Hackney (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Hackney Council faces warnings over school behaviour policies deemed damaging and allegedly racist, prompting scrutiny from community leaders and experts.
Hackney-based education and wellness organizations informed their local council Wednesday night that they were “sickened” with the way some policies were affecting kids and their families, even when the outcomes “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.
Janette Collins MBE from The Crib, an inclusion hub, joined her and cautioned against rigid behavior standards that “just talk about sanctions, sanctions, sanctions.”
In order to participate in an “in-depth” evaluation of the borough’s school behavior standards, the volunteer-led organizations traveled to the Town Hall.
After Kensington and Chelsea, Hackney has one of the highest rates of student expulsions and suspensions in the city, according to council figures.
Council members have previously expressed concern that certain child groups were being disproportionately affected by these expulsions.
Although Hackney has twice as many exclusions as other inner London boroughs, according to data from 2016 to 2023, the number has dramatically increased nationwide since the pandemic.
Hundreds of London students were permanently excluded last year, according to data released by the Department of Education (DfE) in May.
Despite a decline in the capital, overall numbers in England increased by 2% between 2023 and 2024.
According to the DfE, persistent disruptive behaviour was the most frequent cause of suspensions and permanent exclusions.
More students with emotional, mental, and social issues began attending school in the post-pandemic era, according to James Bowen, director of policy at the National Association of Headteachers.
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.
In February, Hackney’s children and youth scrutiny committee chair, Cllr. Sophie Conway, stated that the borough must be “tough on poor behaviour, tough on the causes of poor behaviour.”
The volunteer organizations and school administrators both emphasized the need for early intervention and a relationship-focused approach.
Collins claimed that she encountered difficulties when attempting to provide schools with her free early intervention program.
Jo Carter of Immediate Theatre echoed this, stating that her arts group had had difficulty getting into schools and felt devalued by them.
While some schools invited organizations like Quest to intervene and mentor children at risk of exclusion, others, according to Ms. Allen, just did not want them present.
“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.
Although Ms. Allen did not specifically name this institution, Mossbourne Victoria Park is now the only Hackney academy under inquiry.
Following hundreds of parent complaints alleging “widespread and long-term abuse of children,” the borough’s safeguarding children partnership began an unusual investigation into the school in December.
“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.
How could Hackney’s anti-racism strategies change school discipline approaches in the future?
Hackney’s anti-racism strategies are poised to significantly transform school discipline approaches by addressing systemic biases and fostering a more inclusive educational environment.
These strategies aim to reduce disproportionate exclusions and ensure that disciplinary practices are equitable and trauma-informed, particularly for Black and global majority (BGM) students and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Hackney acknowledges that children, especially those from Black Caribbean backgrounds, are disproportionately excluded from school. The anti-racism framework directly confronts this disparity, pledging to strengthen anti-racism practices with a focus on preventing exclusions that disproportionately affect Black boys .
