Expelled aged 5, boy who attacked teacher with a hockey stick
A FIVE-year-old boy who allegedly attacked a teacher with a hockey stick and touched her breasts has become one of the youngest children to be permanently excluded from school.
Luke Hoare was told to leave school last autumn at the start of Year 1. The incident followed a number of outbursts that had scared other children.
Even Luke’s mother Caroline Hoare, 35, said she did not blame school staff for giving up on him.
Confirming what she described as the “attack”, she said: “I think they tried their hardest with him. They tried different strategies. He got too much for them.”
Luke, who is the fourth of five children aged from two to 12, and lives with Ms Hoare, his stepfather and siblings, has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
He started showing difficult behaviour at two. Soon after he enrolled in a reception class, aged four, teachers began regularly phoning home with complaints.
Ms Hoare said: “Luke was hurting people – spitting, swearing. They put him on half-days in reception and half-days in Year 1.
“I’m worried about the future for him. It’s scary because I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know where he will be in five years’ time. I hope he can lead a normal life.”
Damaging
Luke, who was excluded from North Denes Primary School, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, now attends Brooklands School in nearby Gorleston.
It is one of nine “alternative provision” schools for excluded children run by the Engage Trust which specialises in the education of children with behaviour problems.
Chief executive Des Reynolds said: “Like all our children Luke is just a little boy, a lovely, sweet, funny, cute little boy. He is not a monster.
“He wants love and care. We are successful because we give it to him. Excluding is massively damaging for very young children.” The aim was to return him to a mainstream primary.
North Denes School said: “Exclusion is a last resort. However, we have to ensure the safety and welfare of our other pupils and our staff, as well as considering the impact on other children’s learning.”
Figures released last week by the Department for Education show that the total number of permanent exclusions from all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England in 2015/16 has risen for a second year to 6,685 pupils.
More than 1,000 were from primary schools, which represents a rise for the third year running. Of those almost half were seven or under – including 50 four-year-olds. The figures are the equivalent to 35 children being excluded every school day.
The number of fixed-period exclusions, where a pupil is excluded for a set period of time but allowed to return, across all state schools was also up at 339,360 last year from 302,975 the previous year. A pupil may receive more than one fixedperiod exclusion, so pupils with repeat exclusions can inflate the rates.
Persistent disruptive behaviour is the most common reason for permanent and fixed-term exclusions accounting for 35 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Physical assault against an adult is the most common reason for all exclusions from special schools.
Boys were over three times more likely to receive exclusions than girls, and pupils with a black or mixed ethnic background were more likely to be excluded than their white counterparts. In turn they were more likely to be excluded than children of Chinese and Asian heritage.