A HIGH number of exclusions from a Worcester school when it became an academy may have put pressure on the city’s failing short stay school.


We reported last week that Newbridge Short Stay school was put in special measures after Ofsted inspectors said it was failing. The Midland Road school caters for 79 pupils with behavioural issues – mostly excluded from other schools.


The school takes pupils from Worcester, Malvern, Pershore, Evesham and Hanley Castle.


However, the Worcester News understands that Newbridge was put under pressure when Tudor Grange Academy Worcester permanently excluded high numbers of pupils after taking over from Elgar Technology College.


We previously reported that Tudor Grange permanently excluded 15 pupils (or 2.27 per cent of its pupils) in the academic year 2009/10 – the year the academy started.


That meant the Bilford Road academy was responsible for removing a third of all pupils expelled that year from Worcestershire’s secondary schools.


At the time, Claire Maclean, the school’s headteacher, said the move was necessary but refused to give exclusion figures for 2010/11.


She did not return a call for comment but John Edwards, Worcestershire County Council’s head of learning and achievement, defended the school’s actions.


Although he was unable to provide a breakdown of how many Newbridge pupils came from individual schools, he said it was too simplistic to blame Tudor Grange for Newbridge’s problems.


He said: “In the recent past, the number of exclusions for Tudor Grange was high. The HMI visit to the school at the time said they were understandably or justifiably high because the school was trying to set clear expectations of the students. Following that, there was the expectation that numbers of exclusions would come down.”


However, he said: “It is right to say that if anybody is excluded from the school then they become the responsibility of the short stay school and one of the things we’ve been looking at is whether they should remain the responsibility of the school from which they were excluded.”
Mr Edwards blamed Newbridge’s problems on a combination of factors.


He said it was difficult finding quality leadership for short stay schools and more challenge was needed from the management committee (the equivalent of a governing body) and the local authority.


He said: “We’ve removed the headteacher and we’re looking at the role of the management committee and the role of the local authority in being quick enough to act.


“It’s a judgement call as to whether we were acting quickly enough or not.


“We are looking at how we can work with schools and schools can work in partnership with each other to reduce the number of pupils excluded.


“Where pupils may be permanently excluded, they are the responsibility of the whole community and it’s important we work together.”