Councillors alarmed by ‘unbelievable’ school suspension figures

Cllr Ilkay Cinko-Oner. Photograph: Islington Council

Suspension rates for secondary schools pupils in Islington have left councillors deeply concerned.

Islington’s children’s services scrutiny committee met on 10 September to review its quarterly performance, and members were agitated over not just the scale of suspensions but the “disproportionality”.

Figures show 37.9 per cent of suspended pupils were Black Caribbean, compared to the national picture of 23.5 per cent.

Another 37.2 per cent of suspensions were for children with special educational needs (SEND).

Cllr Ilkay Cinko-Oner called the data “quite alarming” and “unbelievable”.

“We have to understand that some parents from Black and ethnic minority [groups] do not recognise their children have anything wrong with them,” she said.

“We need to address this and explain that their children are not ‘rowdy’. They may have ADHD or autism, for example.

“Parents are really afraid of diagnosing their children, and it’s schools persistently, constantly calling them just ‘badly behaved’. It doesn’t work.”

The report states that the most common reason behind suspensions in the Islington’s secondary schools was “persistent disruptive behaviour”.

It also points to post-pandemic behavioural issues as a significant factor.

“The data doesn’t lie, and it doesn’t make for good reading,” said Ben Dunne, assistant director of school improvement.

Candy Holder, head of pupil services, confirmed that 70 per cent of total suspensions were represented by three schools.

“We’re banging into them hard,” she said.

Cllr Valerie Bossman-Quarshie said the report was “damning”, and pointed to alternative approaches to behaviour that could make schools more inclusive.

“Schools should be a sanctuary,” she said.

Jon Abbey, director of children’s services, said the “stark” findings had been  escalated to the regional director.

Looking towards a fix, Holder singled out Beacon High, a secondary school in the borough that made headlines earlier this year for a radically inclusive approach that saw suspensions fall from 300 a year to 25.

In May, figures from the Department for Education revealed that children with SEND face a higher exclusion rate than their peers.

Cllr Cinko-Oner requested that the three headteachers of the schools  mentioned be called to the scrutiny committee – an idea welcomed by commitee chair Cllr Gulcin Ozdemir.

Dunne said the education board prioritises exclusions at a local level, but added that sometimes low exclusion numbers mask a different reality on outcomes.