TEACHERS need to better understand how "stress hormones" affect children in care before kicking them out of school for bad behaviour, bosses say.

The impact of childhood trauma, and how it might cause children to react to stressful situations in schools should be taken into account when deciding what action to take, according to Oldham council officers.

A "pioneering" approach has been introduced in the borough to train teachers to better understand the complex needs of looked after children and young people.

Chiefs say this has helped to reduce the number being excluded from mainstream education, which is 1.4 per cent down from the 2017 figures.

However it remains an aim of the town hall to further reduce the levels of fixed term exclusions for looked after children from secondary and primary schools.

A meeting of the borough’s overview and scrutiny committee heard that so-called "stress hormones" could be impacting the way pupils react and causing them them to act out.

Researchers believe that exposure to stress chemicals, such as adrenaline and cortisol, can have a long-lasting impact on traumatised children’s ways of understanding themselves and their environment.

Andrew Sutherland, Oldham’s director of education and early years, said: “We do know that when some young people are under significant stress, then there can be a physiological reaction caused by cortisol, for example, so their behaviour levels wouldn’t be rational in the way we would normally anticipate.

“So when schools understand that better, when teachers understand that better and the needs of these young people then they will respond more positively.

“In addition, the work of our mental health support team working with our schools is designed to help develop and reinforce that understanding.

“Sadly sometimes things happen, there are behaviours that have to be dealt with by exclusions but we do try to minimise that and send out a very clear message as a local authority.”

Teachers who are the key point of contact in each school for youngsters in care have been given "attachement and trauma training", the meeting was told.

More than 10 per cent of looked after children in the borough have had at least one fixed term exclusion, from September, 2017 to last August.

The Virtual School – the body which supports these children in education – has encouraged agreements from schools both in Oldham and out of the borough that they will not permanently exclude looked after children.

During 2017/18 the Virtual School directly intervened over five youngsters to prevent them being permanently excluded.

No looked after children have been permanently excluded over the last six years.

Cllr Paul Jacques, cabinet member for education, added: “Clearly what we have got in Oldham is a pioneering system in terms of social and emotional mental heath in terms of the response which was launched several months ago.

“What we need to be able to do is change the culture, because schools need to understand that children with adverse childhood experiences will respond in lots of ways, and not possibly the ways you would expect them to.

“And the work the teams are doing with the designated teachers I think will bring a far better understanding of what is acceptable and what you can do to minimise any impact on schools and support these youngsters.

“It’s so important that we recognise the trauma that some young people have been through.”

Councillors were also told that pupil premium funding was to be used to fund "bespoke" education psychology support which could be delivered faster to kids in care.

In the last financial year the Virtual School received funding for 376 looked after children.