WHY do schools find it so hard to deal with pupils with problems? If they can't deal they call a meeting of governors and exclude them from school.

To me this is a ridiculous way of dealing with the problem. They are not solving the problem only moving it to another school. I believe with perseverance and more understanding of the pupil's background there would be no need for exclusion.

I never once gave up on any of the teenagers I fostered, and believe you me I had many a battle of temperaments. But getting to understand their background I learnt how to deal with them. So if I, a single person, managed it how come a school with teachers and counsellors can't?

Excluding pupils is not the answer. Patience and understanding is.

JM ALDRIDGE

Winsley