2 weeks Ago By The Telegraph
Children as young as five are being kicked out of school for attacking their teachers following a rise in poor behaviour. Across the 2022/23 academic year, 3,599 children in reception and nursery were either suspended or expelled for physical assault against an adult. A further 1,890 were excluded for assaulting other children, figures obtained by The Telegraph show.
Across all age groups, more than 100 primary school pupils were also excluded for theft in 2022/23, while 148 faced punishments for drug or alcohol misuse and 855 were sanctioned for carrying weapons or other prohibited items into school, official data show. In total, 138 pupils were excluded for inappropriate use of social media or online technology, including one child aged five or younger. Telegraph analysis of official data shows the number of exclusions handed out for violent behaviour among pupils aged 11 and under, shot up by 40 per cent in a single year.
In total, 25,724 suspensions and expulsions were recorded for physical assault during the autumn term in 2023, up from 18,259 in the same period the year before. This included 15,283 assaults against adults and 10,441 against other children, which resulted in 421 primary school children being permanently expelled. Unions warned that teachers were increasingly under attack from their pupils.
Department for Education figures also show a jump of nearly a third in the number of primary pupils excluded for launching tirades against their teachers. Primary school teachers were forced to hand out 2,762 suspensions and exclusions for verbal abuse against an adult last autumn, up 32 per cent on the year before. Meanwhile, punishments for racism, homophobia and transphobia, and sexual misconduct all saw significant rises last year.
The number of primary school pupils excluded for racist behaviour increased nearly 1.5 times last autumn to 648. It follows concerns that pupil behaviour has deteriorated since the pandemic, with experts pointing to an overstretched teacher workforce plus a rise in phone use and mental health problems among children.
Charities have also raised the alarm over young children turning up to primary school in nappies or unable to say their name since the pandemic, which is thought to have contributed to worsening behaviour problems. A survey by four leading children’s charities, shared with The Telegraph earlier this year, showed that two-thirds of teachers were concerned about behavioural problems among four and five-year-olds. Patrick Roach, general secretary of The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the figures were just the “tip of the iceberg”.
“The increase in the number of pupils being suspended or excluded for assaulting school staff reflects the feedback and casework from our members that levels of violence and abuse from pupils have increased since the pandemic,” he said. “These figures represent the tip of the iceberg as we know that in too many cases schools fail to deal effectively with serious assaults and attacks on teachers. “We are urging ministers to establish an effective national multi-agency forum on school safety and security to explore how best schools and colleges can respond to increasing levels of attacks and threats and to examine the contribution that other agencies can make to better support efforts to keep staff and pupils safe.
“Schools, too, need to respond to the increase in violent and disruptive behaviour by ensuring there are effective behaviour management policies in place to deal with and deter acts of violence and abuse and that sanctions are clearly and consistently enforced.” High pressure Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary at the National Education Union, added: “Increases in behavioural issues at primary school level is a real worry. “Some 14 years of chronic underfunding has created larger class sizes and a loss of experienced teachers and pastoral posts.
“The primary curriculum needs to be more varied so there is interesting learning, fit for this age group, who all develop at different stages and ages. “There is strong evidence that a focus on activities like outdoor learning, learning through play and exploration, art, music, and lots of opportunities to read whole books is vital for primary children but these are greatly reduced because of high pressure formal tests and all the preparation. “We need to see funding levels returned to our schools and LA authorities that allows for the support and resources where needed for children and families.
Hungry and tired children can’t learn and cope successfully with the school day, so the Government needs to urgently tackle child poverty. “These are political choices and ones which we would expect a Labour Government to be making.’’ Tom Bennett, the Government’s behaviour tsar, has previously said that high exclusion rates “are a sign of a system working, not one that’s broken”.
Writing for The Telegraph following record suspension and exclusion figures last year, he said that “schools can’t perform miracles, and some extreme behaviours can’t be managed by patience alone”. The education regulator is working on a new system to assess the quality of schools. Ofsted’s new report cards will measure behaviour as part of colour-coded inspection sheets, alongside a range of other measures including attendance.
The Government was approached for comment..
