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Many children who underperform, whether from disadvantaged or “advantaged” homes, do so because of difficult home circumstances, and teachers do not have the time in today’s crowded curriculum, with SATs pressures and so forth, to give each child the time that they sometimes need to unravel all the complications in their lives and to come to terms with them. That is essentially what the counsellor is there to do. The person concerned should be trained;the counsellors of the charity Place2Be, whichoffers placements for training, are trained child psychologists.
The second half of Amendment No. 218A calls for information and guidance for parents. The concepts of parenting contracts and parenting orders were first introduced in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, and they are extended in Clauses 90, 91 and 92 to give head teachers the right to impose them, where they feel it appropriate, for bad behaviour in school. Many parents who are referred to parenting classes after parenting orders have been imposed on them because their children have been difficult come away after three months asking, “Why did nobody tell me about this before?” The response of parents who have difficulty controlling their children—it is usually the boys—is, “I can do nothing about him”, and they feel that they would like more help with coping with parenting.
During the passage of the Education Act 2005, just before the last general election, we tried to introduce a clause under which, when a child joined a school, whether at primary or transition level, or when they moved into the area, the school would make known to the parents where help, such as parenting classes, might be available. That would convey the notion that every child can be difficult at times, but that help is available: teachers can help, the parent/pupil support worker can help and, if parents do not want to go to anybody at the school, there are other places that can help. The school would give them the telephone numbers of places where they can access that help. That is what Amendment No. 216A is about. Wefeel that it is important for parents to be given information; if parents want help, they should know how to get it.
Amendment No. 218 is about mutual respect. It replaces the concept of,
In 1989, the Elton report on discipline in schools stated:
“Our evidence suggests that schools which put too much faith in punishments to deter bad behaviour are likely to be disappointed. This is confirmed by research findings. Rutter found that different forms or frequencies of punishment bore little or no relation to standards of behaviour in secondary schools. Mortimore found that behaviour tended to be worse in junior schools that emphasised punishments more than rewards. The more punishments listed, the more negative the effect seems
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The Government’s Respect Action Plan states that,
- “children learn behaviour - good and bad - from the adults around them, and particularly from their parents and teachers”.
Ofsted’s 2005 report Managing Challenging Behaviour states that,
The Steer report reiterates those lessons, emphasising the importance of offering rewards as well as sanctions. It says that schools need to set up pastoral support systems for pupils, to which I have referred; that staff need training and support in order to help them to manage pupil behaviour effectively; that staff must themselves demonstrate positive behaviour; and that that should form part of the school’s behaviour policy. None of these areas is represented in the Bill and it is unclear whether any will appear in the statutory guidance referred to Clause 81(4).
Amendment No. 220 is a probing amendment to introduce the concept of redress and, in particular, to ensure that the school has a complaints processin place for parents and pupils who feel that the behaviour policy has been unfairly applied. At present, Clauses 81 and 88 allow for no element of redress. There is no means by which a pupil or parent can challenge a proposed disciplinary penalty that is disproportionate or unreasonable, even if it amounts to degrading or inhuman treatment in breach ofthe pupil’s human rights. Where such a penalty is imposed, it is unlikely that it could be successfully challenged by judicial review, save in extreme cases. In cases where parents and pupils feel that the penalty has been unfairly enforced, there is a strong feeling that they should have the right to complain about the imposition of a behaviour or discipline policy into which, as currently drafted, they have little input. This amendment has been suggested by the National Children’s Bureau, which feels particularly strongly on this issue.
Finally, Amendment No. 222ZA is about acceptable behaviour contracts. Its aim is to promote the idea of acceptable behaviour. The idea is that the school, as part of the development of its behaviour policy, develops a set of rules or guidelines for pupils, setting out the sort of behaviour that it expects from them. Many schools already do this, but the amendment carries the practice slightly further by involving parents and asking them to countersign the document with their children. It tries to emphasise the positive—to raise the aspirations of children and their parents about expected behaviour—rather than the negative of ASBOs, parenting orders and so forth.
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Lord Young of Norwood Green: I pay tribute to the Government on these clauses, which are well balanced and clearly define the role of the headmaster and governors. In these clauses, we ought to be careful not to add unnecessary things or to go into too much prescriptive detail. I have some sympathy with the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, in Amendment No. 215, but, given that the roles of the headmaster and governors in setting out disciplinary codes are clearly defined, we do not need to add what could be construed as yet another piece of bureaucracy that a school has to deal with. More than enough procedure is defined. The Bill makes it clear that schools have to have a clearly defined disciplinary policy, and it is clear about the roles of the governors and of headmasters and teachers in relation to discipline.
I have some sympathy with the views expressed in Amendment No. 216, and I will welcome what the Minister has to say on that amendment.
I was puzzled by the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, on Amendment No. 220. I am a school governor who has to deal with cases where parents protest about discipline, and I know that their rights are clearly defined. Parents are aware of this. If they are not satisfied, they can contact the governors either informally or in writing. I do not believe that we need to put anything else in the Bill. The same could be said about Amendment No. 222. There is just too much detail here. We should accept that what the Government have done is basically right. There will always be areas where things could be improved but, in terms of defining the school’s role on discipline and the responsibilities of parents and pupils, I commend the Government for what they have done.
Lord Dearing: I have a very brief comment on Clause 82(1)(a), under which the head teacher must determine measures to be taken with a view to,
and so on. It is worth considering whether that might better say,
It matters a lot to me that there is a policy of self-discipline that is shared and owned by every member of the school, whether they are teachers or pupils.
Lord Adonis: The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, referred to the excellent work of the Practitioners’ Group on School Behaviour and Discipline chaired by Sir Alan Steer. As he said, the Steer group recommended behaviour audits to schools as good practice, but it did not recommend making them a statutory requirement, which is why they do not appear in the Bill. We agree with that judgment. Every school is now expected to carry out systematic self-evaluation, which is the central focus of the school inspections carried out by Ofsted. Ofsted provides schools with a self-evaluation form that covers all the main aspects of a school's work, including promoting good behaviour.
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The guidance on completing the self-evaluation form recommends the relevant national strategies behaviour audit tool, which was particularly highlighted by Sir Alan Steer in his report, as a good source of evidence that behaviour requirements are being met. So, without making them a statutory requirement, we have given schools a very strong steer—in both senses of the word—towards conducting regular behaviour audits. We believe that this strikes the right balance between regulation and respecting the professional judgment of head teachers and their governors.
My noble friend Lady Thornton raised a set of important questions about special educational needs, as did the noble Lord, Lord Rix. I pay tribute to the work of the Special Educational Consortium and ICAN in this area; we listen to them in great detail and to their recommendations.
Amendments Nos. 216 and 219 are about safeguarding pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Amendment No. 216 concerns the knowledge of special educational needs and disability responsibilities among those undertaking behaviour responsibilities in a school. Clauses 81 and 82 specify two stages for the drawing up of a behaviour policy. The governing body draws up a statement of general principles and the head teacher then determines the detailed measures that form the policy itself. In determining behaviour policies, heads must act in accordance with their statutory responsibilities towards disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs. We will be issuing guidance to schools on making and implementing behaviour policies, which will emphasise the importance of taking proper account of children with disabilities and special educational needs.
The Disability Discrimination Act and the duties on schools to make reasonable adjustments in the disability equality plans that they are expected to produce from this December have a good deal to say in this regard. We have just issued a huge guidance document, in large ring binders, on implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings, which gives many concrete examples of how schools can manage behaviour better and make reasonable adjustments—for example, how children with autism who exhibit serious behavioural difficulties can manage queues at mealtimes and other times of the day when their behaviour is liable to deteriorate. We have also produced a DVD as a training resource to go out to schools. I hope that that will have the impact of significantly raising the awareness of head teachers, teachers and governors of their responsibilities under the DDA.
12.45 pm
Amendment No. 216A, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, would require every school to budget for the appointment of a pupil/parent support worker. We are investing £40 million in a pilot of parent support advisers to trial the most effective way to offer early intervention and support to pupils and parents in schools. The pilot includes 20 local authorities and about 600 primary and secondary
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We obviously support Amendment No. 218 about
Even in terms of enforceable obligations, we believe that it is already provided for. School staff have a well established duty of care towards pupils. They must act as a reasonably prudent parent would in like circumstances. Staff are also under a contract of employment, so poor behaviour by teachers or other school staff is a disciplinary offence.
Amendment No. 218A seeks to make guidance to pupils and parents mandatory aims of a school's behaviour policy. Providing support and guidance for pupils with behaviour problems should be integral to schools’ pastoral systems and we will of course use our guidance on behaviour policies to remind schools of the importance of that.
The noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, talked a good deal about parents in this respect. We share her concerns. We want to make sure that all parents can take advantage of a wide range of services to help them in their parenting role. The Childcare Act 2006 requires local authorities to give parents the information that they need on the range of services available to them to support them in their parenting role. By 2010, all schools should offer access to parenting support as part of their extended school services. This should include access to information sessions for parents when their child starts school and moves to secondary school; information on the advice and support available to parents through national helplines and websites and from local services; parenting groups; and more specialised support for parents who might need it, such as targeted support for parents whose children have problems with attendance or behaviour at school.
Amendment No. 220, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, also spoke, is about procedures for discipline-related concerns and complaints. These already exist. Clause 81 provides a mechanism for parents and pupils to make representations by requiring governing bodies to consult them about the principles underpinning the school's behaviour policy. As for complaints, Section 29(1) of the Education Act 2002 requires all governing bodies to have a general complaints procedure. Any parent who has a discipline-related complaint can use that mechanism to underpin this. We intend to remind schools of their
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Finally, Amendment No. 222ZA would require schools to make acceptable behaviour contracts with pupils and parents annually. Clause 82 provides for that, by requiring head teachers to publicise their school’s behaviour policy and to remind pupils, parents and staff of it at least once a year. Furthermore, expectations about behaviour form part of home/school agreements, which all maintained schools are obliged to have under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: I am very grateful for the Minister’s detailed reply to the large number of amendments I spoke to in the group. In particular, I am delighted that in his response to Amendment No. 216A he said that the Government are establishing a series of pilots for the pupil and parent support workers. That is a very important move and can help not only with discipline issues but also with the degree to which we can help some of the more disadvantaged children to improve their performance in schools. Therefore, I am pleased that we have such a positive response to that.
As for Amendment No. 218, yes, it is part of teachers' contracts, and so forth, but it would be nice to have the concept of mutual respect reflected in the Bill. We will read in Hansard what the Minister said but we may come back to this issue on Report, because it would be good to have that concept of mutual respect reflected. I am pleased to hear what he said about the guidance to be issued—in particular, the information for parents. He is quite right that in the Childcare Act, we are ensuring that parents get access to early parenting information, but people forget and lose information that they obtain when children are quite small. As children grow up, different issues arise. It is vital that parents recognise what is a normal part of growing up and that, if they need help, it is available. I shall be delighted if the guidance to be issued means that, especially at important points of transition, parents are reminded of where they can get help.
I take on board what the Minister said about the existing complaint procedures in the Education Act 2002. I had forgotten that section and it is good to be reminded that there is a very clear complaints procedure. That is important and I am grateful for that.
Baroness Thornton: I thank my noble friend for his answer and commend his clear commitment on the record to the issues of SEN and children with disabilities, about which we have heard during debates on several Bills. That was a very helpful answer. I think that the Special Education Consortium should be pleased with the Government's response. The noble Lord, Lord Rix, and I will be consulting it. That discussion could not take place in the other place, so we felt that it was important to raise the matter here.
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Lord Lucas: I am very grateful to the Minister for his answer; I shall just have to be satisfied with it. I understand that there is always a tendency to try to impose obligations on good schools to ensure that bad schools behave. Perhaps we can revisit the subject briefly when we discuss the office—or Ofsted, as it used to be called—later.
I am going to suffer over the next couple of months from a lack of DfES guidance to read. Can the Minister therefore help me by giving me a copy of the disability guidance that he so helpfully displayed?
Lord Adonis: I can, and I can arrange for any volume of DfES guidance to come to the noble Lord over the summer.
Lord Lucas: I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
[Amendments Nos. 216 and 217 not moved.]
[Amendment No. 217A not moved.]
Clause 82 [Determination by head teacher of behaviour policy]:
[Amendments Nos. 218 to 220 not moved.]
The noble Baroness said: I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 222B, 222C, 222D and 237A. The amendments are about how the disciplinary code is enforced—the where, the when, the who, the why, the what and all those questions. Amendment No. 221 is intended to limit the circumstances under which staff may be expected to regulate the behaviour or conduct of pupils off school premises. Under the Bill, staff could impose penalties for behaviour that has nothing to do with the school. That could give staff the responsibility to manage or even to police a pupil's behaviour at any time and for any reason. Additionally, staff could base a decision on hearsay evidence, because they are not around during the holidays, responding in a disproportionate manner to an unproven allegation of misbehaviour and thus undermining the pupil’s right to know and understand the charge and be able to defend themselves against it.
Naturally, I do not expect that many schools would behave in such an unreasonable manner, but what worries us is that under the Bill they have a duty to manage pupils' behaviour in circumstances where it would not be reasonable to do so. It is difficult for schools to investigate allegations of misbehaviour that occur off-site. Children have the same rights to privacy and family life as adults under Article 8 of the ECHR. If schools were to interpret the clause very widely, one outcome could be an interference with those rights. After all, in the home, in the garden or when children are out with their parents in the park or on the beach during the summer holidays, it is up
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In his report, Sir Alan Steer recommended that the legal right to impose discipline would include extending the teacher's ability to exert authority beyond the school,
- “to any off-site activity which is a continuation or extension of schooling such as a field trip or a school journey”.
That is perfectly reasonable. We seek through the amendment to put parameters around that power and duty in order to be a little more specific about where and when it is both reasonable and feasible for the school to manage the pupil’s behaviour.
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