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Behaviour and discipline

Maintaining order

Discipline is a necessary part of school life and good discipline is based on an agreement between the school and parents about what is expected of your child. Parents are always encouraged to work with the school to try and solve any problems that may arise. There are specific legal requirements relating to the handling of:

School discipline in general
Detention
Racial and sexual harassment and bullying

Each school's head teacher is responsible for promoting good behaviour and discipline. The head teacher must draw up the school's discipline policy, using the governing body's statement of general principles as a framework. By law, the head teacher must publicise the discipline policy. They may do this by making it known within the schools and to parents, and by bringing it to the attention of students, parents and staff at least once a year.

The policy should be regularly reviewed, taking into account the views of students, parents and staff. Essential elements are strategies to tackle bullying, racial and sexual harassment, and the school's policy on detention. Overall, the policy should:

Promote self-discipline and proper regard for authority among students
Encourage good behaviour and respect for others
Ensure students' standard of behaviour is acceptable
Regulate students' conduct

"We as a department state that the measures determined by the head teacher under subsection (4) shall be publicised by him in the form of a written document i.e. he shall make the measures generally known within the school and to the parents of registered pupils at the school, and at least once a year take steps to bring them to the attention of all such pupils and parents and all persons employed, or otherwise engaged to provide their services, at the school." - Department for Children, Schools and Families

Detention

Detention is one of the sanctions schools can use on disciplinary grounds. The Education Act 1997 gives schools legal backing to detain students after the end of a school session. However, before a school uses detention, the head teacher must:

Make all parents, students and staff aware that detention will be used as a sanction
Tell parents of students admitted part way through the school year about the policy

The law also obliges schools to give at least 24 hours' written notice to the parents of the pupil concerned before the detention takes place.

Pastoral support programmes

Pastoral support programmes are for students who are at serious risk of permanent exclusion, disaffection or criminal activity. Working together with other relevant services, schools should prepare a planned intervention to help students manage their behaviour more effectively.

Behaviour problems

Preventing behaviour problems
There is a range of preventative action that schools can take to maintain good behaviour. These can range from classroom behaviour management to recognition of pupil achievement.

Managing disruptive behaviour
The school's discipline policy needs to be fairly and consistently applied by teachers in handling disruptive behaviour. Effective systems of support for teachers, especially those with less experience need to be agreed by the head teacher. Schools should be alert to the fact that some difficult behaviour results from special educational needs which are not met, such as emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Use of force to restrain

The Education Act 1996 clarifies the powers of teachers and other staff in school to use reasonable force to prevent students from:

Committing a crime
Causing injury or damage
Causing disruption

There is no legal definition of reasonable force. However, in exceptional circumstances where there is an immediate risk of injury, a member of the school staff may need to take necessary action that is consistent with the concept of reasonable force. For example, to prevent:

A young pupil running off a pavement on to a busy road
A pupil hitting someone
A pupil from throwing an object

Corporal punishment, which is defined as any intentional application of force for the purpose of punishment, is unlawful.

On 1 March 2005, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) published 'managing challenging behaviour', a report looking into behaviour in schools and other educational settings. These settings included early years provision, mainstream and special schools, pupil referral units, secure training centres and colleges. The aim of the report was to analyse types of behaviour that schools and other settings find challenging to deal with and to evaluate their responses to it. The report is available below.

Downloads:

Managing challenging behaviour - download (.pdf) (help)