The Conservatives revealed figures showing 1,500 suspensions of children aged four and under in the past year.

In response, heads’ leader Mick Brookes says it reflects teachers’ fears that they could lose their jobs if they intervene to stop violent pupils.

As such teachers are using suspension powers instead, says Mr Brookes.

Teachers were worried by a culture of litigation and the fear of unjust accusations, said Mr Brookes, and as such they opted to use procedures to exclude violent toddlers.

‘Shocking’

"The culture we have in our schools now means that every time they lay hands on a child to restrain them from hurting themselves or others, they put their jobs on the line," said Mr Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

"You would be surprised by the vehement language and the violence that comes in with very young children these days, it’s quite shocking," Mr Brookes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The figures obtained by the Conservatives showed 580 fixed-term exclusions of five-year-olds, 300 of children aged four and 120 of those aged three, for attacking another pupil, data shows.

There has been a steady rise in temporary exclusions at primary schools, while permanent exclusions have fallen.

Primary school permanent exclusions - published in June - were down to 980 compared with 1,540 in 1997.

There were 45,730 fixed term exclusions (suspensions) in 2006/7, compared with 43,720 in 2004/5 and 41,300 the year before.

This is the first year that the government has given a breakdown of the reasons for suspensions among various ages of primary school children.

The data shows there were 890 exclusions of five-year-olds for assaulting an adult, along with 420 of four-year-olds and 140 of three-year-olds.

In total, there were more than 4,000 fixed-period exclusions handed to children aged five and under.

The figure for those aged four and under is 1,540, the majority of whom were four (1,140).

The exclusions relate to a very small proportion of the primary school population.

Disruptive

For example, in the case of children aged four who were suspended, if it is assumed the figure of 1,140 relates to individual children, it represents about 0.2% of the pupils in that age group in England’s schools.

The data showed that there were 10 suspensions of five-year-olds for bullying, and a further 20 for sexual misconduct.

But there were 1,000 suspensions of under-fives for persistent disruptive behaviour.

The statistics were obtained through a parliamentary question by shadow schools secretary Michael Gove.

"Teachers need the powers to maintain order in the classroom and clamp down on bad behaviour before it escalates into violence," said Mr Gove.

"Ministers have eroded teachers’ ability to keep order by restricting their powers to deal with disruptive and violent children."

The government insists schools do have the power to take action against children behaving badly - and that this data shows they are doing so.

Heads’ powers

A DCSF spokesman said: "It is very difficult to see what argument is actually being presented here. Of course heads have the power to permanently exclude pupils where necessary but we are also helping schools to turn around poor behaviour before it reaches this stage

"Violence in the classroom, at any age, is not acceptable and teachers have the power to take appropriate action against young children involved in such acts - and these figures show that they are doing that.

"It’s important to remember though that behaviour in the vast majority of schools is good most of the time and a recent survey of teachers showed that around nine in 10 felt that behaviour in their school was satisfactory or better."

Pupils must not be denied school trips because teachers fear being sued if things go wrong, says the government.

The government’s new £4.5m Out and About scheme gives schools in England clearer advice on safe outings.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls said children should not be wrapped up in cotton wool.

The initiative comes as the schools watchdog, Ofsted, reports that outings boost achievement but that many schools do not see trips as a priority.

England’s Ofsted inspectors said trips enhanced learning and motivated pupils.

The watchdog visited 27 schools and found activities such as trips to museums, visits to historical landmarks in foreign countries, after-hours sports and music clubs all increased pupils’ involvement, enjoyment and achievement.

Even conducting a science class in the school field had a positive impact, they found.

"Where young people experience memorable events in their education, they don’t just remember the emotion and excitement of the event itself but the learning that went with it," the report said.

Chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: "The positive impact of learning outside the classroom is widely recognised, but unfortunately it is sometimes seen as an extra or a treat, rather than as an integral part of the curriculum.

"Many schools will find the examples highlighted in the report extremely useful."

Vivid memories

The government’s Out and About scheme aims to give schools in England much clearer information to help organise effective learning outside the classroom.

The package, which has received £4.5m funding, will indentify organisations that provide high quality and safe outings for schools.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls said it was wrong to wrap children in cotton wool as they grew up.

"Trips and getting out of the classroom should be part and parcel of school life and always give the most vivid childhood memories," said Mr Balls.

"Learning outside the classroom is not some optional extra. It should excite young people, deepen their understanding of classroom subjects and are a vital to make young people independent, confident and self-reliant.

"The vast majority of England’s eight million children go safely on school trips or learn outside the classroom at some stage. But we know that more can be done to make sure it is an integral part of every child’s education.

"It is time that the fear of compensation culture is consigned to history once and for all."

Union support

The NASUWT union said it supported the plans.

"The perception of the classroom as the only space for learning needs to be challenged and we are excited to see there is such a positive direction of travel on this agenda as part of the Children’s Plan," said general secretary Chris Keates.

The National Union of Head Teachers gave its "full endorsement" to the programme.

"With all learning outside the classroom activities, we will need to be confident that all health and safety aspects are secure but non-bureaucratic," said general secretary Mick Brookes.

There is a wide variety of early learning and childcare available for your child. Finding out about the range of services on offer will help you decide what best suits you and your child’s needs.

It would cost the same to train all the teachers poor countries need as the world spends every two and half days on warfare.

Today, 100 million children in the world are denied the basic right of a primary school education. Without the chance to learn, these children will grow up in poverty with no hope, no ambition and no future.

It doesn’t have to be like this. In only five years Uganda and Malawi have managed to double the number of children in primary schools to over 90%. And in Tanzania, thanks to debt relief and aid, primary education is now free and compulsory.

If world leaders guarantee schooling for all children now, the lives of more than 10 million women and children will be saved over the next 10 years, and 3.5m cases of HIV and Aids will be avoided.

Poor countries need classrooms, books and above all lots of new teachers - according to Unesco, up to 35 million of them - if the Millennium Promise is to be kept.

When Akilile tells us he dreams of being a pilot, we could say: "Dream on." Or we could do something to make it happen.

Source Guardian.co.uk

 Pupils are being taught in class sizes of up to 55 in some parts of the country, teachers have claimed.

Delegates at the annual NUT conference in Manchester said excessive class sizes were a "national scandal" and entrenched social inequality.

The union is calling for a maximum class size of 20 by 2020 and is threatening rolling industrial action.

The UK comes 23rd in a league table of 30 developed countries’ class sizes, with a primary school average of 25.8.

A teacher from St Helens, Robin Pye, said smaller class sizes would do a great deal for the life chances of young people.

He said 40% of primary schools in his area had class sizes in the mid to upper 30s, despite rules limiting them to 30.

Mr Pye described how one teaching colleague took a class combining three year groups and three pupils with special educational needs, with no help from a teaching assistant.

‘Rose-tinted’

Birmingham teacher Stuart Richardson compared the situation in the state sector with a private school where a teacher friend had groups of two, five and nine pupils.

He argued that excessive class sizes entrenched social divisions, and argued for an end to all school closures prompted by the fall in pupil numbers in secondary schools.

Delegates also debated the burden teachers face in their working lives, which might also be the subject of future industrial action.

Andrew Stone from East London said teachers were "driven to distraction" by unmarked books and "box-ticking lesson plans".

He said teachers wanted schools to be places where the "rose-tinted recruitment ads" bore some relevance to reality.

Tom Woodcock from Cambridgeshire said teachers were struggling against a culture of form-filling and excessive monitoring.

"Teachers are angry, they are beyond angry, and many have voted in this debate already, many have voted with their feet," he said.

Source BBC NEWS EDUCATION