Mayor's £2m fund aims to 'drastically reduce' exclusions

Schools need more support to address problems, according to the director of the mayor's Violence Reduction Unit

London's schools should "drastically reduce" the rate at which disruptive pupils are excluded, the city's violence reduction chief has said.

Lib Peck admitted that permanent exclusions would still happen but the aim should be to change bad behaviour.

Schools need more support to address problems that often begin in the period between primary and secondary school, she said.

She spoke as the mayor pledged almost £2m to help tackle the issue.

The money will be used for schemes in schools across seven borough to support them to reduce exclusions.

For the first time this will include primaries.

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Ms Peck - the director of the mayor's Violence Reduction Unit - said: "This isn't about blaming teachers. This isn't saying schools aren't doing a good job.

"It is really saying we know they need more support."

Exclusions 'a habit'

The capital has looked for inspiration from Glasgow City Council, which reduced exclusions by almost 90% over a decade, during which time youth crime was cut by half.

Lib Peck says it "isn't about blaming teachers"

Its former director of education Maureen McKenna said that "exclusions are a habit and what you need to do is to break that habit".

Cathy Stygal, the head at Mayesbrook Park School in Barking and Dagenham, said that the pressure on teachers to deliver good results for all their students was "incredible".

This meant that often they saw no "other alternative" than to exclude disruptive pupils, she explained.

"But if they are looking back at what is the basis for that poor behaviour or disruptive behaviour it is often that the child is not able to engage in the learning for some reason."

Jade Barnett was excluded from three schools

'Written off'

Jade Barnett, who was excluded from three schools, is an adviser to the Violence Reduction Unit.

She blamed her behaviour on her parents' divorce and living being between homes.

"No-one knew I was suffering," she explained, revealing that she felt teachers "wrote her off" after her first exclusion.

She was told that she would end up in prison or pregnant.

"I will always remember that moment because it really, really hurt me. And it broke me and it ruined the rest of my time at school.

"I had no faith in teachers."

Ben Lindsay, founder of Power the Fight, a group which works to end youth violence, said: "If you say to a teacher like we've often said: 'Do you really want to exclude a young person? What about if there was another way that we could provide nurture and support and specialist people like therapists, councillors or psychologists who could do the work?'

"Most teachers who speak to us say 'yes, we would want that'."

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