Stand-downs the wrong approach says Families Commission

Expulsion or suspension from school is rarely necessary if a whole-of-family approach is taken to student management and learning, says the Families Commission.

Recent Ministry of Education statistics show that schools are standing down increasing numbers of primary school pupils for violent behaviour. Stand-downs for assaults by children aged eight have increased by 88 per cent from 2000 to 2008, seven-year-olds received 73 per cent more stand downs over the same period, six-year-olds had 70 per cent more, and stand downs of five-year-olds for violence reasons increased by 33 per cent.

Education researchers and teacher organisations say the problem is too hard to deal with at secondary level and more needs to be done with primary school children when the chances of turning behaviour around are greater.

"The Families Commission supports the principle of early intervention," says Commissioner Kim Workman, "but we do not support stopping a child from attending school. It is very concerning to see schools increasingly using stand-downs of primary-aged pupils when there are better solutions that build children and their families up, as opposed to punitive approaches which pathologise the child."

Mr Workman says the Families Commission's research shows clearly that when schools take a whole-of-family approach to education they can dramatically reduce behaviour problems and eliminate the need for expulsions or suspensions.

"For example, the Commission has studied the very successful community-hub approach taken by Victory Primary School in Nelson," Mr Workman says. "That was a school that a little over nine years ago had real problems with bad behaviour, truancy, stand-downs and a high percentage of families moving away during each school year. But the school adopted an approach which it describes as ‘enrolling the family, not just the child'. Community facilities have been put in place on the school grounds and parents actively welcomed and encouraged to participate in their child's education.

"The result has been that in nine years there have been no stand-downs, truancy has been dramatically reduced, behaviour problems have been all but eliminated, families are staying in their school communities longer instead of moving away, and education outcomes have improved."

As well as being involved in their child's education, families can get medical help, counselling, adult education, childcare, legal advice and meet with a number of government and community agencies providing family assistance at a school community centre.

"In most cases, when a student is acting out, there is a bigger reason than just wanting to disrupt class," Principal Mark Brown says. "By giving our support to the whole family we are able to alleviate many issues and help students through difficult times, which allows them to concentrate on their education."

The Families Commission is working with Victory Primary School to record the processes, successes and the lessons learnt in its community development approach so that the principles of this success can be picked up by other schools and their communities.

Commissioner Workman says: "At a recent education behavioural conference, the driving message was that early intervention was essential if we are to turn a child's behaviour problems around. Stand-downs are not early intervention, they simply transfer the problem elsewhere. What Victory Primary and some other schools have shown is that building up families and the school community has far more positive and long lasting results."