TS-0228-20200228

Important tool of last resort? Key contributor to gang recruitment numbers? Both? Three experts share their thoughts on schools’ use of permanent exclusions The view from the end of the road 38 teachwire.net/secondary “Exclusionsare essential for inclusion” Mark Lehain, former principal of the Bedford Free School and director of Parents & Teachers for Excellence For a system to be properly inclusive, those who work and study in it must first and foremost feel safe. No school can be safe without effective behaviour systems, and no behaviour system works without an ultimate endpoint beyond which no one can go without consequence. People naturally respond to the culture around them, and by having an endpoint we improve behaviour generally, make everyone feel safer and happier, and reduce the number of children who reach the final stage. All of these things ultimately keep more children in our schools, and so make the system more inclusive as a result. As usual, the DfE’s Independent Behaviour Advisor, Tom Bennett, says it best: “Exclusions are needed as a last resort, or the entire system before it chokes. If there is no terminus for extreme persistent misbehaviour, then anything is permitted up to that point too. Exclusions therefore aren’t a ‘necessary evil’; If they are necessary, then they are not evil.” Some sceptics will admit that exclusions benefit those who remain in school, but rightly ask about those children who are excluded. The thing is, exclusions can and should be a wake-up call. I’ve seen it so many times. Sometimes, in spite of everything else done to support a child, it takes a really serious sanction like a suspension or expulsion to trigger a positive change. It’s only when a child is ready to look at the consequences of their actions and commit to changing that they have a decent chance of being included, in the genuine sense of the word. That is, welcomed by peers, supported by teachers, and able to get properly stuck into their learning. Ideally, this wouldn’t require an exclusion, but sometimes it does. They’ll preferably manage their turnaround at the school they’re already at, but sometimes the situation might call for fresh start at another place, be it another great school or a pupil referral unit. School exclusions make our system better overall. Let’s not pretend that artificially avoiding them is more inclusive in any meaningful way. And let’s not maintain that exclusions are the end of a child’s chances in education – there are too many examples of it leading to the successful re-inclusion of children, one way or another. “Ahighway to exploitation” Dan Rosenberg, partner and education and public law solicitor at Simpson Millar Exclusions will often take place because individuals aren’t getting the help they need, particularly if they have issues with speech and language or social communication. They get frustrated, which will manifest as low-level messing around that gets dealt with via a disciplinary sanction, rather than a supportive intervention, and things deteriorate from there. I've seen many kids enter secondary with a record of behavioural issues in primary. There’s no support to help deal with those issues, and by Y8 or Y9 they’re out and into the alternative system, from where they become prime targets for gang recruiters involved in County Lines drug-trafficking activities. I’m based in London. While acknowledging that I can only speak to my own experiences, and that obviously every child is different, many parents have told me that they’re petrified of their child entering alternative provision, because they see it as a sure route to getting in with a bad peer group. I’ve even heard some parents say that they’d rather go to prison themselves than have their excluded child attend a PRU, because they perceive the risk as being so high. Some forms of alternative provision are used to house all the kids who have been kicked out of all the schools in the local area, which doesn’t make for a good environment. Some individuals might only attend mornings, leaving them with time on their hands and in proximity to criminal groups actively recruiting from teenagers attending PRUs and similar settings. Those problems combine to form a highway to exploitation, and I’ve seen people at all stages along it. Addressing the behavioural needs of 4- to 6-year-olds