A PANEL is being set up to ensure all available options are explored before issuing a child with a school exclusion.

Latest Department for Education data, which covers the 2019/20 academic year, states the BCP Council area had the 33rd highest permanent exclusion rate in the country.

The decision to exclude a pupil, either for a fixed term or permanently, is made by a headteacher and can only be done on disciplinary grounds.

A permanent exclusion should only be made in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others.

The subject of exclusions was raised at a recent meeting of BCP Council’s children's services overview and scrutiny committee.

Sarah Rempel, BCP Council’s director of education, said: “We are setting up a pre-exclusion panel where we would like schools to refer into the panel before an exclusion takes place.

“We would look at what has been put in place and be suggesting other options instead of exclusion.”

These comments were made during a discussion on the Youth Justice Service’s annual plan.

A report to the committee said of the 25 children aged 13 or younger across the conurbation who entered the justice system for the first time from April 2020 to January 2021, 92 per cent had experienced a fixed-term exclusion from school and 44 per cent had been permanently excluded from school.

Data from Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service in November 2021 showed 53 of the 91 children in the system in the BCP Council area had either faced school exclusion or suspension.

David Webb, manager of Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service, said: “It is a really tricky balance for schools when they are trying to educate everyone, making their school a safe place for everyone but also trying to meet each child’s individual needs but those children do need education, perhaps more so than others.

“Building an inclusive environment with the right support for the school is the outcome we all would like to see.

“We all want to see fewer children being excluded but we recognise there is quite a lot of different things you need to do to make that happen.”