The father wants his son to have wrap-around support. Photo / 123RF stock image
A Palmerston North father whose 5-year-old son was stood down from school for setting off the fire alarm says he wants the incident wiped from the boy’s permanent record.
The boy has a history of violent and disruptive behaviour in school, including punching a teacher in the stomach, throwing furniture, destroying other children’s work and calling one teacher a “f***ing b****”.
The father said the child is awaiting an ADHD diagnosis, but that school staff told him that would not be taken into account until the diagnosis was confirmed.
The Herald has chosen not to name the child or his school for privacy reasons.
The primary school stood the boy down in November after he set off the fire alarm, leading to a full school evacuation and firefighters showing up.
“He’s 5 years old, do you think he’s going to be sitting there reflecting on why he’s at home for four days?” said his father.
He believed his son meant no harm and had tampered with the switch out of curiosity and impulsiveness.
A behavioural report from the school provided to the Herald by the father described 22 incidents across nine months last year, including the one with the fire alarm.
“I heard the fire evacuation bell and saw [the boy] bolt out of the locker room foyer, and I noticed the fire alarm had the red tamper switch on,” a teacher wrote in the report.
Other incidents included him hitting other children with his lunch box, knocking chairs down off the table, and running outside to urinate on the concrete.
On one occasion he was asked to put away his toy and join a lesson, so became angry and ran outside. When a staff member went to get him, he scratched her hand, drawing blood, and yelled at her.
In August, when the boy was not allowed to participate in an activity in class, he “screamed at me that I was an Fing B” before throwing a rubbish fruit box and storming out of the room, a teacher wrote. He later brought the teacher a flower.
The father, who has complained to the school board, Ministry of Education, Human Rights Commission and Ombudsman about his son’s suspension, is refusing to send his children to the school until the conflicts are resolved, and has met with another school to discuss transferring his son.
He said the boy started at the school last year and that he made the school aware of his potential ADHD.
But in a recent email, the school said the child would be stood down again if any more aggressive incidents occurred.
“[They’re] pretty much pre-empting that no matter what he does, they’ve already decided,” the father believed.
He acknowledged his son had behavioural issues, saying he was “not the perfect child, but he’s got challenges in life”.
The father had a meeting with his son’s head principal and teacher in November to discuss the stand-down, questioning if the school had taken his son’s suspected ADHD diagnosis into consideration.
“It lasted not even five minutes before they said I needed to leave.”
He claimed staff told him a diagnosis would not be taken into consideration until it was confirmed.
Email exchanges show the school saying it made multiple referrals to Resource Teacher Learning And Behaviour (RTLB) about the child’s needs, but the Ministry of Education told the father in an email it had not received any referrals.
The father wanted his son to be given as much support as possible, with wrap around services and medication.
“We just really want [him] to succeed in life and get the best out of the education that is offered to him.”
The father, diagnosed with ADHD himself, understood the struggle his son was experiencing in his education while being unmedicated, but said he was a “loving, caring kid, he’s full of energy”.
The chairwoman of the school’s Board of Trustees stood by the principal’s decision to stand down the then 5-year-old.
“The Board of Trustees undertook a formal review of the stand-down process in question and is satisfied that the principal followed all required procedures and that the decision was made in line with school policy and legislative requirements,” she said in a statement.
She declined to comment on the support specifically given in this case, but said the school was committed to supporting the learning and wellbeing needs of all students.
“We take both student wellbeing and school safety seriously, and that all matters are handled with care, fairness and in accordance with our obligations.”
“Where additional needs are identified, we work closely with whānau, teachers, support staff and external agencies to ensure appropriate supports are in place.”
The school enacts ministry-approved procedures for stand-downs, suspension or exclusion in cases of “extreme misconduct, continual disobedience, and/or behaviour risking serious harm”, according to the school’s behaviour management policy.
The policy said stand-downs were approached with flexibility, considering all circumstances and behavioural needs as part of their decision-making.
The school works with outside agencies if necessary, to plan individual programmes and strategies for students with particular behavioural needs.
The Herald reported this week a majority of parents want teacher aides in every classroom to help students who needed support.
A survey commissioned by the primary teachers’ union has found 83% of parents wanted this, with an estimated cost between $300 million and $500m annually.
“Nearly two-thirds of the school year is gone by the time our disabled students get the learning support they need. This is a denial of basic educational rights,” NZ Educational Institute president Ripeka Lessels said.
Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region. She has previously worked at the Rotorua Daily Post.