Petition Appropriate alternative education provision for severely bullied children

Research shows that there are over 16,000 children not in school following severe bullying (NatCen May 2010). The bullying is extreme and for many reasons (eg race, homophobia, academic ability, appearance). Children refuse to attend school, unable to bear further humiliation or threatening behaviour, becoming socially excluded, depressed and, on occasion, suicidal. These children, with appropriate help, are eminently recoverable. In some cases parents are threatened with prosecution for failing to meet their legal obligation. We wish to petition government to amend education law to ensure that students who self exclude following experience of severe bullying have a legal right to access full time appropriate alternative education and that money is specifically identified to fund this from within allocated alternative provision budgets. Furthermore we request that an individual agency (eg Ofsted) is identified to ensure that schools and local authorities meet this legal requirement.