School suspensions Qld: Alternatives for vulnerable kids explored

New school punishments might be developed as Queensland’s high suspension rates of vulnerable students are probed.

Education Minister Grace Grace has questioned the high rates of vulnerable children being suspended from Queensland state schools, and wants to find better ways to deal with disruptive children beyond giving them the boot.

And she says that might include considering whether suspended students could be sent off-campus, but not home.

Ms Grace said she would meet with the Human Rights Commissioner and Children’s Commissioner, who have called for major changes to current policies, after a June update from an Education Queensland “deep dive” into the number of suspensions and expulsions and the reason they were happening.

It follows revelations by The Courier-Mail that students with disabilities, Indigenous children and those in the child safety system were up to six times more likely to be suspended than their classmates and fears the heavy approach is helping funnel some of them into the youth justice system.

Ms Grace says she does question that over-representation, which appeared “out of sync”, and is concerned very young prep students are being suspended.

“It really does concern me that kids in Preppy are actually being suspended,” she said.

“Now remember, most of these suspensions – 90 per cent of them – are short term, but that is still up to 10 days and that is why I have got concern.

Education Minister Grace Grace

“And I must admit in discussions that I’ve had with the department, it’s like, what are we doing, how are we at the place we’re suspending preppies? ... And is the policy being applied evenly or are there peculiar elements in different ­regions?”

But she said principals sometimes needed a “circuit breaker” when the wellbeing of the rest of the class and teacher is at stake, particularly when parents won’t engage.

Ms Grace confirmed the education review was happening concurrent to talks in a Cabinet subcommittee that considers youth justice issues.

“I feel confident there are different pathways to suspension, and exclusions and detentions,” she said, adding she wanted a better approach that considered student wellbeing, culture and recognised trauma when deciding discipline.

Alternative ideas suggested were also being looked at, although her student advisory council had raised some issues around the stigma attached to “flexi-spaces”, offered to students who needed to calm down.

“Maybe the suspension isn’t on school grounds because of the obvious stigma that may attach, but it might be off the school ground in another area where we engage them in a different format,” she said.

Ms Grace said she wanted to hear parents’ stories when the department consults in coming months and a broader review, like the parliamentary review being called for by advocates, is still a live option.