{"id":40276,"date":"2022-05-03T16:29:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T15:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=40276"},"modified":"2022-05-03T16:29:29","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T15:29:29","slug":"blanket-ban-on-primary-school-exclusions-too-simplistic-says-headteacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2022\/05\/03\/blanket-ban-on-primary-school-exclusions-too-simplistic-says-headteacher\/","title":{"rendered":"Blanket ban on primary school exclusions “too simplistic” says headteacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some parents and teachers are criticising a proposed ban on primary school expulsions, saying that sometimes it takes being expelled for a child to get the help they need.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Commission on Young Lives proposed an end to \u201cexclusion culture\u201d in a<\/span>\u00a0report<\/span><\/a> by a group of experts published on April 29. The report noted a rise in expulsions in recent years and the damaging effect being expelled can have on a child. For example, 59% of permanently expelled children have been cautioned or sentenced for an offence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The report, \u2018All Together Now\u2019, calls for a ban on primary school expulsions from 2026. It also wants additional provisions to support students who are struggling in school. It draws attention to the fact that children of an ethnic minority or with special educational needs are disproportionately excluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

At five years old, Kathryn Bickerstaffe\u2019s son, Leon, was excluded from school and was assessed for autism within six months. He was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s Syndrome and then went to a special needs school. They worked with him to rebuild his self-esteem, and over time he went back into the mainstream primary school. The entire process took about a year, which Kathryn feels is drastically better than the current \u201cunderfunded, failing system\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>Kathryn, from Manchester, said she feels some teachers see children with special needs as all the same, as at her son\u2019s first primary school.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThey would tell me that he wasn\u2019t allowed into school for trips because of his behaviour. Three other pupils were stopped from going on the trip too, but they were allowed to come into school. I was told that my son had to stay at home. I felt this was discriminatory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kathryn said she knew the school couldn\u2019t meet his needs but felt his exclusion was badly handled. They phoned her at work to tell her he was being excluded and, after visiting the school, she left feeling \u201cpatronized and angry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, looking back, she said she appreciated how difficult it must have been for them and thinks being expelled was much better than keeping her son at the wrong school in the name of inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was later sent to a special needs school: \u201cHe was lucky because he went to an amazing special school who worked with him and helped him. They fully understood his needs. They also supported him back into a different mainstream primary school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish that every child had the support that my son received.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Graham Chatterley is a former headteacher who now advises teachers on how to help children with special needs. He also has two children with extra behavioural needs in school himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"He said that while the ban on primary school exclusions was good in theory, it wasn’t realistic and was too simplistic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes a very binary debate. One side is we want to ban exclusions, and the other side is those children who bring a knife to school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Graham said that it was far too easy to jump straight to expulsion: \u201cThe rate of exclusions is far too high. We need to do better. There is too much zero tolerance, and not enough incidents are given the context they need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said a blanket ban was \u201ctoo simplistic for a very complex area. People want it to be simple, but it isn\u2019t. I don\u2019t think that discussion about banning all exclusions in primary schools is helpful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to reduce exclusions for persistent disruptive behaviour, not for big incidents like assault. Those need to be dealt with differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things the report mentions is better support for children with behavioural issues, and he said this is a great thing to look at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you scratch beneath the surface, you find that there is trauma, attachment issues, ADHD, and sensory processing\u2026there are many underlying and undiagnosed things. The way you get a diagnosis is that the children need to fit into boxes. Children who have complex needs and a mix of different things often they don\u2019t fit into those boxes. It is hard to get a diagnosis for these, and they are expressed through behaviour in a negative way,” said Graham.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bulk of permanent expulsions are for persistent disruptive behaviour, accounting for 34% of expulsions from school.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said children need to be taught a better way of behaving, and teachers should show them how to learn from their mistakes in a constructive way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to these rigid systems, the behavioural mistakes have a consequence of expulsion, and you don\u2019t have the child to do all the teaching, to learn a better way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Graham acknowledged that sometimes expulsion is needed: \u201cI have worked with many good, very inclusive headteachers where exclusion is a last resort, but it becomes the only thing they can do to get the things required for that young person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n