Exclusions: how do we ever justify giving up on a child?

We need to understand the impact of exclusions on the children and also why we feel it might be necessary to use them. 

With that in mind, this is not a radical call for the abolition of exclusions but simply a challenge for us all to reflect on the process and concept of exclusions and ask the question whether they are entirely necessary – especially as children return from the throws of a global pandemic with the associated turmoil and stresses to their lives. 

We shouldn’t need to ‘ban’ exclusions. We should be creative and sophisticated enough to not need them! 

This is not about knowingly exposing teachers to violence and abuse, or excusing challenging and dangerous behaviour, but it is about reflecting on whether exclusions work and how we can ever justify giving up on a child and their future. 

Teachers have a right to be safe and free from psychological and physical harm, but children also have a right to an education and to be protected from a life of underachievement and social exclusion. 

Children, and yes, they are just children, need to be understood and feel accepted. This is therefore about culture: a determination to find solutions and break free from the easy option of passing a problem to someone else via a permanent exclusion. 

It is about a whole profession accepting that exclusions damage the most vulnerable in society, cause lasting harm and inflict significant social and economic damage on young people. 

This really is about changing hearts and minds and embracing a change of approach. We need to overcome the reliance on exclusions as the answer to the behaviour problem.

 Is a school great because it uses exclusions? Does this show a strong stance and a commitment to culture change? Or is a school great because it does not use exclusions? The major problem with the exclusion debate is the misconceptions and assumptions associated with reducing exclusions. 

Many believe that a reduction in exclusions means a decline in standards and an acceptance that teachers and pupils will be exposed to violence and continuous low-level disruption. This is simply not the case. 

There is not a trade-off between exclusions and standards. Reducing exclusions is not about letting kids ‘get away with it’. It is still possible to reduce, and even eradicate, exclusions whilst maintaining high standards and not compromising the safety of staff and pupils. These conditions must be attached to any reduction in exclusions. 

If we can get this misunderstanding out of our minds, we can begin to think about genuine and committed ways to do things differently. 

The adoption of relational behaviour practice, as a mechanism for reducing the reliance on exclusions, takes time, dedication and resources. It needs determination from leaders and enthusiasm from all adults to make it work. 

We also need Ofsted to look carefully at how they judge schools, and link that to inclusion: schools should not be outstanding if they rely heavily on fixed-term exclusions. Some schools, held in high regard by ‘the system’, have children losing up to 40 days a year through fixed-term exclusion. How can that ever be justified? 

If a child is accumulating that many exclusions, then surely the school should be looking at support and intervention? Maybe the child needs a formal needs assessment, with a view to getting them the right support. It could be argued that high levels of exclusion show not only a lack of integrity but also an inadequate system for supporting pupils’ additional needs. Vulnerable children and those with additional needs, quite simply become even more vulnerable when they have been excluded from school. The problem is passed on but, inevitably, someone, somewhere must pick up the pieces – if that is even possible. 

As a profession, we must not see challenging behaviour as someone else’s problem. Taking a relational approach will help to stem the tide of unnecessarily giving up on the children who need us most. 

Vote in CYP Now's poll on exclusions here.

Dave Whitaker is an independent thinking associate and the director of learning for the Wellspring Academy Trust. His new book The Kindness Principle: Making relational behaviour management work in schools is out now and is available here.