Teach-Primary-Issue-19.1

The writer is a teacher in England. VO I C E S S cenario 1: It’s summer 2024 and, mid-lesson, a Y6 child loses his temper after a lunchtime argument with another child is reignited. Child A (a regular perpetrator of violent acts) punches Child B in the stomach and then picks up a chair to throw at B’s head. I, the class teacher, spring into action and wrest the chair away from A to prevent further injury; unfortunately, in his frustration, he punches me square in the jaw. Child A is removed, sobbing and shaking, and is taken away by the headteacher. Half a day of fixed-term- exclusion later, he is delivered back to the scene of the crime, once again sharing a space with his various victims. A degree of remorse has been noted; he expressed an understanding that his behaviour was unacceptable; he is in a regulated condition… for the moment. We return to business as usual. Scenario 2: More recently, another Y6 child (Child X) was removed from school for chasing a classmate (Y) around the playground brandishing a pair of scissors, laughing, and yelling threatening and racist abuse. This child is usually compliant in class, but has low-level SEN and uses some of the foulest language I’ve ever heard from a 10-year-old. None of us believed his threats would be enacted. The head tells me the following day that X will not be returning to the school site under any circumstances. He will resort to permanent exclusion if necessary but is seeking alternative provision whereby the parents deliver home learning, overseen by the school and the local authority, who will provide once-a-week online tutoring. X would technically stay on the books without ever crossing the threshold of the school gates again. I completely, and vocally, disagreed with this course of action. To be absolutely clear, I do not condone any kind of racist act, and the school leadership is completely right to take a firm stance on the issue and to ensure that Y is able to learn in a caring, equitable and threat-free environment. However, things are rarely this straightforward. Alongside SEN considerations, X does not have the most stable home life. His parents are certainly not qualified to provide a full education, and the likelihood that the racist language is a learnt behaviour from home must be recognised. Will his prejudices ever be challenged if his world is made so small?What will his secondary education look like after most of a year out of mainstream schooling? I fear we are setting X on a trajectory of failure, academically, socially and personally. A vital part of the school environment is citizenship, civil responsibility, and accountability. Removing the issue by removing the child is not tackling it proficiently, and there is a real danger we are creating future victims through this action. Where is the apology?Where is the opportunity to demonstrate that change has occurred, and lessons have been learnt?Where will X have his racist behaviours challenged and changed? Then we come to the disparity between the punishments dealt out for each scenario. Both involved children with SEN; both involved violence (one threatened, the other realised). Yet the outcomes were worlds apart. Why does an actual physical assault feature so low in the hierarchy of crimes: is this a part of schooling that teachers and students are now expected to endure? There is certainly no provision for violent children within the special school system locally, and my school is clearly failing to cope with it. For the last four years, the school has actively pursued a holistic approach to behaviour management. This has involved restorative conversations after any incident; investment in counselling, play-therapists, drawing-and-talking interventions; and staff receiving regular training from our local authority that repeatedly tells us ‘behaviour is an expression of an unmet need’. Ask most of the staff and they will describe the policy as light-touch and involving more ‘coddling-over-a-hot-chocolate’ than is fair or effective. Child’s X’s punishment is not typical for our school. If there was ever an occasion where behaviour was an expression of an unmet need , then this was it. Yet this is the moment we chose to abandon the holistic approach; I fear we have let him down. TP “This is the moment we’ve abandoned the holistic approach” If behaviour is always an expression of unmet need, how can we justify such uneven reactions to incidents? Our anonymous educator gets something off their chest www.teachwire.net | 19