Memorandum submitted by Telford &
Wrekin and Shropshire Educational Psychology Service
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 We are advising that issues of behaviour
and discipline in schools should be viewed, first and foremost,
as an aspect of effective schooling. Strategies to address problems
of behaviour and discipline should be set in the context of school
improvement, including effective teaching and learning and school
leadership.
1.2 We are recommending that persistent
difficulties in a minority of pupils should be viewed in the context
of family and community. Strategies to address persistent difficulties
should be supportive of families rather than punitive in nature.
Multiagency approaches will offer the best chance of bringing
about long term changes.
1.3 We are advising that specialist provision
is developed at a locality level, within the family of local authority
schools. This will allow the best opportunity for specialist schools
and services to reach out and develop the capacity of mainstream
settings.
2. BRIEF INTRODUCTION
2.1 This evidence has been submitted by
the Principal Educational Psychologist on behalf of Shropshire
Council.
2.2 This evidence represents the experience
of senior managers and headteachers of specialist support schools
and services in Shropshire, including the headteacher of an 11-16
EBD school; the headteacher of the Tuition, Medical and Behaviour
Support Service (PRU); the Head of Behaviour Support and Inclusion;
the Principal Education Welfare Officer; the School Improvement
Adviser (Behaviour and Attendance); the Secondary School Improvement
Consultant (Behaviour & Attendance); and Educational Psychologists.
3. FACTUAL INFORMATION
3.1 We consider that the starting point
for supporting and reinforcing positive behaviour in schools is
high quality teaching and learning, supported by excellent school
leadership. This has been the consistent recommendation of successive
inquiries into behaviour and discipline in schools and this was
the recommendation of Sir Alan Steer in his recent report "Learning
Behaviour; Lessons Learned" (April 2009).
3.2 Teachers need support in managing pupils'
behaviour. Approaches developed through the SEAL initiative (Social
and Emotional Aspects of Learning) and through the Behaviour and
Attendance strand of the National Strategies. Other National Strategy
initiatives, such as the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills,
have provided both challenge and support to schools as they have
worked to develop the skills needed for positive behaviour in
pupils.
3.3 Whole school approaches, such as SEAL,
not only address behaviour but also seek to develop the underpinning
skills, such as problem solving and empathy which impact on behaviour.
3.4 Teachers report that they welcome and
benefit from opportunities to share good practice and to learn
from each other. Through "Behaviour and Attendance"
networks, supported by specialists within local authorities, teachers
have had rapid access to information and advice about effective
strategies, promoted through the work of the National Strategies.
This has helped to build capacity within schools.
3.5 It is important that school systems
work effectively together, in particular by ensuring good links
between SEN and pastoral systems. In some instances, behavioural
needs are treated quite separately from the assessment of learning
needs and this can sometimes lead to misunderstandings about the
underlying causes of challenging behaviours.
3.6 It is also important that schools communicate
effectively with parents and, in particular, that they share good
news with parents about positive aspects of behaviour.
3.7 The nature and level of challenging behaviour
by pupils in schools, and the impact upon schools and their staff
3.8 Where schools achieve high quality teaching
and learning; effective links between school systems for pastoral
and SEN support; effective partnerships with parents, and strong
leadership, challenging behaviour becomes the exception, exhibited
by a minority of pupils.
3.9 The small number of pupils exhibiting
challenging behaviour in these circumstances are most likely to
have complex needs, often linked to the effects of poverty and
social deprivation—"a child is not trying to be a problem,
but to solve one".
3.10 Some schools report persist problems
with behaviours such as pupils "acting out", swearing/being
non compliant/being "threatening"/bullying others/walking
out of lessons/disrupting lessons by calling out "inappropriate"
comments, as well as pupils who "act in" such as withdrawing/not
engaging/seemingly being anxious about contributing and at the
more extreme end self-harming/non-attendance.
3.11 The impact on staff can be demoralizing
and stressful. However, our experience has shown that some schools
are consistent in developing an ethos of respect; effective teaching
and learning policies; a culture of staff working together and
supporting each other; effective behaviour policies; effective
communication and engagement with parents. In such schools, persistent
challenging behaviour is significantly reduced and can be effectively
managed for most pupils.
3.12 We do have concerns that the instances
of challenging behaviour amongst younger children appears to have
increased in recent years. We consider that this may relate to
documented issues of concern in society such as young parents,
isolated in their communities; the overdependence on television
in managing the demands of young children, with an impact on the
development of communication and social skills; alcohol and drug
dependency amongst parents which is seen in an apparent increase
in conditions such as foetal alcohol syndrome.
3.13 We believe that in some examples, teachers
are not well enough prepared to meet the needs of children with
a range of developmental needs, in part because the teacher training
curriculum focuses largely on curriculum delivery. We believe
that teachers could be better prepared if the teacher training
curriculum included aspects of children development and psychology,
relevant to the developmental age and stage of the age group taught.
3.14 We also believe that it is difficult
for teachers to manage diverse needs in large classes. There is
research evidence of better outcomes where class sizes are maintained
at a level of below 30 in a class.
3.15 Approaches taken by schools and local
authorities to address challenging behaviour, including fixed-term
and permanent exclusions
3.16 Shropshire Council currently supports
a number of approaches which, in combination, aim to offer a proactive
and preventative approach to managing challenging behaviour.
3.17 The Local Authority has actively supported
schools to develop Learning Support Units and is committed to
training Learning Mentors. Primary and Secondary schools have
engaged with these initiatives and recognize the impact of them
3.18 The Local Authority has an Inclusion
Officer who offers advice and support to schools facing the need
to exclude pupils. The Local Authority also has an Education Inclusion
Caseworker who works directly with excluded pupils with the aim
of getting them back into school as soon as possible.
3.19 However, it is acknowledged that exclusion
is a response to behaviours and doesn't address behaviours. Exclusion
is reactive, not proactive, and may function to provide respite
for teachers or school, without addressing the child's underlying
needs.
3.20 Where support for school improvement
is needed, we have found the approaches developed through the
"Behaviour Challenge" initiative effective in developing
the capacity of schools. We consider that the Local Authority
has played an important part in developing the capacity of schools
to manage challenging behaviours.
3.21 In addition, the provision offered
through our "education centres" (PRUs) managed through
the Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service has been recognised
as "Outstanding" by Ofsted. This service works with
pupils at risk of exclusion and offers a comprehensive assessment
together with developmental support for the child's "home"
school. The child remains on the roll of the home school and is
expected to return to the school. In most cases, the child makes
a successful return to a mainstream setting, sometimes with additional
support. In a small number of cases, the assessment and intervention
indicates the need for more specialised provision.
3.22 Ways of engaging parents and carers in
managing their children's challenging behaviour
3.23 Parents will respond where there is
an ethos of active engagement in promoting partnership with parents,
together with targeted support for parents in need of extra help
and support.
3.24 Some approaches that we have found
to be successful include:
— Parent support advisers.
— Learning mentors, who often develop effective
relationships with parents of children needing extra support.
— "Triple P" and other evidence-based
parenting approaches.
3.25 How special educational needs can best
be recognised in schools' policies on behaviour and discipline
3.26 We believe that challenging behaviour
is most helpfully considered as an aspect of learning, with strategies
in place to ensure that the classroom and school context supports
the effective learning of appropriate behaviours.
3.27 An important starting point is to ensure
that learning opportunities are well-matched to a pupil's stage
of development and learning. It is important that there is recognition
of the links between disaffection and ineffective learning opportunities.
3.28 We have found evidence-based assessment
tools such as PASS (Pupil Attitudes to Self and School) as useful
means of identifying problems at an early stage so that preventative
strategies can be used.
3.29 The efficacy of alternative provision
for pupils excluded from school because of their behaviour
3.30 An effective local provision is our
Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service (Education Centres/PRU)
which offers a holistic assessment of a child's needs and off-site
intervention for part of the week, combined with advice and support
to school staff and parents in the context of the "home"
school. This enables the understanding of the child's needs, and
learning about "what works" for an individual child,
to be used in the mainstream school.
3.31 Maintaining provision locally means
that the Local Authority can gather data about ineffective mainstream
provision, and use targeted intervention to develop capacity within
the mainstream.
3.32 External "specialist" provision
does not always offer value for money. It is difficult to quality
assure, and does not enable the Local Authority to build the capacity
of its local mainstream provision.
3.33 Links between attendance and behaviour
in schools
3.34 Non school attendance is always a symptom
of a problem in a child's life; such problems will manifest in
behaviours that will impact on their attendance and challenge
school staff.
3.35 Early identification and good assessment
procedures include:
— Ensuring school processes are sound;
regularly reviewed, evaluated and challenged.
— Conducting whole school attendance audits
to identify patterns/trends across the school and county.
— Regular review of registers of pupils
(every three weeks) with less than 87%.
— Ensuring prompt follow up when irregular
attendance is identified.
— Allocating skilled staff, independent
to schools, to work with families and schools to undertake good
quality assessments to identify reasons and solutions.
— The effective use of parental responsibility
measures to improve parent accountability.
— The effective deployment of staff across
the county to target schools where absence is lowest.
3.36 Such approaches will contribute to:
— Identifying individual solutions to absence.
— Identifying school strengths/weakness
and required solutions.
— Preventing absence becoming embedded
and irreversible.
— Improved behaviour of pupils (where needs
have been identified and met).
— A reduction in exclusions.
— Reduction of need for specialist, expensive,
education provisions (often required when absence becomes entrenched).
— The reduction of the number of young
people requiring solutions to complex issues.
— The reduction in youth offending.
— Improved outcomes for young people.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR ACTION
BY THE
GOVERNMENT OR
OTHERS
4.1 Challenging behaviour to be viewed as
an aspect of school effectiveness and for the Government to consider
the role of local authorities in providing challenge and support
to school improvement as a means of addressing challenging behaviour
4.2 To build on the work of the National
Strategies, in particular the initiatives such as SEAL, Behaviour
& Attendance Networks and Behaviour Challenge, in enhancing
the capacity of mainstream schools
4.3 For persistent difficulties in a minority
of pupils to be considered in the context of their family and
community, and to maintain adequate support for parents in challenging
circumstances. This could include parenting programmes for all
ages and stages of development.
4.4 For specialist provision to be developed
locally, so that the links between local specialist and mainstream
provisions can be maintained, in order that the knowledge and
expertise developed in specialist schools and services can be
used to build the capacity of mainstream settings.
September 2010
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