Schoolchildren attacked staff 80 times last year

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Children attacked school staff 80 times last year in one borough.

Assaults against an adult accounted for 9.2 per cent of all exclusions in Lambeth between 2020 and 2021, council documents have revealed.

Schools in the borough suspended 612 pupils last year, some more than once. There were 868 suspensions in total between 2020 and 2021.

About 1.6 per cent of Lambeth’s 36,942 kids were excluded at some point, compared to 1.87 per cent of children nationally

Children were most commonly excluded for bad behaviour, with 291 pupils suspended for constant disruptive behaviour in 2021 – accounting for a third of all exclusions.

Children attacking other pupils was the next most common reason for suspension. A total of 204 students were excluded for physically assaulting another pupil – representing just under a quarter of all exclusions during the period.

Staff were verbally abused by kids 88 times, while 64 pupils were suspended after threatening or verbally abusing other students.

A total of 26 kids were excluded after bringing an offensive weapon into school, 21 for media or IT abuse and 19 for bullying.

The figures were revealed in a report on school exclusions in the borough between 2020 and 2021. Just four kids were permanently excluded during the period – three secondary school pupils and one primary school student.

Lambeth Councillor Ben Kind said he wanted the borough to follow the example of neighbouring Southwark, which became the first council in England to agree to stop excluding pupils earlier this week.

Speaking at a meeting about the report on July 19, he said: “We’ve seen in Southwark that they will become the first council area in the country to stop excluding pupils altogether. And I think that’s a commendable and hugely positive shift in the local authority’s policy there. And it’s something I would be keen for Lambeth council to explore.”

Cllr Kind said that there were lessons to be learnt from a number of schools in poorer areas of the borough that had managed to barely ever exclude pupils.

He said: “Good practices highlighted in the research report ‘Tackling School Exclusions’ found there was specifically a successful model of inclusive practice in Lambeth schools serving some of the most disadvantaged communities which support pupils at risk of exclusion and try and prevent exclusions.”

Pictured top: Lambeth town hall Picture: Reading Tom