Summit to discuss rise in school exclusions

David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, said he was particularly concerned about the practice of offloading – where pupils with poor predicted grades were excluded to protect a school’s league table position.

Around 100 senior teachers from schools and colleges around the region were attending today's summit in Birmingham to discuss the problem – which has been inked with a rise in violent crime.

Studies have shown that excluded pupils are more likely to go on to commit crime than students who remain in mainstream education.

The West Midlands has followed a national upward trend for rising pupil exclusions, with the number of children permanently excluded almost doubling from 440 in 2010 to 727 in 2017. Across England the number has shot up from 5,740 to 7,720 over the same period.

Across the country more than 19,000 pupils did not progress from year 10 to year 11 in state-funded secondary schools.

Mr Jamieson, a former teacher, said he was concerned that after almost a decade of government cuts to spending on education, increasing class sizes means schools cannot always support disruptive pupils at an early stage in the way they would like.

He is exploring the possibility of helping with specialist intervention programmes, and working with selected schools on projects designed to steer children away from crime. Over half-term, he spent more than £250,000 on positive activities for youngsters.

The PCC argued that schools should be fined if found to be off-rolling and any penalties paid to go towards providing education for excluded pupils.

The summit was due to hear from high-ranking police officers who work on combating knife crime, from schools who have all but eliminated the practice of school exclusions and from third sector organisations who support excluded children. Ofsted chiefs were also due to attend.

The Commissioner said: "I am concerned that there is a growing number of excluded young people who have little to no educational provision and we are seeing those children end-up in gangs and committing crimes as a result.

"I am also particularly concerned about the ‘off-rolling’ of pupils who are not necessarily disruptive, but are lower performers than other pupils. In pursuit of improved league tables we are letting down huge numbers of our young people and it is having a big impact on violent crime.

"There is growing evidence that a number of these young people are also at increased risk of exploitation."

He said he hoped to work even more closely with schools to provide funding for activities aimed at diverting children away from crime.