Growing numbers of pupils at risk exclusion and ‘falling off the radar’ as schools return to normal
Growing numbers of children are at risk of being excluded and “falling off the radar” as schools return to normal following the pandemic, experts fear.
Analysis of recent government data shows the problem was worsening before the pandemic but there was a lull while schools were closed because of the virus.
Department of Education figures show that in the autumn term before the first lockdown general exclusions were up 5% and primary school exclusions rose by 20%.
However, evidence suggests this could soon be replaced with a spike in exclusions as children return to school, with problems at home bottled up and likely to prompt bad behaviour.
It comes as the former children’s commissioner launches a new initiative to stop what she calls a “conveyor belt” of vulnerable children falling into the hands of gangs and criminals.
Anne Longfield told Sky News: “We know that COVID has dealt a real blow to those kids – the vulnerabilities that they’ve experienced at home; addiction, domestic violence, have increased and lot of them also aren’t connecting back into school so they are at risk of falling off the radar.”
Anne Longfield is launching a commission to help prevent children from becoming involved in county lines and gangs
Ms Longfield is today launching The Commission on Young Lives which aims to work with other youth groups to design a new national system to prevent children from becoming involved in county lines and gangs.
The commission warns that even before COVID hit in March 2020, almost 15,000 children had been referred to social services over gang fears in the previous 12 months – a rise of 4,000 on the previous year.
Those working with vulnerable children are seeing increasingly severe problems – more domestic abuse, greater food poverty, more children struggling with mental health problems, and a resurgence in knife crime that has led to more teenagers turning up at A&E with stab wounds.
Part of tackling the issue will be deciding how to stem the rise in school exclusions.
“Since lockdown ended there have been rises in exclusions in the local authorities we work with,” says Kiran Gill, founder of The Difference – a project that tries to prevent school exclusions through teacher training.
Ms Gill also cites increased instances of domestic violence and worsening mental health problems as aggravating factors.
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Teachers lack bereavement training
She adds: “We need to reverse this trend because only 4% of excluded young people are likely to get a pass in GCSE English and maths and even by the age of 20 young people are unlikely to have the literacy and numeracy needed to access the labour force.
“Therefore it’s no surprise they are much more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.”
The Difference runs what it calls a Leaders Programme which places teachers from mainstream schools into Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) for excluded children so they can learn how to better understand their problems and keep them in the system.
English teacher Daniel Cain-Reed who joined the programme is now teaching at a PRU run by Haringey’s Learning Partnership in North London.
English teacher Daniel Cain-Reed says the unit is much better placed to support students
He told Sky News: “I don’t think I ever felt my mainstream school [was] always best placed to offer those young people and their families the support that they needed, and that is something I have definitely learned.
“I feel a lot more knowledgeable, and when I go back I will help my mainstream colleagues to be more pre-emptive and spot the signs of perhaps trauma – to identify the risks that some people might experience and mitigate that so children can continue to be successful in mainstream schools.”
He added: “I think I have definitely noticed young people being excluded far more at a far younger age as well too, and when it happens at a younger age it’s a real challenge for staff to build that resilience back up.”
At the PRU in Harringay, we met year 10 student Miriam Khadir, 14, who was excluded from two secondary schools for “persistent disruptive behaviour”, although that phrase underplays the complexity of what happened.
In Miriam’s view, her teachers never explored the root causes of her problems.
14-year-old Miriam Khadir was excluded from two secondary schools
She said: “If you are you are happy to explain anything that’s wrong at home to your school it makes life easier.
“Let’s say something happens at home. You come into school, and you are upset, and if you can let all that anger and upset out (with a support worker/teacher before the lessons) then you are happy to go in to learn you’ve got a good mindset and you are ready to get some education.
“But if you come in, there’s no one to talk to you, there’s no support, you go into a lesson [and] you’re not ready to learn.
“You’re still upset from what’s going on at home. Therefore, the child’s not going to be ready to learn. Not every child needs a mentor but some do need help to express what’s going on at home.”
Computer science teacher Kalpana Jegendirabose is also on a two-year placement on The Difference programme with Haringey Learning Partnership.
Computer science teacher Kalpana Jegendirabose said PRU’s give teachers more time to speak to students
She says: “We have more opportunities [at the PRU] to have conversations with the children here and actually sit with them. Those things wouldn’t necessarily have happened in mainstream because the timetables are so strict – there isn’t any room for actually having those conversations.”
Miriam is now entering her first year preparing for GCSE’s and hopes to buck the trend of children failing after falling out of mainstream education. She’s now engaging more in lessons and has a love of history.
She responded to being excluded from school by raising £2,500 to open the first library in her pupil referral unit.
The opening this week was attended by local MP David Lammy and children’s author Michael Rosen.
It seems that Miriam’s exclusion was mainstream’s loss. How often is that the case?
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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