BOLTON schools will be forced to bring in a four-month cooling-off period before expelling children who refuse to obey the rules.

Teachers will have to draw up a 16-week plan to give youngsters a final chance to change their ways before they are thrown out of classes.

The pastoral support plan would allow staff the time to address any problems the pupil may face and call in expert help. But pupils guilty of a one-off serious offence such as a violent attack or arson will still be liable to immediate exclusion.

The cooling-off period is one of the measures in a Government document advising local education authorities on reducing the number of children excluded from school.

Government officials fear some headteachers are too quick off the mark to exclude difficult children and should have to prove they have made every effort to avoid it.

High-risk pupils should be identified and strategies put in to place to prevent them dropping out before they fall foul of the system.

From September, all schools must have a Discipline Committee to which parents and the local authority are entitled to speak.

The council will no longer have the right to over-rule governors but schools must prove they have adhered to strict rules, including a 16-week pastoral support programme, before excluding a pupil.

Stuart Jackson, the council's manager for children with educational behavioural difficulties, said: "This report is to be welcomed because it sets out the kind of good practice which is happening in some schools already.

"It is a sensible approach and includes a fast-track system for pupils who carry out a serious offence such as physical assault with a weapon or an arson attack on the school they attend."

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