To think this is completely unacceptable - school exclusions?

[Spewathon]

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/10/rise-in-school-exclusions-in-england-including-among-children-under-six

Probably worse as the children return more disregulated and they are not all off at same time

I think no one should go to school and face violence and sometimes children should not be in a particular setting, it’s not fair on anyone. I also think there are many cases where SEND children are failed by schools, and could thrive with reasonable adjustments. As a teacher I have received children in my class who have been excluded from other schools, and have thrived with a little understanding and adjustment. I have also taught children that simply can not cope with the environment of a mainstream classroom. It’s a complicated picture . I do object to some of the descriptions of small children on here, who may well be overwhelmed, disregulated and frightened. They need more support of course, and it’s unacceptable they and the children around them are put in the situations they are because provision for them is so poor.

It shouldn't have to come to exclusion. The council should be listening to schools when they say they can't meet need and finding a suitable placement or putting in additional support before it comes to this.

I was obviously at school a very long time ago

It took at least a couple of terms to get a really awful 13 year-old excluded. A few teachers actually abandoned lesson lessons. We were all so relieved when he was gone.

@Spewathon what do you think should be done?

Why unacceptable?

Lazy and entitled parents failing to properly raise their kids is not something that teachers should have to fix.

Equally well behaved kids who want to learn should not have their schooling interrupted by the trouble makers.

Perfectly right to exclude when needed and when other measures have failed.

My niece who was on student teacher placements has been bitten, kicked, had things thrown at her and been kicked in the stomach - all by 7/8 year olds

Those kids absolutely deserve exclusion

The threat of exclusion seems to help with non Sen kids . But tbh I don’t think the behaviours are as extreme in non Sen kids (ime at this school)

I was a school governor until a year or so ago. Over the years, the DfE changed rules and regulations and targets to try to close down specialist educational units for children with severe/disruptive SEN and to put those children into mainstream schools.
It goes without saying that there was no additional funding for accommodating the needs of those children.
It also goes without saying that mainstream schools were not a suitable setting for children who need to learn differently.
Schools were obliged to meet targets, rather like people selling things on a stock market.
The whole approach to education is fundamentally flawed.

Special Needs doesn't mean the children are not "decent"

Often the right provision hasn't been put in place, that's not the childrens fault....

The indecent ones are the government who continue providing inadequate provision, not caring who gets injured or why.

In other words, they don't give a shit!

Because gaslighting the majority has become the go-to in this country! In many spheres of society......after all the majority are "privileged" Ha!

Shameful that many suffer benefit the few. DEI gone mad.

Although SEN is cited as a contributory factor in some instances, it is not in all, and parents need to be accountable. Other children need to be protected as do teaching staff.

I do accept the longer than necessary period of schools largely closed in 2020 contributed, and know who is responsible for that.

😬 The way the OP changed her story midway to make it look like teacher was at fault when she realised she wasn’t being supported, wow.

As a school governor, I chaired a panel where we ended up excluding a child; I have been a school governor for over 30 yrs, it is the first time I have ever had to do it.

No one goes into those panels wanting to exclude a child, but if we are the wrong setting for that child, then this is often the only way to get the LA to take appropriate action for the child and to ensure that they get the support that they deserve. I have sat in discussions with Headteachers and staff who have gone way beyond the extra mile but when staff are being physically harmed, when the rest of the class have to be removed so that the a child can be de-escalated safely, there does come a point when a line must be drawn.

I agree with all the posters on here..but in another thread I am the distinct minority for saying a ten year should be adequately punished for poor behaviour. The majority of responses were that the OP was mean and should just give him a chat about how sad she was. It seems to me that SEN aside, there is a direct correlation between low expectations and boundaries from many parents and levels of poor behaviour that escalate and are exacerbated by the necessary level of discipline needed in a classroom setting.

My dsis retired after 26 years in a primary school when a father pinned her to a wall by her throat. It took 5 staff to get him off.

Maybe they should exclude more parents ! And take more children in to care to prevent them growing into violent loathsome adults.

Oh that's not a thing...

Absolutely so yes Jimothy has given your child a black eye, then a head injury and yes Jimothy stabbed your child... why are you not wondering why poor Jimothy felt this was necessary?! How can we make this your child's fault?!!

@Livelovebehappy but things were very different a few decades ago. Kids were sent to corrective provisions (borstal) for miner demeanors in which abuse was rife- that did not turn out well. Physical punishment was allowed in schools (I am 50 and can remember a head master still using the slipper in my first few years), children given a label and written off in primary school. Basically children being scared of adults and I think there is enough evidence of the harm done by adults to children during those decades to not use it as an example of a golden age. I hope would hope we are a kinder society now and recognise that it is not a level playing field.

I work in child protection and primary schools in the very impoverished area I work in are bloody amazing and are filling gaps for families and children which really should not be in the remit of education. Get to secondary and it is a totally different story. Wrong shoes/uniform/no pen then punishments. This is usually not in the young person's control and they are basically being punished for poverty/shit parenting. And it spirals from there......

I know your child in year 3 came home with a note from another telling them to kill themselves but we are working with the family. Huge eye roll.

Inclusion doesn’t actually work and not every bad child is sen and honestly Sen shouldn’t be an excuse for other children to be abused.

Sorry I hit my wife again officer but I was deregulated I have adhd you see.. oh ok fine then.

In my Local Authority there are free parenting courses (face to face and online), Drop in sessions in various locations where you can get advice around behaviour, sleep and routines from a Family Support Worker, the school nursing service has Family Intervention workers who will come out and do home visits to support parents who are struggling as well as working directly with kids, parent mentors who will call parents once a week to give advice or if you just want to offload. The problem is that, in my experience, the parents who most need these services are the parents who are the least likely to access them.

I had one extremely disruptive child who had an EHCP (which is legally binding) which said he must not be sanctioned on any way. His stupid parents told him about it and he boasted every day how he 'ran the school'.He was 9.

Kids do not get excluded for no reason. I’m happy they are thinking about the other 29 kids in the class. Do you have any idea how difficult and frustrating it is for 80% of your time as a teacher spent on a small number of kids forsaking all the ones who actually behave and want to learn. It’s not always SEN - some kids unfortunately have been dragged up and have zero respect for teachers even at a young age

Oh they very much are as extreme. Violence is violence. The excuses are the same for both I imagine?

Just to add, I work with these children who witness DV, parental dysfunction due to poverty, modern slavery, drugs and alcohol etc. Mostly they are lovely children but very damaged and angry. Due to being a social worker for far too long, I also deal with a lot of adoption breakdowns and many of these children have FASD and attachment disorders, even when removed at birth. None of this is the individual child's fault and as a society we should be ashamed that we are not fighting that they are better supported by the system from infancy.

Well mn seems to be full of the self diagnosed ODD who absolutely cannot have any expectations for their dc, and are appalled when other people aren't happy to be whipping boys, or whinge boards for them...