By Lucy Carroll
Principals will be given the power to extend the length of suspensions and send students home for persistent bad behaviour under a planned overhaul to the NSW public school discipline policy.
The changes come as a third of teachers say chaotic classrooms are causing them to lose crucial instruction time, while a federal Senate inquiry is examining worsening student behaviour across school sectors.
Increasing instances of bullying and intimidation in schools has coincided with falling teacher confidence in managing poor behaviours.Credit: Janie Barrett
An updated NSW public school behaviour policy will replace a controversial strategy introduced under the former Coalition government that capped the length and number of suspensions schools could issue, as well as the grounds for which a student could be sent home.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car said a review of the former policy, which was rolled out in term 4 last year, found it undermined teachers’ ability to protect the safety of staff and students.
“It’s important all students have a classroom environment that minimises disruptions, maximises teaching time and enhances learning,” Car said.
Under planned changes, principals will be allowed to extend the length of suspensions beyond a baseline five days for kindergarten to year 2 students, and 10 days for students in years 3 to 12, without needing departmental approval.
Continued disobedience and disruptive behaviour also will be reinstated as grounds for suspension, and there will be no limit on the number of times a student can be suspended. Department approval will be needed for suspensions that extend beyond 30 days (for kindergarten to year 2) and 45 days (for years 3 to 12).
If the changes get the green light it will be a major win for principals and the teachers’ union, who say scrapping the “flawed” former strategy will restore authority to schools and manage challenging behaviour directly.
“It means we can take immediate action to make sure our classrooms are safe, which is essential where there is violent behaviour that is posing immediate threat,” NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen said.
Petersen said the previous policy did not spell out specific behaviours that were grounds for suspension. “We welcome updates that explicitly call out the types of behaviours not tolerated in our public schools, which include possession of weapons, malicious damage to property, use and supply of illicit substances and threatening or dangerous behaviour,” he said.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car says a review of the former discipline policy found it undermined teachers’ ability to protect the safety of staff and students.Credit: AAP
A new expulsion process that requires schools to give the student and their parents seven days’ warning of a decision will stay the same. Formal cautions, that are valid for 50 days, are an option for principals, but they are not mandated before giving a suspension.
The former government’s policy, which was welcomed by parent groups, was introduced amid concerns that students – particularly those with learning difficulties or from low socio-economic families – are suspended and do not receive the support they need.
Half of all sanctions involved students with a disability in the first six months of 2022, with some 7.7 per cent with a disability suspended. Indigenous students were also suspended at a disproportionately high rate, with almost 9 per cent of Aboriginal students sent home from school.
The NSW Department of Education said the new policy “reaffirms a commitment to help all students, including those with complex learning and support needs, to reach their full potential”.
It includes a “scale of measures” schools can use to deal with problem behaviour – including suspension and expulsion as critical safeguards when needed.
“While the new procedures go to suspension and expulsion specifically, the government and education department must urgently provide the necessary additional specialist staffing and resources to assist schools to support students with complex needs.
NSW Teachers Federation acting president Henry Rajendra said the previous policy failed to recognise the professional judgement of principals and teachers. “While the new procedures go to suspension and expulsion, the government must urgently provide the extra specialist staff and resources to assist schools to support students with complex needs,” he said.
The new policy, which has received in-principle support from the NSW teachers union, the Special Education Principals’ and Leaders’ Association and Primary and Secondary Principals Councils, is out for consultation. It is set be released to public schools in term 4 for teacher training, and will come into effect in term 1, 2024.
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