Sunshine Coast school behaviour data: Expulsions, suspensions revealed

Sunshine Coast and Noosa schools have dished out more than 11,500 disciplinary actions to students in just three years. See which schools ranked the highest.

One of the Sunshine Coast’s largest high schools has suspended more than 1200 students in three years despite increased home-based learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Sunshine Coast Daily can reveal 11,565 student disciplinary actions have been given to Sunshine Coast and Noosa primary and secondary students between 2018 to 2020.

The data, compiled through the schools’ annual reports, shows Nambour State College issued the highest amount of student disciplinary absences, including 1201 long and short suspensions.

The Queensland Education Department states students can be issued short suspensions between one and 10 days, long suspensions of up to 20 days, exclusions and cancellations for disciplinary action.

Enrolment cancellations only happen in serious disciplinary instances for students who are older than compulsory school age, according to department guidelines.

Nambour State College, which had 1670 students in August 2020, also had the highest number of student enrolments cancelled with 33 cancellations recorded from 2018 to 2020.

Meridan State College recorded the second-highest number of suspensions over the three-year period with 1100 recorded.

Meanwhile, Mountain Creek State High School, which had the highest number of enrolments with 2169 students, only recorded 700 student disciplinary actions, including 971 short and long suspensions between 2018 to 2020.

An Education Department spokesman said principals were responsible for the development and implementation of a Student Code of Conduct in each school.

“The Student Code of Conduct, developed in consultation with the school community, outlines behavioural expectations for students as well as possible consequences for inappropriate behaviours,” he said.

“School disciplinary absences are used as a last resort option by principals, after considering individual circumstances, the actions of the student and the needs and rights of other school community members.”

Each state school releases its student disciplinary absences data in its annual report, which is released in June each year and reflects the previous year.

The data reflects each instant a suspension is recorded and not the number of students suspended, meaning one student could be suspended multiple times which would increase the overall suspension data.

In each 2021 annual report, which analyses 2020 data, the COVID-19 health emergency which saw students complete home-based learning during the first five weeks of Term 2 resulted in significantly fewer student disciplinary absences.

The department spokesman said before determining a course of action, schools look at factors which influence year-to-year movements in school disciplinary absence numbers, including changes in school management, implementation of alternative behaviour strategies, changes in behaviour expectations, fluctuations in enrolments and changed student behaviour.

“All of these effects need to be considered when interpreting school-level data,” he said.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Cresta Richardson acknowledged the school’s right to discipline students in appropriate manner.

She said schools were workplaces and teachers deserved to feel safe at work.

“We have been encouraging members to recognise, report and respond to known incidences of occupational violence and near misses,” Ms Richards said.

“Schools need to have access to the right resourcing to support all students in schools, so teachers can teach, and school leaders can lead.

“We will continue to lobby the department for more Positive Learning Centres, which provide targeted resourcing and support for students who require it.”

Nambour State College did not respond to questions about its high number of suspensions before publication.

The suspension data for all Coast schools for the 2021 academic year will be released in June 2022.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast school behaviour data: Expulsions, suspensions revealed