According to government data, fixed-term suspensions are on the rise.
This, in itself, is troubling. But, anecdotally, teachers have told me about a trend that is perhaps even more worrying: the increase in repeat suspensions. This involves the same students being suspended for the same things on more than one occasion.
This is a complex and emotive topic, which makes it hard to identify the right course of action.
So, how should leaders respond to the issue of repeat suspensions?
1. Interrogate your reasons
There are legitimate reasons to issue an external fixed-term suspension, but if this is the latest in a series of suspensions for a particular student, leaders need to think carefully about whether suspension is really the best course of action.
This involves asking some tough questions. For example, if it is clear that the suspension will not work as a deterrent to future unwanted behaviour (because previous suspensions have not had this effect) what do you hope this current suspension will achieve?
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If you are suspending a student to protect your community (a reasonable justification), do you have evidence that the community will continue to be protected once the student has returned, especially if this has not been the case so far?
Or, if you are suspending a student to send a message to the school community about your behaviour expectations, is it reasonable to assume this will be successful when the unwanted behaviour has already been repeated?
2. Consider a move to a specialist unit
If you ask yourself the above questions and determine that the suspension is unlikely to have the desired effect, a potential next step could be to move the student to an off-site behaviour unit. As the student has repeatedly demonstrated they are unable to meet the school’s behaviour expectations, and the existing provision has not been able to address this, there is a good argument to support a move.
However, in the current financial climate this is a non-starter for many schools. In our area, for example, the cost of such a placement is £18,000 per year, with an additional £1,000 a month for transport.
If these costs prove prohibitive, other options must be explored.
3. Revisit your reintegration process
If a move to a behaviour unit is not an option, a useful next step would be to examine your existing suspension and reintegration processes.
Once a student has been suspended, it is vital to put a reintegration plan in place.
Think of it in these terms: something in the student’s current circumstances has led to them being removed from the school community. If you can find out exactly what this is, and develop a personalised plan to mitigate against it, you give the student the best possible chance of returning to and remaining in school.
Doing this isn’t easy; it starts by taking an honest look at what the barriers are for this particular student.
Consider what caused the most recent incident. Once you know this, you will need to work with your pastoral team to determine what you are going to do differently to try to prevent the same thing from happening again.
4. Give it time
If you have developed what you feel is a helpful reintegration plan, it can be incredibly disappointing if the student returns and, on their first day back, immediately exhibits the same behaviour they were previously suspended for.
At this point, you face a difficult choice: do you press ahead with the existing plan? Or do you scrap it and go back to the drawing board?
There is no simple answer here. If you feel confident the plan is viable, the fact that it has failed on day one does not mean you should automatically abandon it. Remember, any changes you have put in place may not yet have had a chance to affect behaviour; the student may not even have encountered the changes, if the recurring behaviour took place before they were due to happen.
It all comes down to how confident you are that the reintegration plan could work - and whether you are willing to give it the time to do so. Are you prepared to accept some short-term problems to increase the chances of long-term success, through trying something different?
There is a time and a place for repeat suspensions. In situations of community safety, where other options are unavailable, they can be justified.
However, if schools are frequently finding themselves suspending the same pupils for the same reasons, it might be time to start asking the difficult questions: why are we suspending? Do suspensions work? And what can we do if they don’t?
Stuart Hodgson is senior behaviour lead at a secondary school in the East of England
