Stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions guidelines – Part 2

About the guidelines

These guidelines:

  • are designed to assist school boards, principals, and teachers with their legal options and duties and meet their obligations under relevant statutory requirements, and
  • are for use in all state and state-integrated schools.

Independent schools may also wish to adopt this guide.

Please note:  The Education and Training Act 2020 has replaced the Education Act 1989.  Any references to the Education Act 1989 in the SSEE Guidelines  below should be replaced with the relevant sections in the new Education and Training Act 2020. This includes replacing the sections of the Act in the letters in the Good Practice Guidelines Part 2 (refer Appendix).

The guidelines comprise:

Part 1: Legal options and duties [PDF, 2.4 MB]

Part 2: Good practice [PDF, 2.4 MB]

These guidelines replace those published by the Ministry of Education in June 2004 and the 2007 Supplement. The paragraphs have been numbered for ease of use and reference. Cross-references to Part 1 – Legal options and duties are given where relevant.

Section 2: Creating procedures and processes

This section provides information about procedures and processes that your school can use when investigating and interviewing students, managing student behaviour, considering effects on others and taking into account students who have special education needs.

In this section

  • 6. Investigation and interviewing - Robust processes for interviewing witnesses and those involved in the incident can strengthen the information-gathering process
  • 7. Behaviour management - It is vital for schools to have plans in place that outline different strategies for managing student behaviour
  • 8. Effects on others - While managing student behaviour and discipling students who have breached school rules, schools must also ensure they manage the effects on other students
  • 9. Special education needs - It can be challenging for schools to manage student behaviour when working with students with special education needs