Student exclusions up to 110 in seven weeks

An exclusion can result from verbal abuse, bullying and persistent disruptive behaviour and so far this year, in fewer than 35 days of school term, there have been 36 exclusions from the island’s secondary and primary schools for a fixed period of between one to five days.

This is more than a student a day.

If this includes pupils sent home during the school day, known as a special circumstance and counted as an exclusion within the context of recording sessions missed, this increases to 110 exclusions.

With two sessions a day, morning and afternoon, and at the time the data provided by Education, Sport & Culture went up to, this is the equivalent of nearly two students a session.

An ESC spokesperson said the disruptive behaviour that leads to the exclusion of a student from school was unacceptable.

‘Schools work hard to provide their students with a calm learning environment and to foster a positive culture,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Behaviour which disrupts the learning of another student or which risks the welfare of another student is not acceptable.

‘Students should feel safe and supported by their teachers and their peers and be able to learn free from disruption.’

The number of exclusions last year saw it at the highest it has been in the past five years, with 153 exclusions in 2018-19. This is an increase of 25% from 2014-15’s 115 exclusions.

In total, so far this year the number of sessions missed by those excluded, which could be from as many as one student to the total of 110 students, is 210, this is the equivalent of 105 days of school.

In the UK, recent findings also found that the number of fixed period exclusions across all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools had increased from 381,900 in 2016-17 to 410,800 in 2017-18.

However, unlike UK legislation the Education (Guernsey) Law 1970 and the Education (Guernsey) [Amendment] Law, 1987, make no provision for the permanent exclusion of a student from a school where they are registered.

ESC said that they were working hard to help vulnerable students.

‘Schools are committed to recognising and meeting the individual needs of their students,’ the spokesperson added.

‘Where behaviour falls short of schools’ high expectations, they are able to apply a range of measures.

‘Exclusion should be a last resort after other measures have been tried or reserved only for the most serious cases of misbehaviour.

‘Schools are able to apply any reasonable consequences in response to poor behaviour that accord with the school’s behaviour policy.’

Schools’ behaviour policies, procedures and staff training are said to promote good behaviour and discourage unacceptable behaviour.

‘Early identification of a student’s needs are integral to effective policies, procedures and training as this will minimize the number of children under sixteen at risk of exclusion,’ ESC added.

‘In all cases schools should engage with parents in an attempt to minimize the risk of exclusions.’

Proposed alternatives to exclusion from school to be considered include internal exclusion, mediation, restorative practice, a managed move to another school or a formal assessment of special educational needs to ensure the student remains engaged within education.

There are also alternative or additional measures before exclusion suggested by ESC, such as a change of teaching class, flexible learning and curriculum alternatives, individual educational plans that include behaviour and educational targets.

Another option would be to allocate an individual staff member as a mentor or even involve an external service, such as an educational psychologist or the Les Voies school outreach team, or even the Attendance Service and Services for Children and Young People, which includes the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

‘[We are] committed to an inclusive system of education, ensuring that all children and young people have equality of opportunity to achieve their potential,’ ESC added.

ESC said they would not currently provide data for individual schools.