Primaries banning pupils for assaults

Around 89 youngsters aged between five and 11 were ordered out of the classroom each day across the country because of the problem in 2010/11.

In total, 850 children of all ages were given fixed term expulsions every day for assaulting or verbally abusing their classmates and teachers, and almost 11 pupils a day were permanently excluded for verbal or physical attacks.

The figures revealed yesterday by the Department for Education suggest that the situation in primary schools is worsening.

Primary age pupils were suspended 9,160 times in 2010/11 for physically assaulting another child, up from 9,030 occasions the previous year. They were also given fixed exclusions on 7,830 occasions for attacking a member of staff, an extra 600 times, compared to 7,230 in 2009/10.

In contrast, suspensions for attacks on pupils and staff by secondary school pupils have fallen.

The latest figures also show that rising numbers of young children are being suspended on at least one occasion.

In total, 10,090 children up to the age of eight were given one or more fixed suspensions in 2010/11, compared to around 9,520 the year before.

Yorkshire has one of the highest rates of pupils being suspended in the country but the lowest level of students being permanently excluded. Across the region 35,840 pupils of all ages were given fixed term exclusions in the 2010/11 academic year - 4.63 per cent of the school population - almost one-in-20 and the second highest figure of any Government region in England behind the South East.

However the region’s school had the country’s lowest level of pupils being expelled. There were 300 pupils permanently excluded from Yorkshire schools, 0.04 per cent of all students. The figures show that 260 of these were white, 20 were of an Asian background and a further 10 were mixed race.