100 ‘sex-case’ expulsions

THERE were 100 school suspensions because of sexual misconduct in Greater Manchester last year.

Those are the findings of an M.E.N. investigation, which looked at suspensions for the academic year 2017/18.

Official Department for Education guidelines say sexual misconduct includes abuse, assault, harassment, bullying, graffiti and lewd behaviour that is sexual in nature.

Campaigners warned though that children’s claims are ‘trivialised or dismissed as lies’ too often.

Manchester had the highest number of temporary suspensions (31), followed by Tameside (11), Rochdale (10), and both Bury and Bolton (nine each).

The figures show six of the 100 suspensions in 2017/18 were among primary pupils.

The number of suspensions does not necessarily reflect the number of students, because a pupil could be suspended more than once in a year.

In 2017/18, one primary school pupil from Tameside was permanently excluded because of sexual misconduct.

One secondary school pupil each from each of Bolton, Salford, and Tameside were also permanently excluded.

Iryna Pona, policy and research manager at The Children’s Society, said: “We know through our frontline work and our local well-being consultations with young people that inappropriate and harmful sexual behaviour among peers – both in school, outside school or online – is hugely traumatic for those affected.

“Much more needs to be done to ensure school staff are alert to signs of inappropriate sexual behaviour and that schools provide a supportive environment for pupils to learn about healthy relationships and seek help if they are concerned about sexual bullying or abuse in school,” said Iryna.