How Welsh school cut exclusions from 150 to 13 after behaviour overhaul

A secondary school has reduced its annual fixed-term exclusion rate by more than 90% following an overhaul of its approach to pupil behaviour — from 150 fixed-term exclusions in 2022/23 to just 13 in the current academic year.

Ysgol Maesydderwen in Ystradgynlais has been working with behaviour and education specialists Adele Bates Education (ABE) over the past 18 months to rebuild its behaviour culture, following a significant deterioration in the post-Covid period. The results were presented to Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills Committee on 5th June 2026.

Headteacher Phil Grimes described the scale of the challenge the school faced after the pandemic: “After Covid, the school has significantly changed and, like many schools, we struggled with some of our youngsters. What we were experiencing were learners with more extreme poor behaviour, especially out of lessons, in the corridor or the yard — and we struggled to get learners into class.”

The school had recorded 150 fixed-term exclusions totalling 238 days in 2022/23, and 148 exclusions totalling 249 days in 2023/24. Mr Grimes acknowledged that the approach being used was not working.

“We were excluding learners, they were having a day at home, and we expected their behaviour to change when they came back in. To think along those lines is madness in many respects. We needed to do something.”

Working with Adele Bates Education’s Welsh Associate Keith, the school developed what it calls an “enhanced consequences” system — a restorative approach focused on identifying the root causes of behaviour rather than responding to incidents in isolation.

Mr Grimes explained: “We would work with learners to identify the reasons for misbehaviour: what were the triggers and barriers, and work with them to modify their behaviour and habits so they didn’t get into that situation again.”

Securing staff buy-in was a central part of the process. Over time, the school culture shifted — from reactive to proactive, and from punitive to relational.

The results speak for themselves. Fixed-term exclusions fell to 52 in 2024/25, totalling 62.5 days. In the current academic year, the figure stands at 13.

Mr Grimes said: “Instead of being reactive to behaviour problems we’re being proactive and getting underneath these emerging issues early, so we get that prevention in place and it doesn’t get to that situation.”

A spokesperson for AB Education added: “What Phil and his team have achieved at Maesydderwen is exactly what’s possible when leadership is willing to have an honest conversation about what the school’s culture is really doing — to its pupils and its staff. Exclusion was never going to teach behaviour. Relationship, consistency and the right conditions can. This is what 18 months of sustained work looks like, and we’re proud to have been part of it.”