Suffolk is the 2nd highest region in primary school suspension
Within Suffolk, Ipswich had the most amount of suspensions with 1,207 across the year.
Last updated 26th Aug 2022
Suffolk becomes one of the top 3 counties with the highest suspension rates for children in primary school for 6 years in a row.
Ipswich alone had the most suspensions within Suffolk in the year with more than 1200 cases.
We spoke to Fiona Hannah a child and adolescent psychodynamic therapist also from teenage Mental Health. She told us it's disappointing but makes sense and is indicative of a larger problem.
"I think it's very concerning, but I think it shows that things aren't working, that schools are feeling. They've got no other option but to suspend a child.
"I think we're seeing across the board rates going up of exclusions in schools and I think it makes sense to me that we're seeing a lot more exclusions of much younger children because we've got a cohort of kids who started school during COVID lockdowns.
"They wouldn't have had the socialization skills taught to them and they wouldn't have learnt them by going to nursery.
"Therefore, when they start school, they're in a very, very difficult place.
"We see behaviour as an indicator, an expression of an imbalance in the child.
"So children that are happy, healthy and in a good place don't tend to be, badly behaved.
"Kids that are struggling with something emotionally, where they're not able to articulate their needs, those poor behaviours tend to be a communication to us that they're struggling with something.
"So I think what it's showing us is that kids are struggling."
Fiona went on further describing where the bad behaviour could come from.
"We know a lot of bad behaviour comes from anger, a lot of sort of outburst come from anger. We know anger tends to come from frustration, and frustration can come from many places.
"But a lot of frustration comes from feeling we're not heard and we're not understood.
"So just seeing and hearing and understanding your child or making it clear to them you're trying to understand them can help them feel less heightened and sort of stop that frustration building to angry outbursts."
We asked Fiona whether she though suspensions are a good tool, and what kind of impact they can have on the child.
"It's just reinforcing that they're naughty and they're bad.
"If we're talking about a very young child being removed from school because you've done something naughty that's kind of sending a message that the child is broken or that they're a problem, they're a danger to others that they're too much for somebody.
"And that's a really poor communication.
"This is something else that needs to be thought about with behaviors, with children.
"It's not news that children are suffering as a result of the fallout from COVID and unfortunately.
"Quite often children behaviours and good because they're overstimulated or overwhelmed, which could be 1 due to the fact they didn't socialise during COVID.
"So going back into society is difficult.
"The second thing is we've got a lot of spectral disorders such as dyslexia and autism. These things haven't been picked up that well, for the last two years.
"However, the impact from covid is gonna be a tsunami hitting us going forward we are not through that.
"I can only speak anecdotally from my practice but during COVID all services were suspended or testing was done online.
"Lots and lots of kids have been missed. Also, waiting times are incredibly long in this area.
"I mean, you're looking two to three years in something instances.
"So if you're a child who is maybe emerging autism and you're gonna be displaying poor behaviours, that's a really hard thing to deal with.
"If there's been no diagnosis or educational healthcare plan put in place to support that child money isn't gonna come from central governments, pay for a TA for that child to help the teacher.
"So you're stuck in this place for two years until they are diagnosed and funding is made available."
We asked Fiona, what advice she would give to any parents who might be struggling.
" I suppose my number one piece of advice is the accept your child for what they are, not what you want them to be.
"It's something we see very rarely these days, is your child, is your child.
"Love them for what they are, if they've got blonde hair, blue eyes, green hair, purple hair. If they've got the nose piercing.
"Whether they're naughty, good or indifferent, love them for who they are and having acceptance of your child is a massive, impactful thing on them."