Trouble kids removed from their schools
Southland five and six year olds were stood down from primary schools more than 50 times in 2016 and 2017 for bad behaviour including physical and verbal assaults on staff.
The figures provided by the Ministry of Education appear to back up claims by Southland educators that children were becoming harder to handle in the classroom.
In November, Edendale Primary School principal David McKenzie said children were entering the school system who had never understood the word ‘‘no’’.
They had little ability to manage difficult situations without resorting to tantrums or violence which disrupted others.
Ministry figures reveal Southland five and six-year-olds were stood down from their primary schools on 29 occasions in 2016 and 22 times in 2017 – a total of 51 times.
This were 15 more than in the previous three years combined.
A stand down was the removal of a student for a period up to five days in a school term – a student may only be stood down for a total of 10 days in a school year.
The main two reasons for the five and six-year-olds being stood down in 2016 and 2017 were physical assaults on staff [11] and physical assaults on other students [26].
Other reasons included verbal assaults on staff, vandalism, theft, continual disobedience and other
Southland five and six-year-olds were stood down from their primary schools on 29 occasions in 2016 and 22 times in 2017.
harmful or dangerous behaviour.
Ministry of Education spokeswoman Katrina Casey said the the ministry was always concerned when there was an escalation in stand–downs; it wanted to support schools to manage challenging behaviour.
However, she warned care needed to be taken when interpreting the figures because they were not only a measure of behaviour, but also of a school’s response to certain types of behaviour.
Decisions to stand-down, suspend or exclude/expel students were made by principals and school board of trustees, she said.
Southland five and six year olds were also suspended and excluded from Southland schools every year between 2013 and 2017, the ministry figures showed. The exact figure was unknown – but it’s between one and four suspensions and one and four expulsions in each of those five years.
The ministry holds back the precise figures when less than five people were affected, citing privacy reasons.
Casey said the ministry offered a variety of support to schools.
This included de-escalation training and supporting teachers to understand what worked in improving behaviour and increasing engagement.
The ministry was expanding its specialist behaviour support to children and their parents so it reached an extra 1000 children aged up to 8 each year.
There would always be some students whose behaviour was particularly challenging, Casey said.
Ministry professionals worked specifically with children with higher levels of challenging behaviours, including those whose behaviour management included the possibility of physical restraint.
Parents preparing their children for school should ensure they know its routines and expectations before arriving and, if necessary, they should teach their children ways to self calm, including by taking deep breaths when angry.