80,000 pupil suspensions for attacking teachers, classmates in the UK

Children were suspended from school on more than 80,000 occasions last year for attacking teachers and classmates, official figures in the UK showed yesterday.

In England's primary schools alone, youngsters were excluded for a fixed period nearly 17,000 times for these reasons, while in secondary schools pupils were suspended 63,300 times.

Primary age pupils were permanently expelled 320 times for attacking teachers and other children, and secondary school pupils 1,450 times.

The statistics, published by the Department for Education, reveal large numbers of young children are still being suspended for bad behaviour.

Some 1,250 children aged four or under, including 1,100 boys, were given fixed period exclusions in 2008-09, while five-year-olds were suspended 2,840 times.

The figures, which are for England only, show primary and secondary schools suspended pupils 89,870 times for verbally abusing or threatening teachers and other youngsters.

The most common reason for exclusion was persistent disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 29.6 per cent of expulsions and nearly one in four (23.3 per cent) suspensions.

Overall, the number of times primary school pupils were suspended in 2008-09 fell to 39,510 from 43,290 in 2007-08, while in secondary schools there were 307,840 suspensions, compared with 324,180 in 2007-08.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: "Despite the fall in exclusions, poor behaviour remains a significant problem in our schools. "Tackling poor behaviour and raising academic standards are key priorities for the coalition Government.

"We trust teachers and that's why we have already announced a series of measures to put head teachers and teachers back in control of the classroom - including ending the rule requiring schools to give 24 hours written notice for detentions and increased search powers.

"We will introduce further measures to strengthen teacher authority and support schools in maintaining good behaviour.

The figures for pupils suspended or expelled for physical violence include attacks against adults in school, such as classroom assistants as well as teachers.

Martin Narey, chief executive officer of Barnardo's, said: "Exclusion from school can have a devastating long-term impact on young people and costs the Exchequer an estimated £65,000 per child to repair the damage, so it is encouraging to see a continued fall in the use of permanent exclusions.

"However, it is still unacceptable that in 2008/09 there were 307,840 fixed-term exclusions from state-funded secondary schools. This equates to more than 790,000 days of missed education.

"Persistent disruptive behaviour is often an intolerable situation for fellow pupils and teachers. But repeated use of fixed-term exclusion shows it is a superficial and ineffective 'sticking plaster' solution which can result in vulnerable children missing out on large chunks of their education, reinforcing the difficulties they already face. Addressing the root causes of problem behaviour and offering timely support will do much more to get children back on track."