21/05/2026
WAPPA President, Niel Smith, spoke to ABC Morning Show on Wednesday morning about primary suspension data. This is the corresponding online story.
New figures have revealed that pupils in public primary schools were suspended for a record number of days last year.
Last year primary students were suspended for 25,000 days, a figure that has been increasing every year.
Niel Smith, the president of the WA Primary Principals Association (WAPPA), says the rise of suspensions could be a result of the action plan to address violence that was handed down by the education minister in 2023.
The first point of the action plan is to 'automatically suspend students who attack other students or start fights.'
While more primary principals are taking that option, Mr Smith says schools try and intervene early before suspension is needed.
"There's lots of parent meetings, there's lots of provision of extra education support, education assistant time," Mr Smith told Nadia Mitsopoulos on 102.5 ABC Perth Mornings.
But he said suspension is necessary to help ensure the safety of staff and students, as well as creating an opportunity to improve conditions.
"Whilst it might be seen as a consequence and a punishment, it's actually seen as a period of resetting where schools can put together a risk management plan or tweak a behaviour plan that can be discussed on re-entry."
One of Mr Smith's biggest concerns is the gap in support services between primary and high school.
WAPPA is also advocating for more training, such as de-escalation and restraint in emergency situations, for educators.
“A greater number of trainings [sessions], a greater number of school development days so schools can focus on behaviour plans, de-escalation strategies are all going to be beneficial," Mr Smith said.
