1,300 suspended from Dudley schools since January

Around 1,300 pupils have been suspended from schools in the Dudley borough since the start of the year for a range of issues including assaults on teachers, theft, criminal damage and bullying, figures showed today.

Education bosses in Dudley have revealed a total of 1,295 students were temporarily excluded and a further 45 students, all from secondary schools, permanently expelled.

The exclusions were for bad behaviour between January and July this year.

Six excluded were caught carrying a knife to school.

A total of 21 were caught with drugs or alcohol. Another 302 assaulted a fellow pupil and 53 assaulted an adult on school grounds, with eight permanently expelled for assault.

Bullying led to 36 students being suspended.

The number of suspended pupils represents around 2.9 per cent of the total number of pupils in the borough. There are 44,584 students at primary, secondary and special schools in Dudley.

Council education boss Councillor Liz Walker said the decision to exclude a pupil, either permanently or temporarily, was "never taken lightly".

"While these figures are high, and nobody likes to see these figures, schools have to act in the best interest of all their pupils," she said.

"When you have children taking drugs and alcohol and bringing knives on to school grounds it is very worrying.

"We get some of the best exam results in the West Midlands – and part of that is the attitude that every child has the right to learn without disruption from others.

Schools do take a strong line and discipline is enforced, but it is only as an ultimate sanction after every other avenue has been pursued."

Council officers today said they could not name the schools where pupils had been excluded from until the end of the year due to the small numbers involved, to protect the identity of the students. In 2010, a total of 1,453 pupils were suspended and 60 were expelled.