Five-year-old expelled from school

The apparent lack of educational expertise in this incident is rather appalling. As seen in this report from Manchester, England.

A Girl of five has been expelled from her school.

Tamara Howard is believed to be the youngest child to be permanently excluded in Greater Manchester after being accused of attacking her teachers.

Tamara, one of the youngest pupils in her year, has been kicked out of Old Moat School in Withington after a number of incidents, which have also involved other pupils.

The youngster, who lives with mum Angela in Withington, has not been in school for three weeks and has remained at home.

Head teacher Merna McVeigh decided to permanently exclude Tamara over fears she may "seriously harm the education and welfare of pupils and others".

Ms Howard, 41, agrees Tamara can be difficult, but feels she has been left in the cold - and not enough time was taken to help resolve her problems.

And she is very concerned because her daughter is not getting any schooling.

Ms Howard met education and social services officials yesterday and was told it would be four weeks before a decision about Tamara's future would be made.

Children who behave badly can be sent home from school by the head teacher for a fixed period, or permanently. The decision to permanently exclude Tamara was taken after she was excluded for 15 days after an alleged attack on a teacher and classmate on September 20.

The school claims Tamara hit her teacher "several times on the arm, leaving cuts and bruises" after being asked to clear away some toy bricks.

This followed an earlier episode, when it was claimed Tamara attacked six staff members.

Ms Howard, who has two other children, said: "Tamara only started at school in January and has had more than six weeks' holidays in that time. She was never aggressive before arriving there and I don't feel she has been given a chance.

"She is five years old, so to say she is attacking members of staff is just ridiculous. She can be a handful and she does display challenging behaviour at times, but she needs support and encouragement, not punishment."

Tamara previously went to the Old Moat nursery, where there were no problems, but when she started school, her behaviour deteriorated. A tutor was brought in to help for a short time.

Ms Howard said: "An educational psychologist was able to do one day of assessment and then Tamara was excluded.

"The whole thing is a disgrace, she was excluded before she even had a chance to get any help."

The psychologist was called in on September 19 and a partial assessment was carried out. When the psychologist returned the day after, she was told of an attack on a teacher and that Tamara would be excluded. After a 15-day temporary exclusion period, it was made permanent.

A letter to Ms Howard said: "Tamara has physically and verbally assaulted a member of staff and a child in her class. Allowing her to stay in school would seriously harm the education and welfare of pupils and others." [...]