Behaviour and Discipline in Schools

Memorandum submitted by Buckinghamshire County Council

Executive Summary:

It is our view that effective behaviour management is rooted in developing the skills of all staff who work with young people. Schools in Buckinghamshire recognise that discipline of itself does not tackle poor attitudes to learning. The proactive approach of creating respectful relationships with students, working to engage parents, and providing targeted interventions for groups of pupils to remove their barriers to learning is reducing incidents of poor behaviour.

We have found that good quality, strategically planned preventative work is an essential tool in raising standards of behaviour in our schools. Initiatives such as the creation of Inclusion Centres in upper schools and the preventative work of our Pupil Referral Units and other agencies has had a significant , positive impact on the behaviour, learning and achievement of students across our county. We feel that effective partnership working supports the development of strong links with parents, good quality alternative provision and is invaluable in supporting the achievement of disadvantaged or vulnerable pupils.

Main Submission

In considering its submission Buckinghamshire County Council has sought to respond under the headings in the remit for the inquiry.

1) How to support and reinforce positive behaviour in schools;

1: i) Buckinghamshire County Council has had a Behaviour Strategy in place since September 2007, the principles of which were initially developed during a Behaviour Conference attended by over 30 representatives of schools and Local Authority officers and then refined by a smaller , representative, working group.

1: ii) Our agreed principles are:

1:ii:i) Children/Young People will be listened to/respected and their views responded to at all level’s of the behaviour strategy.

1:ii.ii) Prevention and early intervention is key to supporting positive behaviour. We aim to create an emotionally literate community that recognizes the fundamental impact of positive values and ethos on children and young people’s learning and general well being.

1:ii.iii) All cultures and diverse needs are recognised, understood and supported. Diversity will be respected and celebrated and inclusion actively promoted.

1:ii.iv) Responsibilities and roles will be clearly defined for all those supporting children/young people in the area of BESD.

1:ii.v) Partnership working will be actively promoted with all key stakeholders, multi-agencies, parents, children/young people and the community.

1:ii.vi) Continuing professional development in the area of personal and social development will be promoted within the authority for all staff who work with children and young people.

1:ii.vii) Safeguarding of children and young people will be actively promoted throughout the Behaviour Strategy and Action Plan.

1:ii:vii) To b uild schools capacity to be more flexible and innovative with the curriculum in order to pro mote engagement and achievement.

1: iii) Items 1:ii:i to 1:ii:vii i served as a guide to our Strategy and Action Plan and were used as our baseline for all subsequent actions and agreements. These have been regularly reviewed and adapted to make sure that they remain relevant and useful within an ever-changing context.

1: iv) We believe positive behaviour and regular attendance at school is a key element to raising standards . Ensuring every child has the benefit of a full and enriching education will result in positive outcomes for children and y oung people in Buckinghamshire. We believe poor behaviour can have a negative impact on children’s health, safety, achievement, long term economic well being and their ability to make a positive contribution to their school, their family and society.

1:v) It is our view that effective behaviour management is rooted in developing the skills of all staff who work with young people. This is supported by:

a) a robust school behaviour policy that details the aims, expectations and responsibilities of the school, parents/carers and pupils

b) senior staff who support the school in leading and managing behaviour by promoting a positive climate for learning.

c) clear and agreed systems of rewards and sanctions consistently applied and used by all staff

d) a dynamic learning environment both within and beyond the classroom that encourages positive behaviour.

e) an understanding by all staff of the links between behaviour, attendance and pupil progress and attainment

f) A workforce who are confident in managing all aspects of behaviour

1: v i : ) It is our experience that the approaches developed in collaboration with the National Strategies are constructive ones for building positive behaviour in the classroom.

1:vi:i) Buckinghamshire secondary schools have fully engaged in the Behaviour and Attendance strand of the National Strategy. The 4 core training days, attended by 22 Uppers, 2 Grammars and 3 Special schools, set the firm foundations to create positive behaviour for learning by focusing on whole school climate, consistent application of policies with rigorous monitoring supported by staff training and support for challenging pupils.

1:vi:ii) The training days have created a shared ethos across the county and a commitment from schools to achieve positive learning environments created through clear expectations including rules and routines, reward driven classrooms and incremental sanctions working in tandem with good teaching and learning. The schools recognise that discipline by itself does not tackle poor attitudes to learning. The proactive approach of creating respectful relationships with pupils, working to engage parents, and providing targeted interventions for groups of pupils to remove their barriers to learning is reducing incidents of poor behaviour.

1:vi:iii) The work commenced in the core training days continues with the implementation of SEAL across primary and secondary schools, participation in the NPSLBA programme and the setting up of Inclusion centres in 21 of our Upper Schools where the dual role of discipline and planned support are in operation.

2) The nature and level of challenging behaviour by pupils in schools, and the impact upon schools and their staff;

2:i) Permanent Exclusions

ii) Fixed Term Exclusions

2:iii) In 2008/9 1,678 pupils had one or more period of exclusion. This represents 2.2% of the total school population. This % is the same as for 2007/8.

2:iv) In 2008/9 62% of pupils who received a fixed term exclusion were only excluded once. 16% of pupils who received a fixed term exclusion were excluded twice.

2:v) The 2008/9 permanent exclusion rate for boys was almost three times higher than that for girls. For fixed term exclusions boys received just over three times the number of exclusions than girls. This is in line with national trends.

2.vi) In 2008/9 50% of all permanent or fixed term exclusions were of pupils aged 13 and 14. This is in line with national figures.

2: vii) The 2008/9 data for Buckinghamshire shows that pupils with SEN are 8 times more likely to be permanently excluded than the rest of the school population.

2: viii) Reasons for Exclusion 2008/9 (%)

2:ix) Ofsted Judgements 2009-10: 2009 framework (by calendar year)

2:x) In summary, fixed term exclusions have dropped 28% in three year and 94.5% of Ofsted Inspections in 2009-10 have rated behaviour good or better. However, permanent exclusions rose in 2009/10, particularly with regard to persistent disruptive behaviour. Although the numbers for persistent disruption are still small (10 in total in 2008/9, 18 in 2009/10, including those excluded from Special Schools) it does suggest schools are dealing more firmly with the behaviour of this small group of pupils while seeing a significant improvement in overall standards of behaviour.

3) Approaches taken by schools and local authorities to address challenging behaviour, including fixed-term and permanent exclusions;

3:i) As a result of the strategies outlined above, the use of fixed term exclusions in Buckinghamshire is falling.

3:ii) We believe this improvement is a result of the focus on developing positive behaviour and of the preventative work led by our five Pupil Referral Units (PRUs).

3:iii) Buckinghamshire has five pupil referral units, two secondary and three primary. They have each been judged good or outstanding by Ofsted.

3:iv) The PRUs deliver both in-reach and outreach support.

3:v) In-reach support involves taking pupils on to their roll for either an agreed number of days a week for a fixed period, full time for an agreed period or full time after a permanent exclusion and before supported reintegration into a new school.

3:vi) Outreach support involves working with the pupil and teachers in the school setting. This can involve observation, developing behaviour plans or building staff expertise in meeting a pupil’s needs and managing their behaviour.

3:vii) Preventative work often involves a multi agency team including, in different combinations, educational psychologists, education welfare officers, CAF/Team around the child, SEN, parenting support and health workers.

3:viii) We believe that preventative work has been strongly underpinned by evidence based programmes used and supported by the government in the last few years including Targeted Mental Health in Schools, SEAL, SEAD, Parenting Programmes monitored by NAPP ( National Association of Parenting Practitioners) such as Triple P, Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities. Within Buckinghamshire we have used a number of small scale evidence based programmes such as Pyramid Clubs (which have good national evaluations) and Nurture Groups (which have good national evaluations).

3:ix) Behaviour has improved as a result of i mprove d awareness/understanding in schools and services of mental health issues and their impact on child ren’s learning and development and support services capacity to assess and provide intervention for pupils with mental health issues .

3:x) Exclusions & Reintegration Officers work with schools to promote inclusion by offering intervention for individual cases at risk of exclusion or for those pupils without a school place. Managed Moves are promoted and encouraged where appropriate as an alternative to permanent exclusion

3:xi) 21 of our upper schools have developed inclusion centres to support pupils presenting challenging behaviour. These aim to

· Improve engagement, participation and progression.

· Reduce permanent and fixed term exclusions by retaining pupils’ engagement in education.

· Improve inclusion by continuing the education of pupils who have specific and complex difficulties at times when they would otherwise be failing to learn.

· Offer flexible provision and targeted interventions for groups of pupils to remove their barriers to learning.

· Support the reintegration of pupils.  

4) Ways of engaging parents and carers in managing their children’s challenging behaviour;

4:i) Just as positive behaviour is underpinned by strong, courteous relationships so the same applies to working with parents. A child can be disadvantaged by a parent’s negative relationship to a school. Good behaviour is easier to establish when fully supported by parents.

4:ii) We do not believe all poor behaviour originates in school. Many examples are the result of factors outside school and, if dealt with in isolation, can reinforce a child’s level of disadvantage. The organisations and interventions listed in 3:viii have helped build better relationships with families and, through this, helped bring about improvements in behaviour.

4:iii) It is widespread good practice across Buckinghamshire to use behaviour contracts. These can be general for all pupils or tailored to specific needs.

4:iv) We support the continued use of Individual Behaviour Plans and Parenting Contracts for young people who are persistently disruptive or unable to manage their behaviour. These should be drawn up with parents and reviewed in partnership. It is our experience that working in partnership with parents to improve behaviour increases the chance of positive outcomes.

4:v) We welcomed the proposals, in the parent guarantee, that schools could be firm in dealing with parents who refuse to support the school in dealing with poor behaviour or otherwise undermine the school’s behaviour policy.

4:vi) Parent Support Advisors (PSAs) have begun to make progress in building strong links between schools and parents who have an antagonistic or anxious relationship with schools so that pupils, often vulnerable pupils, do not become disadvantaged by their parents negative views of school or education.

4:v) We targeted PSAs to those secondary schools that had persistent absence issues alongside principle primary feeders to those schools where progress, results and/or attendance were an issue.

5) How special educational needs can best be recognised in schools’ policies on behaviour and discipline;

5:i) A school’s Behaviour Policy should be rooted in principles of fairness and equality. With regard to Behaviour this should mean that schools make it explicit that everyone cannot be subject to exactly the same methodology. Responses to behaviour incidents should be differentiated. A child should not be punished if a school has failed to meet their needs.

5:ii) Policies should recognise that behaviour becomes a SEN when there is no response or improvement in a child’s behaviour following a range of interventions and support. The child may then require modification to their programme, to the support they receive and to their place of study. This needs to be recorded, shared with all staff, implemented consistently and regularly reviewed. The policy must recognise that pupils should be given tasks relevant to their need.

5:iii) Individual SEN guidance for pupils needs to be age specific and site specific. What is reasonable in one setting due to age and need would not be relevant in another. Pupils displaying behaviours not normally associated with age and the setting would require additional support and intervention. Pupils with other learning difficulties may well display behaviours not normally expected in less challenged pupils.

5:iv) SEN policies relating to behaviour should guide staff to develop interventions that are time limited, have a clear programme of support and clear outcomes. These may be linked to support from other agencies.

5:v) Our Behaviour strategy recommended that schools should:

• Ensure that individual preventative support offered for a child/young person is carefully developed within the framework of their family and community needs

• Ensure that all placements and transfers of pupils with BESD are effectively managed and supported.

• Improve continuity between primary and secondary phase support

• Improve the quality and sharing of information about pupils with BESD

• Ensure that the views of the child/young person are listened to and respected and responded to at all levels

5:vi) Schools should ensure high quality communication with parents/carers of children/young people vulnerable to BESD and ensure that parents are fully informed of the provision in place to avoid unrealistic expectations.

6) The efficacy of alternative provision for pupils excluded from school because of their behaviour;

6:i) Our experience shows that quality alternative provision is valuable as both a preventative tool to avoiding permanent exclusion when interventions within school are not working and as a model of provision for excluded pupils.

6:ii) The Exclusion and Reintegration team and the PRUs arrange access to a range of alternative provision for permanently excluded and other vulnerable young peopl e with no educational placement or where mainstream schooling or placement at a Pupil Referral Unit is considered not appropriate. Following 'Back on Track' guidance the team have a dedicated Alternative Provision Officer to oversee the quality of provision for each young person in alternative educational provision, to monitor their progress and to ensure that support from other agencies is mobilised, as required.

6:iii) We have many examples of young people experienc ing a successful conclusion to their period of compulsory education as a result of alternative or flexible provision. These young people have gone on to training, further education or employment.

6:iv) We have worked with a range of Alternative providers who have met the needs of pupils in different ways. Some have been full time, others have complemented PRU or school placements. Some are vocationally based – i.e. Skidz in High Wycombe, others use distance learning – i.e Accipio.

6:v) We feel that alternative and complementary programmes like Playing for Success have a significant preventative role in reducing exclusion. These should be expanded, particularly in the age range from 13 -14 where the majority of exclusions occur.

7) Links between attendance and behaviour in schools;

7: i) Behaviour and attendance are intrinsically linked: challenging behaviour can result in poor attendance and vice versa and the links between poor attendance and anti social behaviour are nationally recognised. Both impact directly on standards and on individual pupil attainment and achievement. In both instances, if a pupil is not attending school, whether through exclusion as a result of unacceptable behaviour or as a result of truancy, safeguarding concerns are also a priority. Buckinghamshire Local Authority’s Attendance Strategy outlines the ways in which parents and schools are supported in ensuring regular attendance.

8) 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.

8:1) We welcome some aspects of the changes announced by the Department on the 7th July. The comments on a culture of respect and courtesy is central to our strategy as outlined in 1) and is an integral element of effective learning.

8:ii) The analysis of Buckinghamshire’s exclusions in 3) above shows that we need to keep issues about behaviour in context. Our experience of the schools in Buckinghamshire shows there is not widespread unrest or disruption in schools, a view supported by a series of Ofsted inspections. We do agree that good behaviour underpins effective learning. This is one of the reasons why we place such value on SEAL and SEAD and the effective range of interventions we have in place to support behaviour in schools. Our experience tells us this helps create a climate where teachers can teach and children can learn effectively. We have welcomed the 2009 Ofsted critieria for behaviour which suggested that quiet compliance is not guarantee of good or effective teaching and learning.

8:iii) We are ambivalent about the promise of legislation to extend Headteachers powers to search. Some Heads feel this is potentially problematic and may compromise their role, safeguarding and the productive relationships with pupils who come from complex backgrounds. Our exclusion data suggests that this legislation is not one of our priorities in education and the current good partnership work with the police should be developed. We welcome the proposal for fuller consideration and consultation with Headteachers.

September 2010