Schools struggling with problem pupils

Schools are struggling to cope with an influx of extremely badly behaved children, education watchdog Ofsted warned today.

Most children with "social and behavioural difficulties" used to be taught in special schools.

But the Government's belief that they should not be segregated from the mainstream has placed many schools under severe pressure.

Two out of three secondary schools do not cope well with children whose conduct is so bad psychologists diagnose a personality disorder. Even headteachers who support " inclusion" worry about admitting them, Ofsted inspectors said in the report.

Such children are often dumped on poorly performing schools with spare places, leading to a cycle of decline.

Teachers need special training and facilities to cope, the report says, but too often mainstream primaries and secondaries put less well qualified teaching assistants in charge of the children.

Many councils closed state special schools as they are expensive to run but are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on places in the private sector.

Ofsted chief inspector David Bell said: " Continued efforts are called for to ensure more mainstream schools have the capacity and staff who are confident about admitting and supporting pupils with more complex needs."