A staggering 1,250 little terrors aged four or under have been suspended from school in the last year because of bad behaviour, official figures out today reveal.
The children, almost all boys, have been excluded for between three and 10 days on average as punishment for punching, kicking and biting or being disruptive.
Some youngsters have even been expelled after attacking teachers and classroom assistants.
Five-year-olds were suspended 2,840 times. Some of the unruly youngsters have been suspended more than once.
The shocking figures are included in statistics from the Department for Children that show there were a total of 80,000 violence-related suspensions for all of England’s schools in 2008-09, the most up to date figures available.
In primary schools alone, youngsters were excluded nearly 17,000 times, while in secondary schools there were 63,000 cases.
And in some cases the level of violence used was so bad – including smuggling weapons into class – that the pupils involved were kicked out.
Classroom chaos: Thousands of pupils have been suspended for violence
Classroom chaos: Thousands of pupils have been suspended for violence
The number of permanent exclusions for primary schools was 320, rising to 1,450 for older pupils at secondary school.
School headteachers also handed out a further 89,870 suspensions for verbal abuse and threats aimed at teachers and classmates.
The most common reason for exclusion was persistent disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 29.6% of expulsions and nearly one in four suspensions.
However, overall figures show children are now better behaved in class than previously. The number of times primary school pupils were suspended in 2008-09 fell to 39,510 from 43,290 in 2007-08, while in secondary schools there were 307,840 suspensions, compared with 324,180.
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