By Jordan Baker
The maximum school suspension would be cut from 20 to 10 days, and students from kindergarten to year 2 could only be sent home for serious physical violence under proposed changes to discipline policy for NSW public schools.
Principals would be given more discretion over suspensions and would have a new team of behaviour experts to help them. They would have the option of in-school suspension and be required to provide work for, and check on, students sent home.
Maximum school suspension will be cut from 20 to 10 days under a proposed new discipline strategy.Credit: Janie Barrett
A draft behaviour strategy by the NSW Department of Education is the first major review of school discipline policies in 14 years, and comes amid increasing concern that vulnerable students, particularly those with disabilities, are over-represented in suspension statistics.
As the Herald has revealed, seven out of 10 kindergarten suspensions involve students with a disability. In 2018, there were 1252 suspensions of 626 kindergarten children, including 150 long suspensions of up to 20 days for violence or persistent, serious misbehaviour.
Last year, 13 per cent of Aboriginal students received a short suspension compared with 4.2 per cent of all students. Between kindergarten and year two, Aboriginal students made up 30 per cent of those given short and long suspensions, despite making up just 7 per cent of all enrolments.
Under the draft guidelines, which will be released for feedback on Thursday, students from kindergarten to year 2 could not be suspended for anything but serious violence and for no longer than five days. From year three, the maximum suspension would be 10 days.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said managing behaviour in schools was complex. "This strategy gives principals more power to make the right decisions based on the student's situation," she said.
"We know that suspension disproportionately affects vulnerable students, particularly those with disability, leaving them even further behind in their education than they were at the beginning of the suspension."
The draft strategy acknowledged that high rates of suspension for Aboriginal, disabled, economically disadvantaged and regional students showed their learning and support needs were not being met, and their educational progress affected.
Suspension has been linked to increased recurrence of problem behaviour, lower academic achievement, poorer retention rates and increased likelihood of interaction with the juvenile justice system, the paper said.
Under the plan, principals would have to ensure a student's disability had been catered for before suspending them for related behaviour.
While the previous policy stipulated circumstances that triggered automatic and immediate suspension, the new one would give principals discretion and require them to consider a range of factors and alternative approaches first.
In the case of expulsion, the principal - and not, as previously, the regional director - would be responsible for finding another place for the student in another school or work program.
Across NSW public schools last year, there were 19,651 long suspensions of up to 20 days for the most serious offences, such as possessing a weapon or illegal substance, as well as persistent misbehaviour. There were 54,794 short suspensions of up to four days for continued disobedience or aggressive behaviour.
Craig Petersen from the Secondary Principals Council welcomed the extra training and support proposed in the draft, but said long suspensions were sometimes needed to get the right support for students.
Once the help was organised, the child was brought back to class. The average long suspension lasted 12 days, he said.
Mr Petersen encouraged parents to look at, and give feedback on, the strategy, but think beyond their own children as they did.
"It's about individual rights, and procedural fairness," he said. "But it's also about the rights of every child at the school to learn in an environment free of disruption, free of bullying and free of violent behaviour."
Louise Kuchel from Parents for ADHD Advocacy Australia said the strategy was a positive start, and welcomed the acknowledgement of the damage caused by suspensions.
However, she called for more transparency. "There must be accountability, specific professional development for teachers on disability standards in education, and clear targets revealed to reduce discriminatory suspensions," she said.
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