The number of children and young people being suspended or permanently excluded from school in Haringey is at its lowest level since current records began six years ago now.

With both suspension and exclusion rates having fallen since 2018, Haringey’s average figures buck the national trend according to the latest data provided by the Department for Education (DfE), which show the national statistics are at an all-time high.

There were 183,817 suspensions in England last autumn, which is equivalent to 221 suspensions for every 10,000 pupils.

By contrast, suspension and permanent exclusion rates in Haringey stood at 1.57 and 0.01 respectively, which compares favourably to the equivalent national figures of 2.21 and 0.03.

More locally, neighbouring boroughs like Hackney and Islington have higher rates than Haringey’s. The former has a permanent exclusion rate three times higher (0.03) and a higher suspension rate (2.09), whereas the latter has a much higher suspension rate (2.74).

In the last two full academic years as well, Haringey’s permanent exclusions have fallen from 20 (in 2020/21) to six (in 2021/22).

Even more encouragingly, provided there are no permanent exclusions before the start of the Christmas and New Year holidays in two weeks’ time, Haringey remains on track to register no permanent exclusions for this Autumn term in 2022/23.

Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, Cllr Zena Brabazon, said:

I’d like to congratulate all our schools and teaching staff on these impressive results with our falling suspension and permanent exclusion rates.

They all work tirelessly for the benefit of children and young people in our borough who often – through no fault of their own – haven’t exactly had the best of starts to their young lives.

We have many settings, like the Haringey Learning Partnership, that specialise in helping children and young people who are exhibiting challenging behaviour and this supportive approach is having a positive impact on them and ensuring that they are successful in mainstream education.