Lack of PE lessons linked to rise in the number of pupils being excluded from Wakefield schools

A senior education officer at Wakefield Council said that children were unable to "let off steam" in schools where PE was currently not being taught because of social distancing.

A total of seven children in the care of the council have already been temporarily excluded from their schools since the start of September - a figure that's been described as "higher than normal".

Exclusion rates for pupils not in the care system have yet to be released for the same time period.

Jackie Roper, who is the head of the council's virtual school - which oversees the education of all looked after children in the district - said teachers were facing challenging circumstances.

Speaking at a corporate parenting committee on Wednesday, she said: "Exclusions are a bit higher than we'd like and higher than normal.

"But schools are really stretched at the moment and they've no flexibility to put children in smaller spaces, because every bit of space is being used. It's very, very difficult.

"Plus a lot of our schools have not re-introduced PE lessons because of the risks around that.

"Some of the kids respond really well when they can run around in PE and let off some steam but they're not able to do that at the moment.

"It's tight in schools at the moment."

Ms Roper said the situation in Wakefield was reflected in other neighbouring areas.

It follows years of concerns about a long-term spiral in the rates of pupils being excluded and expelled.

In 2018, Ms Roper's predecessor, Gary Stuart, said that some local head teachers were encouraging the parents of some unruly pupils to home school their children.

And last month, council officers promised to watch for a spike in exclusions at the start of this term, after national headlines about some schools threatening punishment for students who deliberately cough or make Covid-related jokes.

Local Democracy Reporting Service