Primary pupil exclusions in city highest in country Council criticised for handling attacks on teachers poorly
PRIMARY school pupils in Birmingham are the most likely to be permanently excluded in England, with physical attacks and abuse of teachers at record levels.
New Government figures have revealed that during the 2014/15 academic year there were 76 permanent exclusions of primary school children in the city. That’s 0.07 per hundred pupils – the joint-highest proportion in England.
A total of 25 youngsters were permanently excluded for physical assault – up from 15 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, temporary suspensions have also soared to their highest level since 2006/7, with 333 sent home for physical attacks.
According to Birmingham’s opposition Conservative education spokesman Matt Bennett, the rise was not a result of thuggish behaviour or a “broken society”, but poor management of children with special needs, who lash out as a result.
A high-profile case involved claims that as many as 30 children were excluded from Nonsuch School in Woodgate Valley last year, including ten-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer Mason Dunbar, who was expelled for ‘defiance’, then later reinstated on appeal.
Councillor Bennett (Cons, Edbaston), responsible for Birmingham children’s services in 2011-12, said: “There’s a big problem. Rather than dealing with children with special needs in the right way, they are excluded.
“The support is just not there. Sometimes it is the fault of a school and most of the time it is the fault of the local authority that the right kind of school place is not there.
“We have been highlighting problems for some time – the council needs to get a grip, and fast.”
He explained that the council’s pupil referral unit is supposed to be a temporary stopping point of up to two months for expelled pupils between schools, but the average stay is a year – with some stopping for three years.
Council director for education Colin Diamond said the authority was making ‘every effort’ to work with parents and schools to reduce exclusions. He said: “While disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated in our schools, permanent exclusion should always be a last resort because of the stigma that goes with it and the impact it has on the education of young people. “With regard to pupils with special educational needs, while there is much good practice we are aware that many families are not satisfied with the service they receive, and issues around SEN (Special Educational Needs) could contribute to poor behaviour and subsequent exclusion.” He said there is a full review of SEN arrangements in the city, adding: “We do plan to review SEN arrangements in Birmingham to ensure there is a fair and transparent decision-making process and a sharper focus on building resilience and independence in our young people.”
Primary pupils in Birmingham were among the most likely to be given more than one suspension, with 998 pupils racking up more than one fixed-term exclusion in 2014/15, or 0.89 per 100 pupils.
Meanwhile, according to the Department for Education figures, in Dudley exclusions of secondary school pupils hit a nine-year high of 89 in 2014/15, as did Wolverhampton with 21.
Dudley has one of the highest permanent exclusion rates in England for secondary pupils in 2014/15, at 0.49 per 100 pupils.
Solihull, with 73 permanent exclusions, also has one of the highest rates at 0.43 per 100.
Permanent exclusions for drugs and alcohol and for physical attacks on other pupils hit a nine-year high in Sandwell too, at 10 and 11 exclusions respectively.
There were 487 fixed-term exclusions of primary pupils in Walsall in 2014/15, 1.79 per 100 pupils at these schools, one of the highest proportions in England.