School exclusions for violence soar by 14%

Published on Tuesday 29 January 2008 21:09

THE number of school exclusions for violence is rising, according to new figures.

Physical assaults resulting in children being banned from school, temporarily or permanently, rose by 14 per cent last year, Scottish Government statistics have revealed.

In 2006-7 there were 7,323 incidents where a pupil was excluded for physical assault and 706 of those involved an improvised weapon.

However, just 36 pupils were removed permanently for assault, with the remainder excluded temporarily.

Kirsty Devaney, the president of the teachers' union the EIS, said:

"With the removal of politically motivated targets which aimed to reduce exclusions year on year, we are now beginning to see a more accurate picture of the level of indiscipline."

She added: "We must recognise that persistent low-level pupil indiscipline remains a serious problem in many schools and can only be addressed through robust discipline policies including the right to exclude in more extreme cases."

In total there were 44,794 exclusions of about 22,800 pupils from Scottish schools in 2006-7 – an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. Just 248 children across Scotland were removed permanently from school.

The largest reason for exclusion, involving 32 per cent, was for persistent disobedience. There were also 332 exclusions for alcohol abuse, 225 for fire-raising, and 68 for indecent exposure.

The Scottish Government is considering reintroducing annual figures on assaults in schools. Maureen Watt, the schools minister, said: "There may be merit in standardised information on discipline being produced if councils are already collating it."

Geraldine Gammell, the director of the Prince's Trust Scotland, said increased exclusions were preventable. She said: "Greater investment in early intervention and alternative learning programmes, which are individually tailored and targeted to the needs of those young people most at risk, will prevent them moving into a life of unemployment and potentially into the criminal justice system."

Rhona Brankin, Labour's education spokeswoman, called for greater support for teachers in disciplining pupils and ensuring that headteachers have the authority to exclude pupils. She said Labour had set aside 11 million last year to a fund that aimed to find alternatives to exclusion. Because of the SNP's deal with councils that money was no longer ring-fenced and may be lost, she warned.

THE WONDERS OF PRAISE

TULLIALLAN Primary, at Kincardine, Fife, has eradicated exclusions by promoting positive behaviour.

Teachers were lauded by inspectors, after a visit last year, for using praise to motivate pupils. The report gave the climate and relationships at the school the top rating of "excellent" and described pupil morale as "exceptionally high".

It said: "Pupils' behaviour and manners were exemplary. The school used a highly effective system for managing pupils' behaviour and pupils promoted and demonstrated respect and tolerance towards each other. Overall, staff had high expectations of achievement and behaviour."