Racist kids are being booted out of Yorkshire schools - full list of suspensions by location

Racist kids are being suspended from schools in Yorkshire at an alarming rate.

According to the Victim Support charity, the number of pupils being suspended from school for hurling racist abuse is on the rise. Now, it is calling on schools to do more to help children challenge racism when they see it.

Department for Education figures show a nationwide increase in suspensions for racial abuse, with 3,779 of these recorded across England during the 2022-23 spring term. This is an increase of 21 per cent on the previous year.

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National figures also indicate a national rise in suspensions from schools compared with the spring term in 2018-19, before the pandemic. At this time there were 1,690 temporary exclusions nationwide.

Yorkshire was not immune to this increase, and some areas saw significant increases. North Yorkshire saw 46 suspensions this spring term, compared with 25 the year before, while Doncaster saw an increase from 15 to 29 - almost doubling the previous year.

Other areas saw smaller increases, but the overall numbers remained high. In Bradford, there were 98 suspensions for racial abuse in 2021-22, increasing up to 100 in 2022-23.

While the general trend indicates an increase, some parts of Yorkshire did see lower figures. Barnsley had six suspensions in 2022-23, compared with 25 in the year before, while York saw a decrease from 11 to six.

Becca Rosenthal, hate crime lead at Victim Support, said schools were working to protect students from racial abuse. She added: "So, this increase in suspensions and exclusions could be an indicator that schools are clamping down on this behaviour, rather than reflecting an actual rise in racist abuse."

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She went on to say: "Racist abuse has a devastating impact on young people, affecting their mental health and overall wellbeing. It can cause the breakdown of friendships and disrupt children’s learning, making victims unwilling to come to school. It’s vital that schools and youth services have the tools to tackle racist abuse and staff are confident in having challenging conversations."

Nationwide, 20 pupils were told to look for a new school after being permanently excluded. This includes one pupil in North Yorkshire.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said these cases are linked to wider societal issues such as access to hateful and prejudiced online content.

He said: “There is a wider issue about behaviour in general which we believe is linked to factors such as the erosion in local support services for families and children and unmet special educational needs. More investment is needed in these areas as well as more regulation to prevent hateful online content.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Racism, discrimination and violent behaviour have no place in our schools, nor in society. The Government is very clear it backs head teachers to use exclusions where required, so they can provide calm, safe, and supportive environments for children to learn in.

“We are providing targeted support to schools to help improve behaviour, attendance and reduce the risk of exclusions with an investment of £10 million in our Behaviour Hubs programme, and our mental health teams who will reach at least 50 per cent of pupils by 2025.”

Here are the figures for racist suspensions across Yorkshire

• Barnsley: Six suspensions in the 2022-23 spring term, down from 25 in the same period the year before

• Bradford: 100 suspensions, up from 98

• Calderdale: 13 suspensions, up from 12

• Doncaster: 29 suspensions, up from 15

• Kirklees: 40 suspensions, up from 25

• Leeds: 65 suspensions, up from 54

• North Yorkshire: 46 suspensions, up from 25

• Rotherham: 19 suspensions, up from 15

• Sheffield: 42 suspensions, up from 31

• Wakefield: 41 suspensions, up from 28

• York: six suspensions, down from 11