Unruly pupils hit schools in pocket

OLDHAM Council clawed back more than £250,000 from schools to help tackle problem pupils in the last school year.

The authority was named by a Sunday newspaper as being among nearly a third of councils that fined schools for expelling violent and abusive pupils.

But education chiefs say the money is not a fine but is a pupil retention grant taken back by the council and then used to continue a pupil’s teaching elsewhere and tackle their behaviour.

The grant, which is in addition to the money a school gets for every pupil it teaches, is worth £4,500 per pupil, with £677,000 provided for 2008-09.

In 2007-08 there were 75 secondary and nine primary pupils permanently excluded, with the council clawing back £252,000 of the grants.

Critics claimed the fines put pressure on head teachers to avoid permanently excluding pupils at a time when they are trying to stamp out unruly behaviour in the classroom. And it was said the high level of “fines” helps explain a rise in temporary exclusions and managed moves, where children are transferred to another school rather than expelled.

But Oldham Council’s Cabinet member for children, young people and families, Councillor Kay Knox, said: “Oldham Council is committed to supporting schools to provide preventative and intervention packages of support. Additional resources are provided to secondary schools, above their own delegated budget.

“When a pupil is excluded permanently from school, the school that they attended is no longer entitled to the funding they received from the council for that child’s education.

“This money is then used to support the continuing provision of the child’s education. This includes contributing towards the cost of their personalised support plan at Oldham’s Pupil Referral Unit and, where appropriate, for the child’s re-integration into mainstream education.

“It is also used to contribute towards initiatives that aim to tackle challenging pupil behaviour and minimise the number of students who are excluded in the first place.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of teachers’ union NASUWT, said fines are unacceptable as they undermine the Government’s view that head teachers and governing bodies are free to exclude pupils where necessary — and puts other pupils’ education at risk.

Bryan Beckingham, NUT Oldham branch secretary, said measures to help schools deal with behavioural and support issues were preferable to financial penalties.

The Government said it was right the money moves with the pupil. A Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman said: “Schools have multi-million pound budgets and we do not believe that this would be a disincentive to exclusion, especially when unruly pupils use such large amounts of resources.”