A London council has backed the Evening Standard’s campaign to tackle exclusions as it hosts a conference today to identify actions it can take to make children safe by keeping them in mainstream education.
Southwark council’s Keeping Children in Education conference will include professionals from schools, educational support groups and the local authority.
Data analysed by the Centre for Social Justice shows Southwark is the 15th highest excluding borough in London, with 21 in 1,000 pupils among the cohort finishing school in 2017 suffering permanent exclusion or a managed move to a referral unit. This compared to 87 in 1,000 for Islington.
Jasmine Ali, Southwark’s council cabinet member for children, schools and adult care, said: “We fully support the Standard’s Excluded campaign.
This issue needs its profile raised. We need to change the language — we need to hear less about ‘disruptive’ or ‘excluded’ youths and more about how we can help vulnerable children.
“It is our duty to go as far as we can to protect these children. Our conference is only a first step.”
The conference seeks to offer insight into effective intervention for helping vulnerable children remain in school.
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