More from this theme Recent articles Fewer than one in 30 teachers and leaders say their school uses suspensions excessively, despite fresh government pressure on leaders to keep more pupils in school. Last week the Department for Education (DfE) pledged a new framework for “internal suspensions” – often called internal exclusions or isolation – as part of its looming white paper. Guidance will encourage schools to send fewer pupils home, limiting off-site suspensions to “the most serious and violent behaviour”. But the announcement prompted warnings of greater disruption in schools, and confusion over what the government wants  – as suspended pupils cannot currently be kept in school. While suspensions have increased by a fifth in recent years, just one per cent of 5,020 teachers polled recently by Teacher Tapp said schools use off-site suspensions too much. Heads were slightly more likely to say the same (three per cent). Far more (31 per cent) said schools use too few, though the biggest proportion (41 per cent) said schools use the right amount. Data also revealed many …