Dozens of London pupils permanently excluded for sexual misconduct

Expelled: across the capital 890 pupils were permanently banned from schools last year for a variety of reasons (file picture)
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Hannah Al-Othman30 July 2016

More than a dozen pupils are being excluded from London schools each week for sexual misconduct, new government figures have revealed.

Across the capital last year 40 pupils - or almost one per school week - were permanently excluded, while nearly 500 more were temporarily barred from school for sexual offences.

The behaviour that saw pupils banned included sexual abuse, assault, harassment, lewd behaviour, sexual bullying and sexual graffiti.

The statistics, released by the Department for Education (DfE) late last week, revealed that across the capital 890 pupils had been permanently banned from schools for reasons ranging from assaulting another pupil or a member of staff, to bullying, theft, or persistent disruptive behaviour.

More than 40,000 students were also banned from lessons temporarily during the last school year.

Of the excluded students, 140 had been permanently kicked out for issues involving drugs and alcohol, while more than 1,000 more received temporary bans for similar issues.

The data covered pupils in state education at primary and secondary level, as well as those at state-run special schools.

Of the permanent exclusions, 60 were from primary schools, 810 from secondaries, while 20 were from special schools.

Nationally, school exclusions have risen for the third year in a row.

Across English schools there were 5,800 permanent exclusions last year - the equivalent of 31 per day - a 17 per cent increase on the previous year.

In response to the data, an NSPCC spokesman said: “Schools should be safe places where pupils can fulfil their potential, so it’s disturbing that so many children have been victims of sexual crimes.

“Children accused of sexual offences have often been victims of abuse, harm and trauma themselves. And the ever-growing availability of online porn is also having a de-sensitising effect on many children, with some wanting to copy what they see.

“If we are to tackle this growing problem and protect young victims, more needs to be done to identify and treat children who might commit offences.

“And all children need to be educated about what sexual abuse is and how to get help immediately if they or someone they know has suffered an attack at school.”

A DfE spokesman said: "Incidents of crime in schools are very rare but we are clear that no teacher or pupil should live in fear of violence or harassment while on school premises.

"That is why we've given headteachers more powers to tackle poor behaviour and exclude pupils if necessary, as well as introducing new training for teachers to help manage and support disruptive children.

"We have also removed 'no touch' rules that stopped teachers taking disruptive pupils out of classrooms, and ensured schools' decisions on exclusions can no longer be overruled."

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