(UK) More elementary students being expelled

July 23, 2017, UK Daily Mail: The children expelled at five for swearing, kicking and punching teachers... and the inspiring head turning their lives around with fresh air, exercise - and jigsaws instead of iPads http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4723246/The-children-expelled-five-swearing-punching.html Nor is Stella an isolated case. In recent years, the number of children being excluded from primary school has risen. Last year, for the first time, it exceeded 1,000. It’s a mind-boggling figure, behind which lie a number of troubling questions. Do the demands of modern life mean British children are behaving more badly than ever, or is it a lack of discipline at home? Are our schools ill-equipped to deal with children with more complex needs, or are they just increasingly eager to swiftly offload any troublemakers? … But is it funding — or lack of will? Des Reynolds, chief executive of the Engage Trust, which runs nine academies for children who have been excluded from mainstream education, is inclined to the latter view. This month, he suggested that a preoccupation with academic league tables meant head teachers were expelling even very young children for behaviour they would have spent time correcting in the past. ‘Our biggest growth area is the under-sevens,’ he said