Nearly 180 school pupils expelled in two years at schools in Shropshire, Telford and Powys

Statistics, which have been obtained by the Shropshire Star under a Freedom of Information request, shows that 181 schoolchildren in primary and secondary schools in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Powys were permanently excluded between 2014 up to the February half term.

Shropshire had the highest number of expulsions with 105 pupils permanently excluded during that period. In Telford, 47 pupils were expelled, while in Powys the figure stands at 29.

In the academic year 2014-15, 19 secondary school pupils and one primary school pupil in Telford were permanently excluded, in Powys eight secondary school and one primary school pupil was expelled.

Shropshire Council provided their breakdown in the standard 12-month year, rather than academic year, and revealed that 20 secondary school pupils and 15 primary school age children were permanently excluded in 2014.

While in the academic year 2015-16, schools two of our three regions saw a drop in the number of expulsions, with 13 secondary school and six primary school age students in Telford expelled , and in Powys, only 11 secondary school age pupils were permanently excluded.

In 2015 in Shropshire, 31 secondary school students and 13 primary school pupils were expelled.

The latest figures – 2016-17 up to February half term, reveal that four secondary and four primary school pupils were expelled in Telford, while in Powys six secondary school and three primary school pupils were expelled.

Shropshire Council only provided figures for 2016, which showed 20 secondary school pupils were permanently excluded, as well as six primary age children.

All councils declined to directly comment, stating that the decision to exclude temporarily or permanently is made by individual schools not the county council, and although councils are informed of a case, it is down to the head teacher to manage the situation locally.

A spokesman for Powys County Council said they have more than 7,000 secondary school students and nearly 8,000 primary pupils, and said permanent exclusions are not a problem in Powys, having one of the lowest rates in the country.

He said the decision to exclude pupils usually follows a breach of the school’s code of conduct – all schools have to have one as part of their national curriculum – exclusions have to follow strict guidelines.

Government information states that the decision to exclude a learner is usually taken by a head teacher in response to "serious breaches" of the school’s behaviour policy or if allowing the learner to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the learner or others in the school.

A Government spokesman said: "The decision to exclude a learner permanently is a serious one and will usually be the final step in a process for dealing with disciplinary offences following a wide range of other strategies, which have been tried without success

"It is an acknowledgement by the school that it has exhausted all available strategies for dealing with the learner and should normally be used as a last resort.

"There will, however, be exceptional circumstances where in the headteacher’s judgement it is appropriate permanently to exclude a learner for a first or one-off offence."

Incidents deemed exceptional circumstances include serious actual or threatened violence against another learner or a member of staff, sexual abuse or assault, supplying an illegal drug or using or threatened use of an offensive weapon.