery receipt — ideally both. If parents were told by telephone, this must still be followed up in writing.

   The letter must set out the reason for the exclusion, that it is permanent, the parents' right to make representations to the governing board, how to do so, and their right to attend the meeting, be represented at their own expense, and bring a friend.

   📄 Permanent Exclusion Letter Template 🔗 Latest letters on GovernorHub
6. 6
   Provide work for the first 5 days

   Arrange for work to be set, marked and returned during the first five school days. The parent/carer signs to acknowledge receipt of the work. Mark the pupil as code E on the school register.

7. 7
   Convene the Discipline Committee within 15 school daysOrder matters

   The hearing must take place within 15 school days. The limiting factor is the clerk — clerks must hold specific training on exclusions and their availability is very limited. Arrange in this order:

   Correct order: (a) Contact Governor Services first to establish clerk availability.
   (b) Then confirm three discipline committee members (governors — they must not be parents at the school).
   (c) Then offer dates to the parents.
   (d) Then inform BPBP.
   
   There is no point agreeing a date with governors and parents that no trained clerk can cover.

   If no trained clerk is available within the 15 school days, the hearing may exceptionally be clerked by another clerk — but the minutes must be read through and checked by a trained clerk before they are approved.

   📄 Order of Hearing Guidance
8. 8
   Send the paperwork pack — at least 3 days before the hearing

   Send by recorded delivery, or by email with a read receipt. Number every page consecutively and paginate the report. The pack must contain:

   • The letter inviting the parents to the hearing (including a link to the DfE guidance and Notts advice for parents)
   • The letter informing parents of the permanent exclusion
   • The Headteacher's / Principal's report
   • Anonymised witness statements (if relevant)
   • An order of hearing
   • The academy / school's behaviour policy

   ⚠ Report template pending: an updated Headteacher's report template is being supplied and will be added here. The report must be presented professionally and with the right level of detail — it is the document the panel will rely on most. Use a standard professional typeface and structure; poorly presented reports undermine the case.

   📄 Invitation Letter Template
9. 9
   The hearing takes place

   The chair works through the order of hearing. The Headteacher presents the case for the exclusion, demonstrating that the guidance and the law have been followed. If the parents do not attend, the meeting proceeds as if they were present. The panel must consider the case fairly. If the exclusion is upheld, the Clerk writes to the parents.

   📄 Order of Hearing Guidance 🔗 GovernorHub version
10. 10
    Parents have 15 school days to appeal

    Appeals must be made in writing to the Clerk to Governors within 15 school days of the notification letter.

    If a parent appeals, let BPBP know immediately.
11. 11
    Final outcome — inform BPBP

    The final outcome and remaining paperwork are issued by the clerk, not the headteacher. Once the exclusion is upheld (after any appeal), the child can be removed from the school register from the date of the latest hearing. BPBP will then manage the next steps for the pupil's education.

    ✉ Email BPBP the Outcome

Downloads

All documents are held once, under Resources & Referrals, so there is only ever one version of each.

You're not alone

Being a parent is one of the hardest, but also one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, with very little pay and NO holidays!! Here at the BPBP we recognise this and appreciate just how hard this can be, especially if the techniques you are applying aren't as effective as they could be.

If you'd like to explore what support is out there, please invite your child's school to complete the Family Support Triage Form.

We have a very realistic approach to parenting and provide access to an individualised package of support designed around your child and your parenting style.

Planning for a smooth transition

The move from primary to secondary school is one of the most significant events in a child's education — and for pupils with SEMH needs, it can be a particularly anxious and unsettling time. With the right planning and communication between sending and receiving schools, this transition can be made much smoother.

BPBP supports schools and families through transition by ensuring that key information about vulnerable pupils is shared appropriately and that receiving schools have the context they need to continue providing effective support from day one.

Transition doesn't only mean moving between schools. Many pupils with SEMH needs find the smaller, everyday transitions just as difficult — moving between classrooms and different areas of the school, changing activity at the start and end of lessons, and the less structured periods around break and lunchtimes. These moments happen many times a day, and for some children they are the hardest part of it. The strategies below cover both: the big moves between settings, and the daily transitions that shape a pupil's experience of school.

Practical, ready-to-use resources for staff, pupils and families — covering everyday settling-in strategies, secondary transition planning, and calming techniques for pupils who find change difficult.

The resources below support schools in managing the practical side of transition — from transferring confidential pupil records safely to tracking your whole transition cohort. We strongly recommend contacting us at least one full term before the transition date to allow proper planning time.