"[When] the principals go down the path of suspending the child, they are supposed to show that they have been violent, that they were going to hurt them or harm the teacher, yet they are just five years old. It doesn't make sense." Loading But disability expert Linda Graham from the Queensland University of Technology said the figures showed NSW was doing a better job on suspensions than Queensland. "I think that no kindy kid should ever be suspended, because they don't understand what it means, but those figures are considerably less than Queensland," she said. "In 2017, there were 1067 prep kids suspended in Queensland. "It's not good that 626 four and five-year-olds are being suspended. It's terrible that that is happening, however NSW is clearly doing something better than Queensland."

Labor MP Courtney Houssos, a member of the upper house education committee, which called for the figures, urged Education Minister Sarah Mitchell to investigate. "Suspensions should only ever be used as a last resort and it's deeply concerning that more than 600 children who have just started school have already been suspended," she said. One mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said her son was suspended five times in kindergarten. He is now in year 2 and has been suspended a total of 11 times, she said. "He gets quite dysregulated because of ADHD, he will push over tables - he goes into fight or flight." she said. "His teachers just don't get the right training, they don't understand it's a disability."

Labor's education spokesman Prue Car said "something is drastically wrong if 600 kindergarten children are being suspended" in a year. Loading The figures apply to public schools. Parliament cannot compel Catholic and independent schools to reveal their suspension figures. Earlier this month, the Herald revealed students with a disability made up 20 per cent of the school population but more than 40 per cent of those suspended, and children in years one and two of primary school made up more than six per cent of all students sent home from school for disciplinary reasons. The NSW Department of Education policy statement says suspension is not designed to be punitive, but rather to give the school, student and parents time to put strategies in place to help avoid a similar situation in the future.