Pupil exclusions believed to have risen across Oxfordshire
Pupil suspensions and exclusions in England are predicted to have risen by more than a fifth in the past year, a report has found.
Last updated 5th Sep 2024
Whilst schools have started back up again this week, a report has predicted that suspensions and exclusions have gone up by more than a fifth in England.
The research explores an "exclusions continuum" to identify the formal ways children miss school - like absences and suspensions - as well as other types of lost learning "currently invisible" in official data.
The "alarming" numbers of children losing learning since the pandemic must be addressed, according to a paper by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank and education charity The Difference.
Suspensions are one of the last steps for schools to take. Charlotte Broom is Deputy Headteacher at Cheney School, she said: “It is the most serious consequence that the school can issue and therefore it is not a decision that is taken lightly.
“We know that suspensions are not helpful in ensuring that young person feels connected and that they feel they can succeed, but schools have to use suspensions. They need to consider this really challenging balancing question between the needs of the individual and the needs of the community.”
Mrs Broom feels that suspensions are largely a result of children not feeling connected, she said: “If you don’t feel like you’re connected in your community, sometimes your way to express that is to act out and meet expectations.
We asked Mrs Broom if there was anything that parents could do to help, she said: “Parents can make sure that their young people are connected beyond their phones. If they’re worried that their young person isn’t think about ways that they could encourage that.
“It could be clubs, activities, religious communities, anything like that which creates a sense of belonging”.