[senco-forum] exclude or not

I was a guest speaker at an end-of-term secondary school discussion many years ago where 'behaviour' and 'exclusion' was the topic. One disgrunted member of staff who clearly had had a difficult term said, "Mr Carron. I believe in calling a spade a spade. If I catch a boy stealing something in school, as far as I am concerned, that boy is a thief. Will you please tell me what is wrong with calling a thief a thief?

I had to admit to this teacher that, as a young boy, like most young boys, there were occasions when I had taken things that didn't belong to me. I also told him that I would be enternally grateful that I had never come across a teacher like him who believed in calling a spade a spade.  If I had done so and been labelled a thief,  I think it likely that my whole life would have taken a very different course.

Exclusion is a serious and inevitably damaging experience for the child who is excluded whatever bravado is demonstrated. It really should only ever be contemplated when no other alternative is possible.

Eddie C.