A YORK head teacher has warned students and parents to keep up standards of behaviour after the expulsion of four pupils in a single term.

Joseph Rowntree School, at New Earswick, excluded four pupils permanently last term, compared with three across the entire city in the autumn term.

Head teacher Hugh Porter said in his April newsletter: "Parents are well aware that we have been working hard at improving the behaviour of the small minority in each year who let us all down.

"This has led to the permanent exclusion of four students during the spring term.

"It is always with regret that I expel students - it is an indication of failure. On the other hand, students and parents must realise that this option is available and may be used to protect the education of our students and the well-being of staff."

Mr Porter told the Evening Press that each of the four had been separate individual cases and pointed out that none of the school's 1,300 pupils was expelled during the autumn term.

"Each has been upheld by the governors of the school and no appeals against them have been made by parents," he said.

"I deal with each case on its own merits. Permanent exclusions very often come as a result of a long history of misbehaviour by pupils in school. They fail to comply with school rules then there is one very serious matter that leads to the exclusion.

"It's a sanction that we use rarely but other parents and children need to understand the school is prepared to use strong disciplinary measures if necessary."

In his newsletter Mr Porter also said that most fixed-term exclusions, or suspensions, were down to "inappropriate responses to staff and abusive language".

He said: "Students need to know the difference between acceptable language in their workplace (the school) and that in their social lives."

Murray Rose, principal education officer with the City of York Council, said there had been six more permanent exclusions in four other York secondary schools in the spring term.

That brought the total this year, so far, to 13, compared with 25 at the same time last year.

He said: "Schools have to safeguard the interests of other pupils in the school but they also have to try and support individual pupils who are having difficulties in their lives.

"Schools are making a good balance between the two and the evidence of that is that the number of permanent exclusions is half what it was at the same time last year."