Schools across Southwark have said that they will not exclude students for behaving badly, new council documents reveal. 

Secondary schools in the South London borough agreed to keep disruptive children unless they put another child's safety at risk. 

The new move marks a UK first, as Southwark Council are said to be the first local authority to have schools sign up to the agreements. 

It comes after a 2020 report from the council saw that Southwark had a higher than average exclusion rate. 

Richmond and Twickenham Times: South London school says they will not exclude children for bad behaviour (PA)South London school says they will not exclude children for bad behaviour (PA)

Plus, it also found that academies excluded more children than other schools in the area.

A separate report from the council found that black students in Southwark were 1.5 times more likely to be excluded than white students. 

Across England, the permanent exclusion rate is said to be 0.06 from 2019-2020.

The change is said to hopefully make the borough the first in England to not exclude any pupils in the coming years according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports the BBC. 

Teachers are encouraged to try to understand the reason for bad behaviour using a 'trauma-informed' response, as well as being told not to take misbehaviour at 'face value'.