Norfolk teacher says "lack of support" helping pupil suspensions reach a record high
Approximately 16% of pupils were suspended at some point during secondary school
A teacher from Norwich is telling us that a "lack of support" for disadvantaged children is helping the number of pupil suspensions in England reach a record high.
It's as research from a national charity has found that those temporarily removed from secondary school are twice as likely to be behind their peers in early adult life.
"A symptom of something wider that's going on"
Scott Lyons also works for the National Education Union, in Norfolk: "There should be no compromise on the safety of staff.
"If there is any child that does abuse somebody then suspension has to be a part of the behaviour management system we have in schools.
"Suspensions can be a short, sharp shock to a pupil that can really change people's behaviour quickly.
"That being said, these are not given out lightly and those working in education know how they can affect people.
"I don't think this rise is the direct cause of a problem, but they're usually the symptom of something wider that's going on, such as child's disillusion with their learning, education and authority more generally - which is normally going on in their personal lives as well."
The research in more detail:
There were 786,961 suspensions in the 2022/23 academic year, compared with 578,280 in 2021/22 - a rise of 36%, according to the Department for Education (DfE) data.
The rise in suspensions - when a pupil is excluded from a school for a set period of time - comes amid warnings of challenging behaviour in classrooms following Covid-19.
The EPI research studied a cohort of 576,000 state school pupils in England who started Year 7 in 2006 and followed their time through secondary school into early adulthood up to the age of 24.
Approximately 16% of pupils were suspended at some point during secondary school, it said.
It found that pupils suspended at least once during secondary school were twice as likely to not be in sustained education, employment or training at 24 than their not-suspended peers.
They were 2.1 times as likely to not achieve Level 3 qualifications - which include A-levels - by the age of 19, and 1.6 times as likely to not attend higher education by 24, the report added.
The research concluded that pupils' attainment at GCSE plays "a significant role" in the relationship between suspension and outcomes.
It said: "The link between suspension and outcomes in adulthood may be indirect, as suspended pupils have lower GCSE grades, on average, which may, in turn, limit access to further education opportunities."
The think tank has called for early intervention to address the factors leading to suspension because inaction could lead to "long-term consequences" for the individual and "wider costs to society".
What's the Government said on this?
The Department for Education says:
"The recent figures on school suspensions are shocking, and show the massive scale of disruptive behaviour that has developed in schools across the country in recent years, harming the life chances of children.
"We are determined to get to grips with the causes of poor behaviour: we've already committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every secondary school, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, and ensuring earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs.
"But we know poor behaviour can also be rooted in wider issues, which is why the Government is developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty led by a taskforce co-chaired by the Education Secretary so that we can break down the barriers to opportunity."