Schools in Marlborough are taking a restorative approach to dealing with disruptive pupils and problem behaviour in the schoolyard to reduce the number stood down and suspended.
Figures released by the Education Ministry show the number of pupils stood down and suspended in Marlborough has dropped between 2006 and last year.
Marlborough Boys' College principal Wayne Hegarty said the school had stood down or suspended 23 students this year, compared with the 60 who were stood down and 27 suspended last year.
His emphasis since he began at the college last year had been on changing behaviour and the culture at the school, and it was paying off, he said.
Standing down a student or removing them from the school was the last resort.
"They're all young men and they'll make mistakes. Our preference is not to stand down – we'd prefer to do anything else we can, including the use of restorative practices."
The college would also prefer in-house stand downs so the student would still be learning rather than out of school, but the idea was limited by funds.
Redwoodtown School principal Gary Hildyard said many of his pupils suspended or stood down had arrived from other schools and were pushing the boundaries.
The school had the most stand downs and suspensions of all other primary schools in the region during the past five years. Last year it stood down 10 pupils, but did not suspend any.
Taking that action usually meant a "pretty gross breach of the rules" such as smoking or bringing alcohol, but most would be for verbal or physical abuse.
The school worked with the pupils and parents to find the best solution to the problem, he said.
"Restorative practice is about what happened, who was affected and what could you do next time. You look at how [the pupil] will put it right."
Figures for Marlborough Girls' College showed it was standing down fewer students but suspending slightly more. Principal Karen Stewart said the trend reflected plans put in place over the years and developing a positive school culture.
During the past few years the college had started projects such as youth workers in the school and staff and student mentoring programmes.
Queen Charlotte College principal Tom Parsons said the school's expectations of students had risen over the year and it used stand downs and suspensions to indicate what was acceptable behaviour.
Most of the stand downs last year were for improper use of electronic media, he said.
- The Marlborough Express
SIMON WONG
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