THE number of children expelled from Poole schools has quadrupled since 2013 and their education could cost as much as £1.1 million this year - equivalent to more than three per cent of secondary school funding.

Permanent exclusions have risen from 10 in 2012/13 to 43 last year, including five primary school pupils - the youngest of whom was in year four.

The rate is now way above the national average, representing 0.22 per cent of the school population in Poole last year - compared with the 0.06 per cent nationally in 2013/14.

If the trend isn't reversed the cost of exclusions was anticipated to be £1.1 million this financial year - more than £300,000 over budget, according to a report which came before the Poole Schools Forum in June.

The Forum, which is made up of representatives from the borough's schools, was advised that exclusions had reached an unsustainable level and could impact on mainstream school budgets from 2016/17 if the rise was not addressed.

Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Brooke said the increase was "very alarming" and "a cause for great concern," adding: "This impacts upon schools, upon families and upon the local authority."

It comes amidst a series of poor results for Poole schools which were ranked among the worst performing in the country at the end of last year.

Vicky Wales, head of children,young people and learning, Borough of Poole, said: "The decision to permanently exclude a pupil is made by the headteacher of the school. Recognising the impact this increase in permanent exclusions in the borough could have on the allocated spend in that area, the local authority and Poole secondary schools have been working in partnership to look at the reasons for this and strategies aimed at reducing the number of exclusions across the borough. The Quay School, our alternative provision academy, has devised an early intervention project which is already having a positive impact on the numbers of pupils who have been permanently excluded this academic year."

Figures show five children were excluded from September 1 to November 13 this year compared with 11 last year.

The Quay School provides places for excluded children in the Borough. It's early intervention work includes offering short stay places and outreach support to children at risk of exclusion.

Funding to educate permanently excluded children comes from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) from central government which is divided into three blocks - early years, mainstream and high needs. Last year it amounted to £86.9 million overall for Poole.

LAST month Poole’s primary schools were ranked second from bottom in a league table of 152 local authorities for standards of reading, writing and maths among 11-year-olds.

In the chief inspector of Ofsted’s annual report, also released in December, suggested the number of pupils attending good or outstanding secondary schools in Poole had plunged by 19 percentage points since last year, placing the town 114th out of the 150 authorities assessed.

In September Borough of Poole received a damning Ofsted report calling for urgent action to address the underachievement of pupils. Ofsted’s Regional Director Bradley Simmons took the unprecedented step of writing to Poole council leader Cllr Janet Walton in the wake of a report to express his “dismay and depth of concern” about the situation.