Oh, and look where the highest rates are. I guess that will happen when primary school kids threaten to behead teachers.

students in south-western Sydney are being suspended more than four times as often as students in other parts of the city.

The number of suspensions handed out at NSW primary schools has increased by 10 per cent in two years and students in south-western Sydney are being suspended more than four times as often as students in other parts of the city.

Across NSW primary and secondary schools, 65,610 suspensions were issued in 2016, down from 66,020 in 2014,  the latest figures from the NSW Department of Education show.

The number of primary school suspensions has also outstripped the growth in kindergarten to year 6 enrolments of 4.1 per cent over the same period.

Changes at the primary school level in the past decade have put more pressure on teachers to lift student and school performance, and may have led to harsher disciplinary practices, according to Linda Graham, leader of the student engagement, learning and behaviour research group at the Queensland University of Technology.

"Standardised testing and things like MySchool mean schools are engaging in gate-keeping processes to deal with the groups they have," said Professor Graham, who has been researching disciplinary practices in NSW and Queensland since 2005.

"There's enormous pressure going all the way down to kindergarten to get kids ready for NAPLAN and primary schools are tending to become less inclusive and less flexible."

When looking at both primary and high school suspensions, schools in south-western Sydney recorded more than 9560 short and long suspensions in 2016, which is nearly four times more than any other part of Sydney.

Short suspensions can be up to four days long and long suspensions can be for up to 20 days.

The data indicates that a significant number of students in south-western Sydney were suspended more than once, with the 9560 suspensions distributed across 6550 students.

In comparison, schools in northern Sydney issued a total of 1390 suspensions to 1087 students in 2016.

Professor Graham said that south-western Sydney has "the biggest number of students, as well as the biggest number of students who come from overseas, have refugee backgrounds or have disadvantaged backgrounds".

"These schools are dealing with a lot of complex and challenging kids and their resources are stretched. Suspensions aren't the best way to go, but they're the easiest way to go."

She called on the department to start collecting and publishing more detailed information on how many and which students are being suspended more than once.

"If we did see the full picture, there would be an outcry. We would see that some of the most vulnerable children, those who have a disability and those from low SES backgrounds are being suspended in high rates and not just once," Professor Graham said.

The biggest number of long suspensions were for "persistent misbehaviour", which accounted for more than 45 per cent of all long suspensions issued in 2016, followed by "physical violence", which accounted for 38 per cent of suspensions, but the number of pupils suspended for these reasons have fallen.

Long suspensions issued for serious criminal behaviour, possession or use of a suspected illegal substance or use or possession of a prohibited weapon, firearm or knife have increased slightly, in line with a 2.2 per cent increase in overall student enrolment in NSW between 2014 and 2016.

A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said: "Principals are authorised to take decisive action when the safety or wellbeing of others is at risk, or where a student has an ongoing history of disruptive behaviour."

The department did not respond to questions about whether there are any plans to change its suspension policy, which was issued in 2011.

Professor Graham said research has shown suspensions do not work as a deterrent, and schools need more resources to invest in support tools and staff.

However, president of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council Chris Presland said suspensions are the "best method for bring people to the table".

"Nobody thinks that if you suspend a student, it'll solve the problem. But it gives the student and their family time to consider their actions and it gives the school time to put strategies in place to support the student."

http://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw-primary-school-suspensions-skyrocket-20180214...

Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Feb 18^th, 2018 at 8:45pm:


Karnal will be along shortly to blame the Canadian Yids.

Gordon wrote on Feb 18^th, 2018 at 8:47pm:


What?  All two of them???     

Gordon

I kind agree suspensions probably do not work.

Kids misbehave as they get bored, if they are struggling with class content then by removing them from frustration and/or boredom is more like a reward. Where I grew up kids getting suspended was often viewed as a badge of honour.

goldkam wrote on Feb 19^th, 2018 at 10:47pm:


I agree their parents need to know but from my observation that seems to be the source of the problem.

The only practical solution I see is physically separating the trouble makers from the students putting an effort in. They did this at my High School they called in Modified Curriculum or we nicked name it the mmmm ccc's. There class rooms where physically in a different part of the school.

RightSaidFred wrote on Feb 19^th, 2018 at 6:22am:



really?


Quote:



not in 2017/18. it would seem....

I think the first thing they should do is check for literacy .. I bet a lot of these kids are falling through the cracks...

its just a thought!

cods wrote on Feb 20^th, 2018 at 8:33am:


OK so why post stuff that supports my view ?

cods wrote on Feb 20^th, 2018 at 9:27am:


OK so why do certain kids misbehave persistently ?
They seem interested in everything except what the teacher is presenting ..... pretty much supports my view. A lot of kids are only interested in themselves and act out playing the class clown..... what you presented if anything supports what I said. If you think otherwise suggest other causes.

One way kids can improve themselves which most seem to do is pay more attention at school !

Sure a small % will struggle doing that what do you suggest we use tooth picks on them like in Clockwork Orange ?