Examples of student suspensions

icebergiceberg

I would be interested in finding out what students were suspended for in your setting. What kind of behaviour has warranted suspensions? What did the students do to be suspended? How common are suspensions in your experience? Do you feel they were justified?

Do you think some students should have been suspended but were not? What involvement did the parents have around it especially regards returning to school post suspension.

It would be interesting to compare what school X suspends a student for with school Y. Perhaps some behaviour results in suspension in one school but the same behaviour does not in another.

Thanks

evolving_doors

Going to let this run for now, but... keep it very simple folks. Each suspension/expulsion is different so I think we need to be careful about giving details..

Maybe just state reason... e.g. threatning a teacher, wrong uniform etc

MOD

spurious

A student who assaulted a teacher and knocked him out should have been suspended but instead swaggered around the school for the next couple of days and suffered no consequences whatsoever. Boy, was that a triumph for staff morale.

I suppose if a teacher is assaulted by a student that is bigger than him but manages to knock him into tomorrow (as one might on a public street) the teacher would be charged?

Millem

spurious wrote: »

A student who assaulted a teacher and knocked him out should have been suspended but instead swaggered around the school for the next couple of days and suffered no consequences whatsoever. Boy, was that a triumph for staff morale.

I suppose if a teacher is assaulted by a student that is bigger than him but manages to knock him into tomorrow (as one might on a public street) the teacher would be charged?

Omg that is terrible! I think they would defo be excluded/expelled in my school! Since I started in my school we have had 2 students expelled and I would consider what they did not as bad as what happened in your school! In both cases they were "jokes that went wrong". We don't really have many suspensions, if they miss a lot of homework they get an in house suspension in the library. I remember the last student to get a proper suspension told a staff member to "F off".

f3232

spurious wrote: »

A student who assaulted a teacher and knocked him out should have been suspended but instead swaggered around the school for the next couple of days and suffered no consequences whatsoever. Boy, was that a triumph for staff morale.

Shocking. Where are the unions in situations like this, and how did the staff support the teacher concerned? A walk out would have been in order.

Millem

f3232 wrote: »

Shocking. Where are the unions in situations like this, and how did the staff support the teacher concerned? A walk out would have been in order.

Yes exactly! Very imitating too. And where is the "dignity in the workplace" that I see plastered all over the asti noticeboard

TheDriver

difficult to state exact lists because context must be taken into account. Also depends on situation and definitive proof i.e. teacher actually knows 100% that student X told them to F**k off, not 99% probability its them because parents will poke holes in anything that isn't tight and make the school look bad. There are also issues with parents keeping kids at home if its not suspension and also some schools aren't able to send kids home during the day. Unless you suspend straight away (which will only be done in cases where it is 100% that this kid did something that needs to be off premises) then they will be back in school while investigations take place and suspensions are notified, due process, etc.
What is important is that each suspension holds. But suspension isn't always the best route as some kids love the days off......
Whats more important is that the school should be proactive in keeping all the small things in tow so that no big thing appears which requires suspension

spurious

I would have called the guards if it had been up to me. I really felt bad for my colleague, who didn't even teach the thu gentleman involved.

As it was, I made it clear to management that under no circumstances would I ever have that student in a class of mine again, scheduled or deputy. Which I didn't. I had an idea I was going to take early retirement and would have had no problem making a big palaver about it, if necessary.

The union did nothing, but then again, there was a teacher stabbed in a neighbouring school, less than 2 metres off the school premises and by a past pupil of the school and my colleagues out there were told it was not a school issue.

The level playing field - for some people F Off is a suspension issue while others have to labour in almost chaotic surroundings.

Millem

spurious wrote: »

I would have called the guards if it had been up to me. I really felt bad for my colleague, who didn't even teach the thu gentleman involved.

As it was, I made it clear to management that under no circumstances would I ever have that student in a class of mine again, scheduled or deputy. Which I didn't. I had an idea I was going to take early retirement and would have had no problem making a big palaver about it, if necessary.

The union did nothing, but then again, there was a teacher stabbed in a neighbouring school, less than 2 metres off the school premises and by a past pupil of the school and my colleagues out there were told it was not a school issue.

The level playing field - for some people F Off is a suspension issue while others have to labour in almost chaotic surroundings.

Spurious I would call the guards too, that is terrible. My school is grand, the height the discipline problems in my class would be eg I forgot my book. My friend teaches in a very challenging school, I don't know how she does it tbh. The staff are always worried that their cars etc would get damaged. I know people will say it can be very rewarding but I couldn't handle it if there is little management support

mirrorwall14

Suspensions in mine for setting fire in the bathrooms, severe physical bullying and similar situations. Never come across a student hitting a teacher though in my first year in my current school I was intimidated by one of the sixth years. I hadn't realised how up in my face he was until another teacher ticked him off for it.

icebergiceberg

I don't think it is a question of a level playing field. It is, as one poster above stated, all about context.

If a Siobhan says to me 'If you don't move out of my way , I'll break your ...' or straight to me in front of the class '@ Off.'

One response could be the guards for the threat of violence.

Another response could be: 'Ah Siobhan don't be like that. Let's go outside for a chat'.

Twenty minutes later she has apologised, she is back and working and on task. She has missed too many days already and now will not miss another day due to suspension. I am ok with her being back. I don't take it personally. She and I move on.

I think there is a need for some students to vent and there is a corresponding need for staff to read that.

On another occasion there might well be a need to call the guards if the context so demands it.

f3232

icebergiceberg wrote: »

I don't think it is a question of a level playing field. It is, as one poster above stated, all about context.

If a Siobhan says to me 'If you don't move out of my way , I'll break your ...' or straight to me in front of the class '@ Off.'

One response could be the guards for the threat of violence.

Another response could be: 'Ah Siobhan don't be like that. Let's go outside for a chat'.

Twenty minutes later she has apologised, she is back and working and on task. She has missed too many days already and now will not miss another day due to suspension. I am ok with her being back. I don't take it personally. She and I move on.

I think there is a need for some students to vent and there is a corresponding need for staff to read that.

On another occasion there might well be a need to call the guards if the context so demands it.

I can see what you are saying but from my experience a school culture that allows a student to say something like that to a teacher without issuing a suspension is storing trouble for itself.

As a teacher I may not take it personally if a student speaks to me like that and personally I would'nt . But when a student speaks to you like that in fromt of others it becomes a wider issues than them and you. How it is dealt with send signals to the other students, -no firm response from school- other students think this is acceptable and it happens again and again and again.

Siobhan I know you regret what you said and I can see your sorry but you know the rules like everyone else and your going to have to walk for a day. Simple as.

icebergiceberg

f3232 wrote: »

I can see what you are saying but from my experience a school culture that allows a student to say something like that to a teacher without issuing a suspension is storing trouble for itself.

As a teacher I may not take it personally if a student speaks to me like that and personally I would'nt . But when a student speaks to you like that in fromt of others it becomes a wider issues than them and you. How it is dealt with send signals to the other students, -no firm response from school- other students think this is acceptable and it happens again and again and again.

Siobhan I know you regret what you said and I can see your sorry but you know the rules like everyone else and your going to have to walk for a day. Simple as.

Thanks for your response.

Fair point. Especially the bit about other students seeing and hearing the exchange.

But. They also have heard an apology. They see her back in class working hard and on task. They know what could have happened to her. But they see her working hard now. I think that is a win situation.

Can you apply the rules to all the students in the same way? I don't think so. Not in this imperfect world. Does Siobhan need to attend and be working? She does but if you apply rules uniformly that would not happen.

This is not to say that tomorrow another student, in a different class with a different teacher, could do something similar to Siobhan and in a different set of conditions she could end up being suspended.

Are all students treated the same in schools? Are exceptions made? Are justifiable exceptions made? All students are to hand in homework. There are punishments for those who do not. But Maria does not have homework done. Maria's family, the school knows, has just been evicted form her council house and her father has just been sent to prison for giving her mother a few black eyes. And Maria does not have her homework done. So we suspend her? Punish her? I don't think so. That is not what Maria needs right now. That will not help her. All students can not be treated the same.

Maybe Siobhan is in the same situation.

implausible

Our place can be 'rough' enough at times, but thankfully it has never come to a student hitting a teacher. Such an event would warrant the student being removed from the premises immediately on health and safety grounds.

We brought in a rule a few years ago that students could be suspended for using abusive language toward staff and it was going grand until a colleague demanded a student be suspended for saying "Jesus Christ, miss" to her. Since then, the rule seems to have not been implemented that much. Sometimes the staff can be worse than the students!

Usually, suspension is used after a certain number of incident reports have been filed and after-school detention and other punishments have been exhausted. It really is a last resort, as it can be murky legally and often, students don't care. Their parents sometimes do, however, and it's inconveniencing them that can often make them sit up and pay attention.

icebergiceberg

implausible wrote: »

Our place can be 'rough' enough at times, but thankfully it has never come to a student hitting a teacher. Such an event would warrant the student being removed from the premises immediately on health and safety grounds.

We brought in a rule a few years ago that students could be suspended for using abusive language toward staff and it was going grand until a colleague demanded a student be suspended for saying "Jesus Christ, miss" to her. Since then, the rule seems to have not been implemented that much. Sometimes the staff can be worse than the students!

Usually, suspension is used after a certain number of incident reports have been filed and after-school detention and other punishments have been exhausted. It really is a last resort, as it can be murky legally and often, students don't care. Their parents sometimes do, however, and it's inconveniencing them that can often make them sit up and pay attention.

Yes. They do not care a bit about suspension. And more often than not, in my own experience, the parents care even less.

You mentioned inconveniencing the parents and this is something that I have noticed a lot too. It is only if they have to bring in the students themselves to talk to Pr. or staff that some engage with you. Many of my parents' students would have been married v young and are basically just older versions of what you see in the classroom. And not much more advanced themselves behaviour wise. They have no parenting skills at all.

mirrorwall14

I worked in a school in Dublin for a while where there were cubicles outside the vice principals office/staff room/staff work area (off the corridor-staff only area) and suspensions were run in house. Student had to complete school work only and was monitored by VP. Seemed a good set up as eliminates the 'off school' lark

Pinkycharm

Last year Female teacher punched in the face by male student, she was trying to break up a fight. he said it was an accident but clearly not as onlookers said he went straight for her. She had a black eye for about a week. He was reprimanded and asked to write an apology letter. She was told the school would sort it. They never did and she is still there as CID is this year and she needed to stay on. Another incident shortly after that led to him dropping out (i would say to avoid expulsion) but low and behold who arrives back in September. New start and all that. Student in her class for maths.

Joke.

RealJohn

I suppose it's easy for me to say since I'm permanent but I'd refuse to teach any student who assaulted me and I would expect union support. It's bad enough that they're no longer protecting our pay and conditions but if they're not even protecting our safety anymore what exactly are they doing?

Stepping Stone

I need to preface this by saying that I am not a teacher and I left secondary over a decade ago.

For the first four years, I went to a mixed school where from the beginning, expectations of behaviour were clearly outlined. While teachers were not rigid about some stuff, such as hair and makeup, any form of disrespectful behaviour was not tolerated. Suspensions were not common but were quite fair. Violence, damage to school property and disruptive behaviour repeatedly during exam classes would have you out on your ear. To be honest, it made school a safe and predictable place to be.

We were amalgamated with two other schools. The principal was what I can only describe as weak. As a teenager, I immediately recognised this. 24hrs of warning before a uniform check, notes about ridiculous things going home (they really were ridiculous and beyond our control). The school wasn't rough, there should have been no issues but there was absolutely no control at the top. Teachers were not backed up, silly things were being punished severely but serious incidents were ignored. One particularly lovely, kind and gentle teacher had a squash ball thrown at her head and was knocked out during lunch time supervision. We identified the culprit, other teachers did too. Nothing was done bar long lectures during class over the intercom system.

I feel sorry for anyone who us assaulted or intimidated at work. I don't know if it fair to say, but it was 100% weak and disinterested management that made my final two years at school chaotic and unpleasant.

ted1

Pinkycharm wrote: »

Last year Female teacher punched in the face by male student, she was trying to break up a fight. he said it was an accident but clearly not as onlookers said he went straight for her. She had a black eye for about a week. He was reprimanded and asked to write an apology letter. She was told the school would sort it. They never did and she is still there as CID is this year and she needed to stay on. Another incident shortly after that led to him dropping out (i would say to avoid expulsion) but low and behold who arrives back in September. New start and all that. Student in her class for maths.

Joke.

She should have pressed charges