Commenting on the latest school suspension and permanent exclusion figures for the academic year 2022-2023 in England, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said;
“The marked increase in suspensions and exclusions shows the precarious position of schools and secondary schools in particular.
‘Schools have been managing with increasingly scarce resources for over a decade and then they were hit by the disruption of the pandemic. As a result of the disruption, many pupils lost a sense of belonging to their school. The last government implemented an inadequate and ineffective recovery programme which did not tackle the need to effectively reintegrate pupils back into school life and so poor pupil behaviour has increased. The only way out of this downward spiral is significant reinvestment in schools.
‘We need a curriculum that engages and is inclusive as well as reforms to our assessment system. The Government has said that these are areas they want to address, and we look forward to working with them on it.
‘Suspension rates are shown to be up to three times higher for those with SEN and an EHC plan, and almost four times higher for students with SEN but without an EHC plan. Schools and colleges have been left with totally inadequate levels of funding to provide the SEND support or pastoral care necessary to effectively address the daily barriers and challenges that SEND students face. Equally, the waiting times for access to specialist SEND and child mental health services are far too long and impact detrimentally on student behaviour and attendance. The proposed register of young people out of school will help in understanding the scale of the issue but far more needs to be done to build back the support systems needed by schools, young people and their families to resolve the current SEND crisis. SEND support hubs are needed in all local areas to provide timely specialist support to schools and the young people they work with.
‘Child poverty levels are now at unacceptably high levels. The impact this has on children and young people’s ability to learn and engage in school life is immense. Suspension rates in these latest figures are shown to be four times higher for pupils eligible for FSM than those who aren’t. While the Governments plans to introduce universal breakfast clubs are a step in the right direction, we need to see free school meals for all. Children do not stop being hungry after 9am. It is also imperative that the Government listens to the increasing number of calls, including from their own MPs that the 2-child limit must be dropped”.