More primary school children in Sutton are being temporarily excluded from school than in anywhere else in outer London.
Sutton's primary schools gave fixed-period exclusions to 181 pupils in the 2011/12 school year, newly released Government statistics have revealed.
That equals 1.17 per cent of primary school pupils - a higher rate than anywhere in outer London and higher than the national average of 0.9 per cent.
Sutton's primary schools do not permanently expel pupils.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "[The] exclusions figures make for sombre reading, particularly as we know that exclusions have a huge impact on the life chances of those pupils.
"ATL calls for a teacher training and continuing professional development system which better informs teachers about special educational needs and inclusive teaching practices.
"An increasingly narrow academic model reduces schools' flexibility and capacity to meet the often complex needs of many of their pupils."
But the borough's secondary schools are below the average in both fixed-period and permanent exclusions.
Most common reasons for exclusions across the borough's primary and secondary schools are violence towards other pupils, violence towards teachers, verbal abuse, bullying and theft.
Eight people were excluded for sexual misconduct and 29 were punished for racism.
While the rate of pupils being excluded from primary schools in Sutton has gone down, the rates for both permanent and temporary sanctions on secondary school pupils have gone up compared to the previous school year.
A Sutton Council spokesman said: "The vast majority of primary pupils are well behaved, but a very small number need support and in most cases schools do this effectively.
"However, sometimes schools need to use the sanction of a short period of exclusion.
"The 2011-2012 percentage figure is a very small number of children.
"There were no permanent exclusions indicating that the occasional use of non-permanent exclusion can prevent any further escalation in a child's behaviour at school.
"Overall behaviour in Sutton primary schools is as good as anywhere in the country, with all of Sutton's primary Schools judged by Ofsted to be either 'good' or 'outstanding' for pupil behaviour."
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