A COUNCILLOR has called for a “comprehensive review of the district’s alternative provision, which provides education for children who have been excluded from school.

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) says a national report into the education of excluded children painted a bleak picture, and wants to see how the situation compares in Bradford.

The report Making The Difference: Breaking the link between school exclusion and social exclusion, shows that 63 per cent of prisoners had been excluded at some point in their education.

It also finds that excluded children are twice as likely to be in the care of the state, four times more likely to have grown up in poverty, seven times more likely to have a special educational need and 10 times more likely to suffer recognised mental health problems.

It says: “Our education system is profoundly ill-equipped to break a cycle of disadvantage for these young people. This problem is much bigger than previously recognised.”

Cllr Ward, a former MP for Bradford East, wants Bradford to do a more localised study of the impact being expelled has on the district’s youngsters, and is collecting testimonies from families who have been impacted by the system.

Excluded children are normally taught in Pupil Referral Units, but Cllr Ward fears that some may be slipping through the gap, either going without education or not receiving the education they need.

Cllr Ward, who recently joined the board of governors for the Bradford Central Pupil Referral Unit, wants to see if the increasing number of pupils being excluded from schools was down to schools getting rid of pupils to improve results.

He raised a motion at a full Council meeting last week, calling for the Council to “assess the quality of the provision and to identify areas that need to be improved to provide the very best educational provision for all vulnerable groups.”

However, the Council’s Labour group amended the motion, instead carrying out a wider review of vulnerable learners in the district, rather than specifically looking at excluded children.

Cllr Ward plans to raise the motion again at a future council meeting, and in the meantime will speak to families of children in alternative provision. He said: “The national situation is getting worse. We also need to know what is going on in Bradford. I want to collect evidence to see what the situation is here.”

Any families who have experienced alternative provision and want to speak to Cllr Ward can call 07807256970.