THE number of children at The Chase high school being excluded for bad behaviour has trebled in the last five years.

While the number of children excluded in 2000/01 was 25, the number in 2004/05 was 85.

Headteacher Kevin Peck, who took over the job in 2002/03, defended the rise in the number of exclusions.

"The increase doesn't necessarily reflect an increase in bad behaviour, but rather a determination to insist on and maintain high standards of teaching and learning," he said.

The Chase's recent Ofsted report, which was highly favourable, made no comment on the number of pupils being excluded, said Mr Peck.

Asked why exclusions were higher under his leadership than under the previous head David Fawbert, Mr Peck said: "Pupils these days are exhibiting more challenging behaviour and I'm trying to maintain high standards of discipline."

He said it was his job to care for all individuals in the school and support the education of the majority of students, even if in some instances this meant using exclusion as a last resort disciplinary measure.

Pupils can be excluded for persistent disruptive behaviour, bullying and violence and for persistent defiance of staff.

"We give pupils lots of chances to improve their behaviour and other disciplinary measures are tried first," said Mr Peck.

Mr Peck's previous school, North Bromsgrove High, was criticised by inspectors in an Ofsted report in January 2003 for the high numbers of exclusions and over-reliance on exclusion as a sanction for less serious, as well as serious, behaviour problems.

Mr Peck said: "My previous school had a reasonable number of exclusions to manage behaviour. There weren't more than necessary. I did what was required to maintain high standards of behaviour in the school."

Nationally, exclusion rates rose steadily from the mid-90s onwards, until the introduction of government targets on exclusion that saw a dramatic fall in 1996/97. Since then, rates have been steadily rising again.

Some education authorities, but not Worcestershire, receive extra funding from the government to support inclusion.