Southwark schools agree not to exclude students

Southwark schools did not exclude any students in the autumn term of 2021

Schools in Southwark will not exclude students for behaving badly, according to council documents.

Secondary schools in the south London borough will agree to keep disruptive children, unless they put another child's safety at risk.

Southwark Council is said to be the first local authority in the UK to have schools sign up to such an agreement.

A 2020 report by the council found Southwark to have a higher than average exclusion rate.

It also found academies would exclude more children than other schools.

A separate report, also from the council, found that black students in Southwark were 1.5 times more likely to be excluded than their white counterparts.

In England, the permanent exclusion rate was 0.06 in 2019-20.

Councillors hope the borough will be the first in England to exclude no pupils in the coming years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Teachers will be encouraged to try to understand the reason for bad behaviour by using a "trauma-informed" response and are being told not to take misbehaviour at "face value".

Southwark schools did not exclude any students during the 2021 autumn term.