Durham Council defends school exclusion rise

Jul 31 2009 by Sam Wood, The Journal

THE NUMBER of children suspended and excluded from Durham schools has rocketed in the last 12 months.

Latest figures from the Government were released yesterday, which revealed that last year in Durham, 560 pupils were suspended from primary schools, a 16% increase on the year before.

And 100 secondary school pupils were permanently excluded during the same period, a 30% hike on the year before.

The rise comes against the backdrop of a regional and national decline in the number of pupils of all ages being excluded from school.

Overall in the North East the number of children suspended and excluded from schools was down to 13,440 from 15,470.

A spokesperson for Durham Council said: “Decisions on excluding pupils from school are taken by headteachers.

“The council provides support to help schools with children to manage behaviour. We have created a team who will work across the county and tackle any behavioural problems.

“They will work with those pupils to solve the problems, hopefully without the need for exclusions.”