AQW 33000/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 07/10/2025
Answered On Date: 15/10/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any departmental or Education Authority guidance regarding the use of the removal of play, or outdoor time, as a disciplinary measure in schools, particularly primary schools.

Answer:

Article 3 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 as amended by Article 19 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 requires a school to have a discipline policy which outlines the behaviour it expects from pupils and the sanctions it will impose for breaches in discipline.

The department has produced guidance on this issue entitled "Pastoral Care in Schools: Promoting Positive Behaviour" which sets out how a school should develop a discipline/positive behaviour policy using a whole school approach and in consultation with pupils and parents.

The guidance notes that sanctions are an integral part of a school’s behaviour policy which help to uphold the rules and procedures, provide pupils with the security of clearly-defined boundaries and, in so doing, encourage appropriate and acceptable behaviour. The guidance highlights that it is important to ensure that pupils are fully aware of the conditions which will lead, in all likelihood, to the imposition of sanctions, and gives examples of sanctions, which includes restriction of access to extra-curricular facilities or activities for a period. In relation to this restriction specifically, the guidance notes that care should be taken to ensure that any restriction of a pupil’s access to facilities, activities or services does not detrimentally affect his or her access to the curriculum or place the pupil at an educational disadvantage in comparison with his/her peers.

Responsibility for discipline within schools rests with the school principal and its Board of Governors (BoG) and they should promote positive behaviour among pupils attending the school to safeguard their welfare and facilitate their educational progress at school.