Shelley Jackson’s son has yet to finish primary school, but until recently she feared he would be expelled before he got to that stage.

Shelley received daily phone calls about her son’s behavior.

In the phone calls she heard that he was ‘not feeling well, not going to school and sitting in a tree’.

“The behaviour got worse and worse and he tried to flee the school,” she told Sky News.

It appeared he was headed for permanent exclusion, which would mean he would “probably be moving from school to school”.

If that had happened, he would have joined the tens of thousands of primary school children are excluded every year.

Exclusions from schools are at an all-time high, government figures show. Last year, more than 85,000 primary school-age children were excluded or suspended. Of these, 27,500 were aged six or younger.

While many schools have a zero-tolerance approach to behaviour and discipline, at Templewood Primary School in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, headteacher Katherine Martindill takes the opposite approach.

Exclusions and suspensions are banned. They don’t work, Ms Martindill tells Sky News: “Ultimately you’re telling the children they’re not valued. And then they go home.

“We can’t teach them when they’re at home.”

By keeping them in school, the school can “give kids the tools to manage their behavior,” she says.

“If we don’t help them, who will?”

Ms Martindill’s policy marked a turning point for Shelley’s son – and for other families who spoke to Sky News.

‘His self-confidence had already taken a knock’

Sarah Buxton’s son found school a ‘disturbing’ place.

“He would appear quite angry, possibly throwing chairs and tables.”

The second-year student was “already quite disappointed,” she told Sky News.

“His self-confidence had already taken a knock… What if he had also been rejected from school? I dare not think what that would have done to us, him and me.

“I just think it would have been really difficult.”

Fortunately, school policy prevented this from happening and he and his family received financial support.

“The hub and the support we have received has changed our lives immensely,” said Ms Buxton.

From lashing out to being ‘full of beans’

Karlie Greenleaves and Barry Hopkins have seen a marked change in their son’s third grade performance since the no exclusion policy was introduced.

“He likes school now and is ready in the morning. For him it’s all about routine.

“He used to punch so hard that he didn’t know how to communicate.”

They say the difference comes from his ability to recognize how he feels loved.

Read more:
Register of missing ‘ghost children’ from school is being created
Report calls for ban on primary school suspensions

‘Something is seriously wrong’

The vast majority – 97% – of primary school-age children who are excluded have special educational needs and disabilities, Sophie Schmal of early intervention charity Chance UK, told Sky News.

“There is something seriously wrong” that so many six-year-olds are being suspended and expelled, she says.

“We see how damaging suspensions and exclusions can be to children’s outcomes in the long term.

“They are more likely to be suspended or expelled later in life. They are more likely to drop out of their education.”

Research by Chance UK into exclusions shows that over 90% of children are excluded from primary school Failing GCSE English and Maths.

Schools that exclude children need ‘more accountability’

Ms Martindill says there needs to be “more accountability from schools that use exclusions”.

It is up to the school principals to determine the policy on exclusions. If they decide to abolish the policy, they will need money to provide other support measures.

“Children don’t perform well academically if they’re not happy,” she adds.

The new government’s plan to tackle bad behavior

Minister Stephen Morgan responded to the Department for Education’s figures on exclusions, saying they showed the “huge scale of disruptive behaviour in schools”.

“We are committed to tackling the root causes of bad behaviour. We have already committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every secondary school, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school and ensuring that pupils with special needs in mainstream schools receive earlier intervention.

“But we know that bad behavior can also be a root cause of broader problems. That’s why the government is developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty. This strategy is led by a task force headed by the Minister of Education. In this way, we can remove the barriers to opportunity.”