The number of exclusions in English schools is on the rise, with black children, those from poorer backgrounds and pupils with special educational needs all more likely to be excluded.
Latest statistics from the Department for Education show that the number of permanent exclusions across all state-funded primary, secondary and special schools has increased from 4,950 in 2013/14 to 5,800 in 2014/15, which corresponds to an average of around 31 permanent school exclusions per day in 2014/15.
The Christian charity Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) pointed out that black Caribbean pupils were more than three times more likely to be excluded permanently than the school population as a whole. Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals were around four times more likely to receive a permanent or fixed period exclusion than those who were not eligible.
At the same time, students with identified special educational needs accounted for just over half of all permanent exclusions and fixed period exclusion.
TLG said that "local churches have an important role to play in supporting those most struggling in education," adding that "with 14 education centres for teenagers who have been excluded from school, and over 60 churches across Britain providing coaching for children who are at crisis point in their education, the charity believes that there's a growing sense of urgency amongst churches to support schoolchildren before it's too late."
Jonny Proud, campaigns manager at TLG, told Christian Today: "What we're really aware of is when someone gets excluded at school there are always issues lying behind someone falling behind academically – at home or among peers. We don't want these young people to be labelled the naughty ones, but we really want to remind people that they are caught among life circumstances, and that often leads to other issues. We believe that the church is in a really important place to meet people in their moments of crisis."
