Stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions of students at Wanganui schools were at their lowest in 2011, according to the latest national statistics released by the Ministry of Education.
However, four Wanganui secondary schools, two intermediate schools and four primary school had all reported stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions to the ministry. Reporting of all such incidents is mandatory for school boards.
The 10 schools who reported to the ministry were Rutherford Junior High School, Wanganui Intermediate, Wanganui Girls' College, Wanganui High School, Cullinane College, Wanganui City College, Faith Academy and primary schools Gonville School, Keith St School and St Marcellin School.
Ministry manager Leo Trompetter said stand-downs could be ordered for up to five days.
"But if matters are not resolved, then schools may opt to suspend a learner, with potential to escalate to exclusion [learners aged under 16] or expulsion [learners aged 16 or over]."
Some of the Wanganui principals said stand-downs were instigated when there was serious misbehaviour and continued disobedience.
They said the low rate of suspensions and exclusions showed that, by and large, the stand-down process was working well.
Cullinane College principal Kevin Shore said all schools had different approaches to stand-downs.
"In our school, the priority is to keep the student engaged in education and we use the stand-down as a tool to modify student behaviour before it gets more serious. When a stand-down is used, it is accompanied by a strong restorative process and pastoral guidance that supports the child when they return to school. The stand-down provides the school with the time to arrange a restorative meeting so the issue can be attended to before the student is reintegrated into the school. Consequently, our suspension rates are quite low, as the stand-down process provides the school with the opportunity to really engage with the student and their family and find a way forward."
Wanganui Intermediate principal Charles Oliver said his school's nine stand-downs in 2011 were very sad.
"We are very proud of the way we manage student behaviour. From a roll of 600 pupils, we had only a few who needed to be stood down last year, which is a time out of school for between one and three days as a cooling-off period to either enable them to rethink their patterns of interaction with others, or to give us a space to put in place support programmes to help them. We rarely suspend children. In 2011 there were two suspensions only."
City College principal Peter Kaua said he had adopted a low level of tolerance of students who compromise the safety of others.
"It is my responsibility to make sure each and every one in the school community is safe ... it is my job to make sure that school is a safe place so that my staff are able to teach and the students are able to learn."
Gonville School's Deanna Johnston said continuing disobedience and ongoing refusal to follow school directions were the main reason for the stand-downs at Gonville last year.
"We find that the one to three-day stand-down and the meeting afterwards, with the student and their family usually results in a more settled student ."
Keith Street School principal Clyde Piercy said stand-downs were used in conjunction with supportive intervention plans.
"It is when unacceptable behaviour has demanded that the child be removed from school for his or her own safety and a plan reviewed. The stand-downs are short, with consultation with the family and a joint family/school plan being developed for the benefit of that child," he said.