FIGURES show that although there has been a rise in the number of pupils excluded nationally, in Bolton the numbers have fallen.Jane Bullock looks at what is being done in the town to prevent schools having to administer the ultimate punishment to children.

OTHE number of children being expelled from schools has risen for the first time since Labour came to power five years ago.

However, figures also show the numbers have dropped in Bolton. A total of 9,210 children were permanently excluded from English schools in the last academic year, which conjures-up depressing images of hordes of unruly youngsters roaming the streets and creating mischief.

If the Bolton exclusion figures are significantly lower than the national average, do we boast a population of far better behaved pupils? Or are fewer children being expelled, while well-behaved pupils suffer as they create havoc in the classroom?

The Local Education Authority runs an impressive and ever expanding range of services to deal with children at risk of being expelled or who have been expelled.

This could explain the fact that in the same period 81 pupils were excluded from Bolton schools last year, and only 49 were excluded this year. The LEA's Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties co-ordinator, Jenny Trevena, oversees all the schemes which target excluded youngsters in the town.

For children aged 11, 12, 13 and 14 who have already been excluded for a day and look as though they could be at risk of permanent exclusion, a scheme called "Base Camp" in the town centre provides a six-week intensive course to help them get to grips with any problems they might have encountered at school.

The young people often have problems at home which need to be dealt with as well as helping them to get used to the routine of going to school. Mrs Trevena believes the course works so well because the young people's problems are addressed in a positive manner out of school, but without them losing their place at school.

For young people of the same age who have already been excluded, the "Ace" (Accessing and Continuing Education) project is a full-time course which tries to help the pupils return to a mainstream school.

The young people, who attend a centre in Hanover Street, take part in anger management classes and problem solving exercises with the aim of finding out exactly why they were expelled and what they have learned as a result.

For children who have already been expelled from at least two secondary schools, the "Youth Challenge" scheme in Newport Street can often prove to be the answer to their problems.

Staff at the centre, which was set-up six years ago, provide an alternative curriculum geared towards vocational work which is also the case at the LEA's pre-16 college unit.

The 24-place unit, which is for young people who have been permanently excluded, is very similar in organisation to mainstream school, but prepares the kids to go onto further education instead of returning to school.

For those youngsters whose educational difficulties make it impossible for them to be taught in a school or college-like environment, the "Not.school" project was set-up last autumn to allow them to learn at home.

The project currently provides help for 10 pupils with all sorts of problems, such as mental health issues or disorders like Tourette's Syndrome which would make it difficult for them to learn at school.

The scheme has been so successful that it will soon be expanded to provide 16 places.

Mrs Trevena says: "We are looking to nip any problems in the bud at junior school and be proactive as a unit instead of simply reactive.

"We'll be working intensely with three secondary schools and their feeder primaries to make the transition much easier and also work closely with their parents."

She adds: "The education social workers adopt a much more holistic approach to dealing with exclusion now and we're having to look at even more diverse needs of provision so that no young people slip through the net.

"It's rewarding to be able to do something positive for the kids as lots of them have so many different and sad problems.

"We cannot fight the problems with fire and need to look at something different.

"The exclusion figures for Bolton are relatively low, but hopefully that's because we are looking for the antecedents before things start going wrong."

Education secretary Estelle Morris has been taking an increasingly hard line on school discipline recently which has been backed by the teaching unions and the Department for Education and Skills has invested £600 million in providing alternative schooling for expelled pupils.

Despite the apparent success of keeping troubled teenagers in school, Bolton's National Union of Teachers secretary Barry Conway raised some questions.

"The exclusion figures for Bolton means one of two things," he says.

"Either their behaviour is untypical of kids elsewhere or problems are being dealt with in-house which is something to celebrate.

"However, if kids are being kept in school to meet Government league tables without any thought to the teaching staff and other pupils then that is unacceptable."