Council warned of ‘damaging’ school behaviour policies and ‘racism’ towards pupils

Hackney Town Hall. Image: Google

Hackney councillors have been warned of schools’ behaviour rules that are “damaging” children and in some cases “racist”.

Education and wellbeing charities from Hackney last night told their local council they had been “sickened” by the impact some schools’ policies were having on children and their families, even where results “looked good on paper”.

“When we hear the things said to our children by teachers, headteachers and senior leaders in some of these school’s, it’s disgusting and it’s racist. There’s a complete lack of children having any rights,” said Collette Allen, CEO of youth support group Hackney Quest.

She was joined by Janette Collins MBE from inclusion hub The Crib, who urged against strict behaviour policies that “only talk about sanctions, sanctions, sanctions”.

The volunteer-led organisations had come to the Town Hall to take part in an “in-depth” review of school behaviour policies in the borough.

Council data shows Hackney has one of the highest rates of pupil suspensions and exclusions in the capital – after Kensington and Chelsea.

Councillors have previously voiced their concerns that these expulsions were disproportionately affecting specific groups of children.

Why are school suspensions and exclusions rising?

While data taken from between 2016 and 2023 shows Hackney has twice as many exclusions as other inner London boroughs, there has been a dramatic rise across the UK since the pandemic.

Figures published by the Department of Education (DfE) in May showed hundreds of London pupils were permanently excluded last year.

Though the numbers fell in the capital, in England overall they rose by 2 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

The DfE has said the most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour.

James Bowen, director of policy at the National Association of Headteachers, said the post-pandemic period had seen more pupils starting school with emotional, mental and social needs.

Older pupils were more disengaged and had “lost a sense of value in school”.

“We’ve seen a bit of a breakdown in the social contract between schools and a small minority of parents who were less worried about sending their children in,” he said, adding that an ”awful lot of children” were spending more time using screens instead of interacting with others.

What can schools do about exclusions and behaviour?

Cllr Sophie Conway, who chairs Hackney’s children and young people scrutiny commission, said in February that the borough needs to be “tough on poor behaviour, tough on the causes of poor behaviour”.

Both school leaders and the volunteer groups highlighted the need for early intervention and a focus on relationships.

However, Collins said she faced barriers in trying to offer her free early intervention service to schools.

This was echoed by Immediate Theatre’s Jo Carter, who said her arts group had struggled to get into schools and felt they were disrespectful.

Ms Allen said that while some schools were inviting organisations like Quest to step in and mentor children at risk of exclusions, others simply did not want them to be there.

“Our local academy, the one under investigation at the moment, doesn’t want anybody in there. After 10 years of doing this, I’ve concluded this is because they don’t want us to see what they’re doing,” she said.

While Ms Allen did not mention this establishment by name, the only Hackney academy facing an investigation at the present time is Mossbourne Victoria Park.

The borough’s safeguarding children partnership launched a rare inquiry into the school in December after it received hundreds of complaints from parents alleging “widespread and long-term abuse of children”.

“Hackney’s priorities should be around children’s mental health and wellbeing, safeguarding them in school environments, because some are coming out basically tortured,” Ms Collins said.