South Holland and the county see fall in permanent pupil exclusions from school
A fall in the number of permanent pupil exclusions from schools has seen the county drop from being one of the top excluding areas in the country.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, the county's executive member for children's services, said Lincolnshire is now below similar local areas and the national figures.
She told the Spalding Guardian: “Over the last few years, we’ve been working hard to reduce the number of permanent exclusions from Lincolnshire schools and those efforts are paying off.
“There is now much better support and guidance in place for schools, and our approach is attracting national interest.
“The first step of Lincolnshire’s innovative ‘Ladder of Intervention’ is for school professionals, child and family to develop a pastoral support plan to address any challenging behaviour, with the council providing a template that can be used, as well as best practice examples and local authority caseworker support at meetings.
“If the issues continue, schools can then refer to our behaviour outreach service, who will work with the child on a 1-2-1 basis for up to 20 weeks.
“For the most complex cases, there is also the opportunity for the pupil to temporarily attend one of the new Springwell Alternative Academy Free Schools or Build-a-Future Independent School centres.
“As a result, exclusion is now very much a last resort, and the downward trend in the number of exclusions looks set to continue this year.”
Spalding's Springwell Alternative Academy on the site of the former Post 16 Centre in Matmore Gate is due to open today (Thursday). There are already Springwell academies in Lincoln, Mablethorpe and Grantham.
* Figures for exclusions are:
South Holland - 2015/16 (16), 2016/17(11), 2017/18 (3) 2018/19 (9) and 2019/20 (7 so far)
Lincolnshire - 2015/16 (160), 2016/17 (140) 2017/18 (119), 2018/19 (123), 2019/20 (38 so far)
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