Clause 49 - Exclusion of pupils
Education Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Ivan Lewis (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Education and Skills; Bury South, Labour)
Every day of every week, head teachers make difficult decisions in difficult circumstances and, hopefully, possession of all the facts. That is why they are head teachers; they are paid to take that responsibility. We are trying to reach a judgment with partial information and with no knowledge of a child's family circumstances, of other behaviour that the child may have exhibited in the school in the past, of the effect of that behaviour on the rest of the class, of whether it is a one-off incident or whether a problem child is causing mayhem in the school every day of the week.
This is becoming a fatuous discussion. It is clear what the draft guidance will tell appeals panels. We trust the professional judgment of head teachers to make reasonable and sensible decisions on these matters. In view of the reassurances that have been given and the fact that our objectives are similar, I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the amendment.