Kicked out of class

New figures obtained by The Press show the number of permanent exclusions in the city has risen more than five-fold in two years.

Since April 2005, there have been 59 expulsions - up from 26 in the previous 12 months, and 11 the year before.

The new figures, released by the council for the 12 months to April 18, came as two girls at All Saints' RC School, York, were expelled for taking ecstasy.

Elaine Kay, secretary for the National Union of Teachers' northern region, said: "It's concerning that teachers are having to put up with such appalling behaviour that warrants a permanent exclusion."

Mark Ellis, of City of York Council's education department, said: "We have to accept that behaviour is in some circumstances getting too bad."

'Two classes' of pupils excluded

ASSAULT, drug use, theft and verbal abuse - these were just some of the offences committed in York schools as the number of expulsions rocketed for the second year running.

New figures obtained by The Press show the number of permanent exclusions in the city has risen more than five-fold in two years.

Since April 2005, there have been 59 expulsions - the equivalent of two classes. The expulsions are up from 26 in the previous 12 months, and 11 the year before.

A teachers' union leader today voiced concern about the "appalling" behaviour teachers endure.

But council bosses and several head teachers in the city put the rise down to changing procedures, rather than worsening behaviour.

They said increased use of expulsions allowed disruptive pupils to be relocated into a new school more quickly than under the previous system, where children were moved into City of York Council's pupil referral unit.

The new figures, released by the council for the 12 months to April 18, came as two girls at All Saints' RC School were expelled for taking ecstasy.

The Year 9 girls have been kicked out by head teacher Bill Scriven, after being caught in assembly last month having taken tablets.

Of the 59 expulsions since last April, most were for assault or general disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 17 and 16 respectively.

Other offences included two counts of drug possession, one of theft, four of threatening behaviour or violence, and three of verbal abuse.

Elaine Kay, secretary for the National Union of Teachers' northern region said: "It's concerning that our teachers are having to put up with such appalling behaviour that warrants a permanent exclusion."

She said schools adhere to strict procedures when expelling pupils, but added: "It's very unfortunate that they have to take that decision and it's an indication of the difficulties that schools and teachers have to face, through disruptive and unacceptable behaviour on the part of pupils.

"It's something ourselves in the education sector and parents have to tackle very seriously, in not allowing this to escalate any further."

Mark Ellis, head of access in the council's education department, said some areas of bad behaviour were getting more serious, particularly in relation to drugs and weapons in school.

He said: "I think five years ago you would not be talking about that kind of thing. We have to accept that behaviour is, in some circumstances, getting too bad.

"Head teachers have to say that's not acceptable. The message is being given to head teachers that you do not have to tolerate this kind of behaviour."

But he said the rise was misleadingly steep, because the council had changed the way it handled unruly pupils.

Previously, children were moved out of school into the pupil referral unit, but not recorded as expelled.

He said the council was now happier to formally expel pupils and give parents a right of appeal, which they would not previously have got.

He said head teachers had also now been given authority to expel pupils for one-off serious incidents, but said the general changes actually meant fewer children were spending time out of school.

Carol Runciman, the council's executive member for education admitted the increase was a concern, but said: "I do not think it's necessarily behaviour getting worse - it's certainly that the staff are tightening up.

"I know that from talking to them - they are getting less tolerant of misbehaviour.

"I do not think it's 'zero tolerance', but it's certainly not the level of tolerance that has been the case before. There is an expectation of higher standards of behaviour."

All Saints' expels drug-taking girls

TWO teenage girls caught taking ecstasy tablets in school have been expelled.

All Saints' RC School in York has permanently excluded the girls who are 13 or 14-years-old and head teacher Bill Scriven said it had been an "extremely difficult decision" to make.

Mr Scriven originally suspended the pair for five and seven days and extended their suspensions to 17 days over the Easter holidays.

The school is holding a meeting for parents on drug education on Wednesday with the aim of allaying any fears and explaining its stance on the matter.

It will give parents the opportunity to meet senior staff following an incident where two Year 9 girls, aged 13 or 14, were taken home from school and subsequently excluded.

Both girls became distressed and started crying in school on March 21, and their fellow pupils told teachers they thought they had been taking drugs.

One of the girls admitted straight away that she had taken pills, and a search of her locker turned up seven tablets. The school called police and the parents of both girls.

Mr Scriven said he viewed drug taking extremely seriously and had not made the decision lightly.

"It's been an extremely difficult decision, but regretfully we feel this is the right course of action and both the girls' parents have been informed," he said.

"I think it's important to take time and not react in the heat of the moment, but I have consulted widely and had support from parents, colleagues and pupils throughout.

"The impressive way in which the pupils responded to this in reporting it so quickly and their shocked reaction gives me a lot of confidence that this was an isolated incident."

The original incident emerged a day after The Press reported Geoff Mitchell, the head teacher at Tadcaster Grammar School, had excluded a Year 11 girl for possessing cannabis after students tipped off their teacher.

All Saints' caters for 1,102 pupils on a split site at Nunnery Lane and Mill Mount. The meeting will be at 4.25pm at the Upper School site, and pupils should not attend.

Mr Scriven said over 40 parents are expected to attend the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and over 50 had written to say they could not attend, but gave their support.

Mark Ellis, of City of York Council's education team, said the guidelines around permanent exclusions are that if a pupil threatens the safety of staff or other pupils the decision to expel lies with the head teacher.

When a child is expelled, a governors' meeting would have to take place within 15 days to decide whether to uphold or overturn it.

A spokesman for York Police said no charges are being brought against either girl as both had agreed to go on a drugs referral scheme to learn about the dangers of taking drugs.

Updated: 08:24 Monday, May 01, 2006