Exclusions in school

In this assignment I have been given the task of selecting a contemporary educational issue and discussing the contrasting viewpoints on that particular issue. In regards to the task I have chosen to discuss about ‘School Exclusions’ which has been a highly debatable topic in the recent era as well as in the past decades.

Many pupils are excluded from schools each year. Alongside the right to education is also the right of pupils to be taught in an environment where there is no disturbance. Similarly it is the teachers right to perform their job without intimidation. Exclusions from school has an impact that goes far beyond the pupils school, they affect local businesses, the police, victims of crime, social services and the wider community. They also have a heavy impact on the excluded child, who often leaves school with little chance of re-entering mainstream education or training. Moreover, the provision of education for excluded pupils is costly.

Only Self-Defense? ~ Gaza/Israel: Peace Needs oth...

Size exclusion.JPG

Inclusion exclusion diagram

So, what is exclusion? The website for Manchester City Council defines exclusion as “the means by which a Head teacher and the Governing Body of an LEA maintained school can withdraw the right of a pupil to attend the school, whether for a fixed period, or, permanently on disciplinary grounds. The procedure involves the Headteacher, the parents/carers, the LEA and the pupil.” (Section 64, SSFA, 1998)Furthermore, the website states “A Headteacher may only exclude a child for a fixed number of days or permanently” as “in response to serious breaches of a school’s behaviour policy; if allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm his/her education or welfare, or, that of others at the school.” ( para 9, DfES 354/04)Wales Legislation Online discusses about the policies involved in exclusion. The 1986 Education Act specified two types of exclusion but a...