Southland school stand-downs increase 80% over 20 years
Schools in Southland are issuing 80% more stand-downs compared to 20 years ago, with students aged 5 to 9 the group most frequently removed from school.
The stand-down rate for Southland was 27.5 per 1000 students in the year 2000, but had grown to 49.5 in 2022, data from the Ministry of Education shows.
Southland now has the second highest stand-down rates in the country, behind only the West Coast, which had 67.3 stand-downs per 1000 students in 2022, up 30.9%.The national stand-down rate was 32.6 per 1000 students, up 27.8% from 25.5 in the year 2000.
Edendale School acting principal Jenny Coyle said she had not noticed an increase in stand-downs.
“We have had to use them but we try to avoid it ... We haven’t had to use them excessively.”
Coyle said most stand-downs were given because of repeated excessive behaviour problems.
Aurora College principal Craig Taylor said the school’s stand-down rate had been consistent over the past two years, since he was appointed principal.
At the college, gross misconduct was the main reason for stand-downs, Taylor said.
Physical assault was the most common reason for stand-downs nationally in 2022, followed by continual disobedience for boys and smoking or vaping for girls, the data showed.
“We very rarely stand down for vaping,” Taylor said.
Broken down by territorial authority, the stand-down rate was 26.8 per 1000 students for Gore, and 54.5 for Invercargill.
In Southland, the 5-9 age group had the highest stand-down rates, of 59.9 per 1000, followed by 52.8 for the 15+ age group, and 46.9 for the 10-14 age group.
While the rate of stand-downs in schools and colleges had risen nationally, the suspension rate had fallen slightly. While a stand-down was a formal removal for a few school days, a suspension was a formal removal from school while the board of trustees made a decision.
Nationally in 2000, the suspension rate was 7.8 per 1000 students, falling to 3.5 in 2022, a majority due to assault. In Southland it had fallen from 5.8 to 4.2, from 2000 to 2022.
In Invercargill, pupils aged 5-9 were the most frequently suspended, at 7.6 per 1000 students in 2022. The 10-14-year-old group had 4.2 suspensions per 1000 pupils, and 2.6 for the 15+ age group.
In Gore, there were zero suspensions in the 5-9 age group, 4.6 per 1000 pupils for 10-14-year-olds, and 7 per 1000 for the 15+ age group for the year.
In Southland, it was the 10-14 year age group that led the 2022 suspension rate with 5.4 per 1000 pupils, 3.3 for the 5-9 age group, and 2 for 15+ group.
Nationally, Northland and ManawatūWanganui regions led the suspension rates with 5.8 per 1000 students. Southland had 4.2 per 1000 students.
Nationally, expulsions had gone down over the 20-year period, from 2.4 per 1000 students to 1, while in Southland it had dropped from 1.4 expulsions per 1000 to 1 in the same period.