Psychologists are encouraging schools to find better ways to manage vulnerable students

Hundreds of Victorian kids have been kicked out of school — including seven who were booted from one Melbourne college last year.

More than 360 students have been expelled from Victorian state schools in the last three years despite a recent state government crackdown on the practice.

Schools continued to throw out both primary and secondary students during the Covid pandemic although children spent more than half their time doing remote learning.

Boys, Indigenous students and children in out-of-home care are over-represented among those expelled, prompting new calls from psychologists for schools to find better ways to manage vulnerable students.

It’s estimated that one in three students expelled has a disability, with inclusive education experts saying expulsion has a “horrendous” effect on the child.

Freedom of Information data obtained by the Herald Sun shows 91 schools had 176 expulsions in 2019, including seven from Berwick Secondary College and six each from Staughton College and Yarra Hills Secondary College.

Expulsions dipped in 2020, no doubt due to students spending more than 100 days learning at home, but 50 schools still expelled 68 students during that year. Glenroy Secondary College, Hume Central Secondary College and Matthew Flinders Girls’ Secondary College had three expulsions each.

Hundreds of Victorian students have been expelled in recent years. Picture: iStock

But by 2021, expulsion numbers rose again, with 81 schools throwing out 125 students, including seven from Forest Hill College – the highest number in the three-year period.

The list includes nearly 30 primary school children, including those from Barnawartha, Delacombe, Mahogany Rise, Mooroopna North and Packenham Springs Primary Schools.

The figures do not include the thousands of students informally expelled by schools.

Dr Chelsea Hyde, an educational psychologist from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, said it was important to understand the behaviour, not demonise the student.

“They might have an undiagnosed learning difficulty or neurological condition such as autism or ADHD,” she said.

“Expulsion can have long-lasting ramifications such as increasing school failure, lower workforce participation and less further study opportunities,” she said.

“It also increases engagement with the criminal justice system,” Dr Hyde said.

State government figures show 60 per cent of young people in contact with the youth justice system had been suspended or expelled from school.

Dr Hyde said some schools adopted a restorative justice approach which focused on repairing the harm done and restoring relationships.

Dr David Armstrong, senior lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education at RMIT University, said expulsion had “horrendous” effects on the student involved and often made pre-existing developmental and social problems worse.

“They’ll grow up without any educational qualifications and if it’s a person with a disability, they’re more likely to develop mental health issues as a result of their exclusion.

Dr Armstrong called for state and federal funding to more preventive measures to address children’s issues before they are expelled as a last resort.

Students can be expelled for a range of reasons including dangerous behaviour, theft, damage of property, possession of illicit substances or weapons or behaviour that vilifies or degrades others.

The Education Department was forced to reform the system following an Ombudsman’s investigation in 2017 which found children as young as five were being expelled without consideration of their circumstances.

New rules taking effect in 2018 mean principals must now seek departmental approval before they expel kids younger than eight years old and offer avenues of appeal.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said expulsion “is always a last resort — however, there are instances when it may become necessary”.

“When expulsion does occur, we have a rigorous process in place to ensure a fair decision that balances the needs of all parties affected. Any student expelled from a Victorian government school is provided with transition support to a find a suitable alternative educational setting as soon as possible,” he said.