Session 2010-11
Behaviour and Discipline in SchoolsMemorandum submitted by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) 1. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Inquiry into Behaviour and Discipline in Schools. 2. The NUT believes that the professional judgement of teachers should be at the heart of teaching and learning. The approach of schools to pupil behaviour and the level of support given to teachers will determine whether or not schools are effective. 3. In its National Charter ‘Learning to Behave: A Charter for Schools’ the NUT set out proposals which, if adopted in schools, would encourage the promotion of good pupil behaviour and the reduction of behaviour which disrupts school life. 4. The NUT recognises the importance of no child being ‘written off’ and believes that neither teachers nor pupils should face dangers arising from unacceptable behaviour. It is important for teachers and schools to consider ways in which all pupils have access to an education which meets their needs. 5. This submission is accompanied by two NUT publications on behaviour: Pupil Behaviour: Advice, Guidance and Protection and Learning to Behave: A Charter for Schools. [1] Supporting and reinforcing positive behaviour in schools 6. The school behaviour policy, which should be discussed by all members of the school community, especially staff and pupils and not just considered by Governors as a paper exercise, is of paramount importance to the effectiveness of behaviour management in schools. The NUT believes that a school behaviour policy must be a practical document which includes clear guidelines to staff on practice and procedures relating to any incidence of inappropriate behaviour within school. The policy should also make a clear commitment to regular professional development programmes for all staff on behaviour strategies both in child and adolescent development and about the application of behaviour management strategies. 7. The NUT believes that head teachers have a responsibility to provide continuous professional development (CPD) for their staff. CPD needs to cover behaviour management strategies and should focus on understanding child and adolescent development. A systematic approach by head teachers to facilitate the provision of behaviour related CPD can have a very positive impact as evidenced by the success of the NUT’s CPD programme. The programme’s behaviour courses, focusing on restorative justice, violence prevention and conflict resolution are always fully subscribed. 8. Research shows that in schools where teachers collaborate effectively they achieve better levels of behaviour. [2] 9. The NUT believes that schools need sufficient time within the day to conduct 360 degree examinations of both the pupil and the situation when there is an incident relating to inappropriate pupil behaviour. In order to effectively carry out an investigation and find a resolution schools may require on-site trained counsellors. Necessary time within the school day should also be allocated for all staff to share information and experiences about the behaviour needs of individual pupils. 10. The NUT supports and advocates the approach of the Social and Emotional Approaches to Learning (SEAL) materials in schools as they aim to tackle the reasons for a pupil’s behaviour rather than their actions. For staff such an approach can create an environment in which social and emotional skills are enhanced to an extent where behaviour issues can be resolved through discussion and negotiation rather than punishment methods, physical restraint or as a last resort exclusion. 11. The NUT further advocates the use of positive parenting courses run by pupil and parent support advisors within schools as a way of improving behaviour through the development of a common home/school language and understanding of expectations. The nature and level of challenging behaviour by pupils in schools, and the impact upon schools and their staff 12. Unacceptable pupil behaviour, whether low level or extreme, is profoundly challenging for the staff and pupils who come into contact with it. It disrupts the continuity and consistency of teaching and damages teachers’ confidence and young people’s learning. It jeopardises the life chances both of those who are involved and their peers. If not tackled, the causes of unacceptable behaviour, which may lie outside the school, may continue to damage their own lives and those of others into adult life. 13. In its Charter on behaviour ‘Learning to Behave’ [3] (a copy is attached for your information [4] ) the NUT outlined the entitlements and responsibilities of all those involved in school communities. The NUT fundamentally believes that it is the right of teachers to teach and the right of children and young people to learn. Bullying 14. The NUT welcomes the Government’s pledge on tackling homophobic bullying. Guidance to schools should ensure that all school behaviour policies make clear that racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic incidents and harassment against pupils or staff on the grounds of disability or religion or belief will not be tolerated. They should refer explicitly to strategies to prevent homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist and disablist bullying and to eliminate the homophobic and sexist content of commonly used terms of verbal abuse. The NUT suggests that school policies on equal opportunities and on harassment and bullying should be required to state that the school will take action to protect all pupils and staff from all forms of harassment. 15. In its survey on Homophobia carried out in Oldham (2008) the NUT found that 85% of teachers who responded to the survey had witnessed incidents of homophobic abuse being made to pupils or teachers each week. Over half of the teachers responding to the survey had been the target of homophobic abuse themselves by pupils during the school year. 16. Cyberbullying is a growing issue within schools linked to a range of behaviour issues. The NUT believes that it is an area which should be addressed within school behaviour policies. Approaches taken by schools and local authorities to address challenging behaviour, including fixed-term and permanent exclusions 17. School communities benefit from a strong lead from head teachers and senior managers in addressing challenging behaviour. The provision of positive support to staff is essential for the effective management of behaviour. Ofsted [5] found that senior managers who provided close support to staff contributed significantly to the effective management of behaviour. 18. The NUT is deeply concerned about the high exclusion rates in Academies. Department for Education figures for 2008/09 (published July 2010) show that permanent exclusion rates in Academies were almost three times as high as those in all schools – 0.31 per cent in Academies compared with 0.09 per cent in all schools – and almost double the rate for local authority maintained secondaries (0.17 per cent). The rate of fixed period exclusions in Academies was 13.51 per cent compared with 4.89 per cent in all schools and 9.26 per cent in local authority maintained secondaries. 19. The figures also show how certain groups of children – those with special educational needs (SEN), those on free schools meals and those from ethnic minority backgrounds have much higher exclusion rates overall. Given these facts, the high exclusion rate in Academies must raise concern about whether Academies are discriminating against some disadvantaged groups of children. It would be of concern to the NUT if Academies were using exclusion to remove young people who might depress the exam results at those institutions. 20. The NUT also has concerns that the pressures on schools to maintain their place in the league tables may cause them to consider using either ‘unofficial’ or permanent exclusions as a mechanism to achieve this.
21. Curriculum organisation can also have a significant impact on pupil behaviour. The NUT believes that head teachers and senior colleagues should work collaboratively and in consultation with teachers in order to design coherent curriculum models which can meet the needs of all children. Such models should be based on teachers’ professional judgement and knowledge of their pupils. 22. NUT members consistently report, for example, that the change of curriculum for pupils entering year one, which is often more formal and less flexible than the EYFS, leads to inappropriate pupil behaviour. In many instances this is due to the inflexibility of the curriculum and the inappropriate way in which this transition stage is managed by the school. Introducing a transition stage for at least a term and allowing access to outdoor play areas can support pupils in this year group, particularly summer born boys for whom the change can be traumatic. 23. The link between inappropriate pupil behaviour and SATs is also reported by NUT members. Pupil frustration at often being required to sit and cram for too long can lead to unacceptable behaviour. The removal of such pressures on staff and pupils would greatly support those advocating a more flexible curriculum. 24. There is evidence from a range of sources including the DfE itself, Ofsted and DEA which suggests that global learning supports and reinforces positive behaviour through an emphasis on critical and creative thinking, self-awareness and open-mindedness towards difference. Such approaches help to build pupil confidence, empathy and sense of social responsibility which support and reinforce positive behaviours. 25. The NUT’s CPD programme in collaboration with the International policy team is currently providing a course for teachers called ‘Internationalising Learning’, which includes a focus on teaching about identity, empathy, respect for others and community cohesion. Global teaching resources and ideas trialled by participants during the course are posted on the NUT’s website at http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11676 which means that they can be shared with and adapted by other teachers. One participant on the course said "Since trialling the global dimension in my class over the last few weeks, pupils have learned to appreciate other people’s opinions and that different views and attitudes are okay, developed skills of empathy and learned reasoning and deduction skills-being able to argue effectively and appropriately…". 26. Ofsted noted in its research on Education for sustainable development [6] that "some school leaders identified links between particular pupils’ involvement in sustainable activities and improvement in their attitudes and behaviour generally." 27. Independent Appeals Panels (IAP) should include at least one classroom teacher as a representative. The NUT believes that IAP’s should always demonstrate ‘reasonableness’ when making a judgement about returning a pupil to a school. For example, where a teacher has been injured in an altercation with a pupil, the NUT would deem such a move to be unreasonable in terms of the expectations of any future teacher: pupil working relationship and would expect the IAP to judge it to be unacceptable for the pupil to return to that school. 28. The NUT believes that schools’ access to local authority behaviour support services provides an important element in the success of school behaviour strategies. Access to behaviour specialists and the range of behaviour services is of particular importance in supporting schools with less experience of managing inappropriate pupil behaviour. Any reduction or loss of support services could result in an increase in the number of exclusions from such schools. 29. A further concern of the NUT is the impact of the Academies programme on local authority support services. As greater numbers of schools become removed from local authority control there is a real danger of local authority services such as behaviour support being outsourced or disbanded completely. Recognising special educational needs in schools' policies on behaviour and discipline 30. The school Behaviour Policy should include a commitment to co-ordinating provision across the school for pupils with SEN to secure appropriate support for these pupils, as well as an explanation of the role of the SENCO in ensuring that the needs of pupils with SEN are met. 31. In order to prevent disabled pupils and pupils with SEN becoming involved in the disciplinary route in schools, reasonable adjustments and special education provision should be made for them. 32. One of the recommendations of ‘The Costs of Inclusion’ [7] report was that future education policy should serve to enhance collaboration among schools to ensure the best service to all children. The NUT advocates closer links between mainstream schools, special schools and short stay schools in order to foster effective learning communities, co-operative multi-agency work and joined up family services. The efficacy of alternative provision for pupils excluded from school because of their behaviour 33. The NUT believes that high quality alternative provision for pupils excluded from school is essential to both the continuity of education for the pupil and as a way of supporting them to manage their own behaviour appropriately. The importance of close links between teachers in alternative provision and mainstream schools cannot be underestimated. It is where there is a breakdown in communication between establishments which have responsibility for a pupil that the danger of them ‘falling through the net’ becomes apparent. 34. Partnership working between schools and alternative provision including short stay schools and special schools is a positive way in which staff can work more effectively together to support pupils in managing their own behaviour without recourse to exclusion. The NUT supports the way in which behaviour partnerships can enable schools to facilitate ‘managed moves’ with the least disruption to the pupil. 35. There is a concern, however, that the introduction of a greater number of Academy schools into the system will remove the ability of schools to continue to engage in behaviour partnerships. Academies have no requirement to belong to such partnerships and can simply ‘opt out’ of such a system. Links between attendance and behaviour in schools 36. It is well-recognised that pupils attending school regularly are less likely to engage in inappropriate or poor behaviour. Teachers are well aware that there are many reasons why a pupil may have poor attendance, some of which will not be factors which they can control, such as parental illness or disability, parental alcoholism or drug abuse or being required to care for younger siblings, for example. Schools should also remain vigilant about the impact which domestic violence and abuse can have on pupil behaviour and the ways in which such pupils can be supported. 37. Pupils need support in informing schools about such issues at home and they need to feel confident that the consequences of divulging such information to a school will not have any detrimental consequences. 38. This role constitutes part of the duty of care of a school and should not fall to teachers to manage. The importance of effective communication, however, between the social service or care elements of schools and the classroom teacher must not be underestimated. For teachers to be most effective it is important that they do have an understanding of a pupil’s home circumstances where it may affect their ability to reach school on time, have persistent absence or find it difficult to meet deadlines. The Government's proposals regarding teachers' powers to search pupils, removal of the requirement for written notice of detentions outside school hours, and the extent of teachers' disciplinary powers, as announced by the Department on 7 July 39. The NUT calls for an unequivocal statement from Government that if teachers use their powers to search pupils or their rights regarding physical restraint there will be no unforeseen consequences arising from their actions. Teachers have a duty of care to pupils which may at times cause them to intervene to protect pupils from harming themselves or other pupils. Many are currently not confident that if they take such action they will be supported by senior leadership teams, parents or the local authority should an inquiry be conducted. 40. One NUT member made the following statement regarding teachers disciplinary powers: "Most teachers are reluctant because they only see this physical intervention as a last ditch attempt to resolve a situation. There is a perception however that this kind of intervention may well either cause themselves harm or bring about disciplinary action. Despite a well negotiated restraint policy in our County, staff still become victim of disciplinary action for the most "soft" intervention such, as leading a pupil by the arm. In one case this led to a teacher being suspended causing all the usual stress involved in such matters. As a consequence any positives coming out of County training gets overridden by actual events". 41. The NUT supports the importance of maintaining teachers ‘normal’ practice with regard to using physical restraint on pupils. Practice may, however, vary greatly between the different key stages of education and between sectors within the school system. Members report for example that different levels of pupil behaviour are accepted within short stay schools than might be considered reasonable in mainstream schools. There are also differences in the extent to which a teacher might comfort a child in the early years sector which would not be considered appropriate for older children. This is what is meant by teachers being able to work in a way which is ‘normal’ for them within their particular workplace. It is important that policy and guidance for staff reflects and supports this. 42. The NUT believes that reporting incidents of restraint within school should not be enforced as a statutory requirement but left to the judgement of the individual head teacher. 43. The proposed introduction of flexibility in the notice required for detentions is supported by the NUT with the caveat that sensitivity regarding no notice detentions, where such action could make a child vulnerable, is retained and schools themselves are trusted to make such judgements. 44. The NUT has general concerns about any relaxation of the requirements regarding teachers search powers in which the gender of the searcher and the witness need only be the same gender as the pupil being searched where this is reasonably practical. The NUT recognises, however, that there may be difficulties for small schools in such cases, where the availability of a particular gender may prove impractical. Nationwide generic advice becomes difficult in these circumstances. Individual schools should therefore have specific guidance in their own behaviour policies to cover such eventualities, possibly having named persons or posts which have been appropriately trained to handle such delicate situations. September 2010 [1] Not published on the Committee’s website. [2] Improving School Behaviour, Chris Watkins, Institute of Education , Paper for NAPCE, National Association for Pastoral Care in Education, 2000 [3] Learning to Behave: A Charter for Schools, National Union of Teachers, 2006 [4] Not published on the Committee’s website. [5] Managing Challenging Behaviour, O fsted , March 2005, HMI 2363 [6] OFSTED, Education for sustainable development, 2009, Manchester [7] The Costs of Inclusion, MacBeath and Galton, University of Cambridge/NUT, M ay 2006 |
|
|
|
| ©Parliamentary copyright | Prepared 4th November 2010 |