UK: More expulsions of violent children overruled

Violent pupils expelled after stabbing classmates and assaulting staff are being allowed back to school against the wishes of their head teachers.

Teaching unions have revealed a catalogue of examples where a head's decision to exclude a pupil permanently for appalling behaviour has been overturned by governors and appeal panels.

In October, three sixth-formers from a school in the South East took knives on a school trip, which resulted in a pupil being stabbed in the chest. One successfully appealed against exclusion and is back at school.

In June, governors overturned the decision of a secondary school head in the Midlands who had expelled a teenage pupil for setting up a website calling on classmates to kill a teacher.

In May, an 11-year-old pupil who repeatedly battered a fellow pupil on the head, punched a member of staff and smashed a door was returned to the school in the South East by the governing body.

The Conservatives said last night that the cases showed an appalling disregard for the authority of heads and the safety of staff and pupils.

Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, said: "Head teachers need to be given greater freedom to exclude violent pupils and those whose behaviour threatens good order.

"Rather than preside over bureaucratic structures which prevent teachers enforcing proper discipline, the Government should make it easier for heads to exclude and concentrate on improving provision for excluded pupils."

Official figures published in June showed a rise in the number of expulsions overruled by independent panels last year. Of 980 appeals heard, 24 per cent were successful, compared with 20 per cent in 1997. Figures on the number overturned by governors are not collected.

Over the same period, the number of permanent exclusions fell by 25 per cent to 9,170 cases nationwide. Fixed-period exclusions, which used to be called suspensions, have been rising steadily and reached almost 344,000 last year. A recent study has shown that England's classrooms are among the world's most violent, with the nation coming 36th out of 45 in a league table of school safety.

Details of exclusions that have been overturned have only come to light because teachers have refused to teach youngsters they judge to be a threat to staff and pupils. Other parents are invariably kept in the dark.

In 13 cases reported to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers where their members refused to have violent pupils back in the classroom, eight involved children who had been reinstated. The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers has conducted 27 ballots in schools where staff refused to teach certain pupils. Despite union challenges, in many cases the pupils remain in the school but are taught one-to-one by heads or senior staff.

Chris Keates, the general secretary, said: "Governors rejecting the judgment of heads is a growing problem. Local authorities now have to provide full-time education to excluded pupils, so governors are under pressure to keep pupils on."

Phil Revell, the chief executive of the National Governors' Association, defended the role of governors, saying: "We take the safety of pupils and staff very seriously but sometimes to give a second chance to a child is the right action. Permanent exclusion can have a devastating effect on a child's future."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We back heads in taking these tough decision where behaviour warrants it.

"Only 1.4 per cent of pupils who are permanently excluded are returned to the school they were removed from, following an appeal."

• The decision should only be taken where the basic facts have been established on the balance of probabilities.

• It should only be used as a last resort when other strategies have been exhausted.

• Exclusion for a one-off offence is permissible if there has been serious actual or threatened violence, if there has been, sexual abuse, or for supplying drugs or carrying an offensive weapon.

• Permanent exclusions must be ratified by the governing body. The head's decision can be overturned at this stage.

• Parents may contest the decision and take it to the local authority independent appeal panel, made up of between three and five people, including a serving or former school governor and a head teacher who have no connection to the school involved.

• Where cases include very serious one-off offences, persistent and defiant misbehaviour including bullying, or repeated possession and/or use of drugs on school premises, the Secretary of State would "not normally expect" the governing body or appeal panel to reinstate the pupil.

Yes, zero tolerance for law-abiding kids who bringing nail clippers to school. Expel those potential psychos! But if you actually stab a teacher, well....you deserve a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chance.

We take the safety of pupils and staff very seriously but sometimes to give a second chance to a child is the right action. Permanent exclusion can have a devastating effect on a child's future."

This guy is kidding right? What about the actual victims of the violence? Considering they ahve dont nothing wrong should not their rights to a bully / attack free scholastic career trump the bully / attacker's rights? All this does is tell the aggressive children: Stop...or we shall say Stop again! (thank you, Monty Python)

"The decision should only be taken where the basic facts have been established on the balance of probabilities."

What's the probability the governors would allow the little miscreants in their workspace, or their kids space?

Several of my friends were teachers. They have all left the profession for fear of their lives, amongst other things. They got absolutely no backing from school administration, were not allowed to administer any form of punishment, couldn’t fail anyone. They had to teach in an extremely P.C. atmosphere … every word out of their mouths had to be measured, etc, etc, etc.

Soon, all teachers will be robots, dispensing knowledge according to the edicts of government PC curriculum. Get the children out of the home early … teach them the government line … graduate them. Doesn’t mater if they can read, spell or speak coherently … as long as they understand the party line (Orwell).

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