Two years ago, at the age of eight, Carl threw a chair at his teacher and stabbed a girl in the face with a pencil. The injured girl was rushed to hospital and Carl was excluded from his primary school in Islington, North London.
Another school offered him a place but, after a series of fights, he was again thrown out. He now attends Islington's Paradise Park Pupil Referral Unit, but life is still difficult for Carl, who tends to get frustrated and stressed about his schoolwork.
"I have to go to the time out room when I feel like that," he says. Children are encouraged to use the time out room where they can sit quietly or release their anger by shouting, kicking and punching the equipment.
Nine-year-old Joseph, another pupil at Paradise Park, was excluded from school for attacking a teacher. "I had a teacher who really, really hated me," he says. "Whenever there was trouble, I was blamed. I got thrown out for trying to rip the hair out of my teacher's beard."
Joseph now attends school one day a week and spends the rest of his time at Paradise Park. "I can do school once a week because if I feel angry I know I can take my anger out in the time out room."
Carl and Joseph attend the unit with 12 other boys ranging in age from six to 11. The pupils are split into two classes and follow the national curriculum with a strong focus on English, maths, science and PSHE. The centre - which employs a head teacher, a deputy, two teachers, plus a learning mentor and a classroom assistant in each class - costs 307,083 to run in 2003/4, which is paid for by the local education authority.
A psychologist and a psychotherapist visit the unit twice a week, while a social worker spends one day a week on site.
Violent behaviour
The children who attend the unit have complex needs and require a lot of nurturing and one-to-one tuition, reveals head teacher Nell Nicholson.
"The children often show very violent behaviour that cannot be contained in school, which is why they are here," she says.
During her five years as head of Paradise Park, Nicholson has worked hard to prevent permanent exclusions by working very closely with the local education authority's mainstream schools. "Even with our most complex children, we aim for them to spend some time in school," she adds, "even if they are due to transfer to special provision at secondary level."
This approach seems to work. Nicholson can proudly state that, due to the work at Paradise Park, there have been no permanent exclusions for the last three years at primary level in Islington.
Kieran is one of Paradise Park's success stories. At the age of seven, he was aggressive and fought with the other children at his primary school.
Frustrated when he could not do his schoolwork, he would literally run away from it - and the classroom. As a result, Kieran started attending the unit, but also continued going to school on a part-time basis.
Three years on, he has just gone back into school full time. "I will miss coming here," admits this shy, quiet boy. "There is no time out room in school. I can express my anger here and say how I am really feeling."
Nicholson deals with the aggression by using sanctions, consequences, a reward system and behaviour reflection. "If there's an incident, we talk about why they did it," she explains, "and sometimes re-enact it through role play. This is called behaviour reflection."
While the number of permanent school exclusions in England has been in a state of flux over the past ten years, with the highest number occurring in London, it is a continuing problem across the UK. For instance, in 2001/2, the number of permanent exclusions in England stood at 9,535, while in Wales it was 445 and 332 in Scotland.
Eighty-one per cent of England's exclusions were from secondary schools, 15 per cent from primary and four per cent from special schools. This was a four per cent increase on the previous year, but still almost 25 per cent below the 1996/7 peak of 12,700.
For the last five years, boys have made up 83 per cent of permanent exclusions.
And, in 2003, the Study of Young People Permanently Excluded From School - a DfES-funded study carried out by the University of Birmingham School of Education - found "actual or threatened assaults" on pupils and teachers were the most common reasons for exclusion.
Exclusion guidelines
Under government guidelines, a pupil can be excluded either for a fixed period of up to 45 days or permanently. The only person who can do this is the head teacher, but the governing body and the local education authority must be informed of all permanent exclusions.
Exclusions are very expensive and research by the think-tank Demos shows that, in 1997, the cost incurred by all the services involved was 81m, whereas to have kept these pupils in school would have cost 34m.
But, as well as costing money, exclusion can have a long-term detrimental effect on the children, their families and the wider community. Excluded young people are more likely to get involved in crime, says the DfES. And nearly two-thirds of young offenders of school age who are sentenced in court have been excluded from school or truant significantly.
Ingrid Sutherland, training co-ordinator of the Advisory Centre for Education, is very worried about the rising numbers of exclusions. "Exclusion can dramatically affect the children's life chances. There is such a knock-on long-term effect."
The Audit Commission and National Audit Office are also concerned about the long-term effects and recently called for schools to be set targets for admitting excluded pupils. They complained that too few excluded pupils are readmitted to mainstream education because of schools' fears that it would damage their league-table standing. However, according to Jacqui Newvell, head of the NCB's pupil inclusion unit: "It is also important not to assume that mainstream school is the best place for every child or young person."
In an attempt to stem the number of exclusions, the Government is investing nearly 470m on improving behaviour and attendance, including measures to prevent behaviours that lead to exclusion. In addition, the DfES 2003 study identified a range of alternative provision for excluded pupils, including pupil referral units, education programmes and reintegration into mainstream schools and further education colleges.
Pupils were found to respond favourably to the relaxed and informal environment of the referral units and the further education colleges.
Claire George, who supervises excluded pupils on the Pathfinder programme at Boston FE College in Lincolnshire, understands the attraction.
"Schools have to follow a very prescriptive national curriculum," she explains, "but we're not tied into the same rigid framework and we build in time to listen to the students."
Young people, aged 15 to 16, who showed a degree of maturity and were not severely disruptive, were best suited to college, reveals the report.
Fifteen-year-old Adrian Lockwood, who was excluded from his grammar school, is a good example. He's now studying for two NVQs in engineering and welding, and has won an award for being the best Key Stage 4 student in welding.
"It is calmer here," he explains. "I'm a lot happier now and I'm nicer to people. The teachers talk to us more as friends than as pupils."
Ultimately, it seems the key to success is that excluded children do not feel they've simply been dumped. "An eight-year-old child turned round to me the other day and said it was too late, their life was ruined now," reveals Paradise Park's Nicholson. "They must feel supported, and they mustn't feel they are in a rubbish ground."
TELL ME MORE
- The Advisory Centre for Education - www.ace-ed.org.uk - Has an exclusion helpline for parents and local education authorities
- The National Association for Pastoral Care in Education - www.napce.org.uk - Provides specialist information
- The Children's Society - www.the-childrens-society.org.uk - Publishes a leaflet for parents who are worried about exclusion
CASE STUDY
How Westfields is halting the exclusion tide
The best way to stem the flow of permanent exclusions is to prevent them happening in the first place. One pupil referral unit successfully tackling disaffected behaviour and stopping schools resorting to exclusion is Westfields in Kirklees, Yorkshire.
Praised by Ofsted as "redefining standards for pupil referral units", Westfields runs a six-week programme for children at risk of being excluded.
It has 28 places for Key Stage 3 pupils, with every high school eligible for a place at the unit.
Close relationships
After an intensive programme, which includes energetic outdoor activities, all students go back into school, but with support. One of the reasons for the unit's success is that no one is allowed stay on beyond the six-week timeframe.
Another is the close relationship between Westfields and the local schools.
The unit employs 12 teaching staff and nearly a third of their time is spent teaching in mainstream schools. Ofsted singled out this teaching model as "very good". "This means that when children go back into school they get support from staff who know them," adds head teacher Martin Ridge.
"Consequently, Kirklees has very low exclusion figures."
According to Patrick, who is in the middle of a reintegration course: "The classes are small, so you get lots of help with your work. No-one is naughty and it's given me a better chance of doing well at my next school and having a fresh start."
Westfields has produced a CD-Rom for other pupil referral units and local education authorities. Call Martin Ridge on 01924 326393 or email martin.ridge@kirklees.gov.uk.
