As many as 100 children aged under five have been excluded from nursery in one year for violence
Figures revealed today show that in one year alone 100 children aged under five had expelled or excluded from their nursery setting for violence. Statistics released by the Department for Education show that 30 children aged four and under had been expelled in the 2013 academic year; whilst a further 70 were expelled for a period of time before being allowed to return. Reasons for this included biting and or violence towards peers and staff. Some children, as young as one, were excluded for attacking others.
Many people reading this will agree that this is tragic to think that children as young as four are being excluded from nurseries. It is important that these children are given the extra support to help change their behaviour to prevent them from being excluded
In the same academic year, a total of 4,950 pupils were excluded from primary and secondary schools. Almost half (44.3%) of these cases were the result of attacks on staff or pupils. Other cases included verbal and racial abuse, sexual misconduct or persistent disruptive behaviour. This has had an impact on staff recruitment, with violence serving one reason for individuals not wanting to enter the profession.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who requested the statistics, said: “Teaching is facing a recruitment crisis, and violence in the classroom is part of the reason why. No one should have to worry about violence when they set foot in a classroom.”
“But thousands of young people excluded is a national scandal. It affects their life chances and could ruin their future opportunities. We need to tackle the root causes of this crisis earlier on and prevent problem behaviour developing.”
The crackdown on violence in the early years sector can be seen as a positive move towards changing the behaviour prior to starting school, however should early years setting be approaching the situation in a different way? Young children find it difficult to control their feelings and behaviour, with many children pushing the boundaries to understand cause and effect of their actions.
Do you agree with expelling children aged under five, or do you feel that more should be done to understand and prevent the violent behaviour?
I’ve seen a huge change in children’s behaviour over the years both in schools and in early years. Once you start to support the child and engage with their care givers, 9 times out of 10, the child’s behaviour can be linked to poor parenting and in very few cases due to SEN. (Though I suspect most of these children will go on to be diagnosed with some form of disorder). Most of these children I have worked with also end up in an SEN School too. Really, the support needs to start for the parents/families/caregivers during pregnancy. Liaison with other settings, health etc., was good a few years back. We worked together to support vulnerable families early. I’d like to think we made a difference to the life chances of children we worked with. Now the Goverment has seen fit to close down Childrens Centres, cut funding for health and social care …. I could go on and on, but you know the score. Don’t get me started on lack of play opportunities particularly outdoor play and freedom away from adults to just be children, and too much access to hand held devices, computer games, Utube etc.
We are all suffering the consequences now. Most of all, our children, our next generation are suffering through no fault of their own. I worry about what their world will have to offer them in the future.
I agree with what you have sad and in the 1/10 case when the parent is not supporting it can become very difficult. I would suggest document all communication and manage it so that other children and staff are not going to get hurt.
Yet the government still decide to cut services to help early intervention-
Unless a family is at high risk families will continue to struggle getting the support for their children. And the health service are already busting at seams to fill the gap- which is down to less support from birth to some families.
What I found was the lack of support from external agencies or professionals such as health visitors. Working in an early years setting and dealing with challenging behaviour in the setting is difficult when there isn’t consistency at home too or other professionals supporting the parents in the home environment.
Figures from 2013 suggest that children of 5 years and under are all falling into the bracket of being in families that began suffering hardship after the 2008 financial crash. Also schools and early years settings have been losing staff due to financial considerations and the thresholds for accessing SEN support were raised such that many children will not be seen by an Ed Psych but are experiencing severe social and emotional difficulties. Everyone is affected by the lack of compassion and funding for vulnerable families.
I can see it from both angles. Whilst staff are trained to deal with this, having deatl with a violent child first hand is a confliction, because whilst you want to do what is best for that child, you also need to consider the effect it has on the others, not only are they witness to an outburst, but they are losing out on your precious time with them. It makes me resentful that while I am dealing with difficult children the others are losing out. Yes, I suppose ratios are in place, but with three years olds one a one -eight ratio, you’re potentially leaving on member of staff to deal with 10+ children. In an ideal world that child should have one to one, but settings are constrained by cost. If you work in a none funded setting then it’s more outgoing. Especially with the living wage being £7.20. It just puts pressure on. You have to weigh up what is practical and realistically achievable, whilst considering what is the childs best interests. (Deputy Manager -BA(Hons) Early Childhood Studies
I’d anyone trained to deal with a violent under 5 year old? I certainly haven’t been. Out problem in early years is the lack of support from up above. I have personally had so children in my setting where physical behaviour has been a huge issue. I have been punched kicked and bitten on a daily basis for a considerable period of time. We follow all the correct procedures, get a few visits to help us put in place a full time one to one for that child when they start in reception. It’s frustrating and heartbreaking. I still feel their is a massive gap between the respect and support for early years professionals compared to school teachers. Teachers would not have to deal with this for as long as we do before the support kicks in.