School discipline
Charles Clarke has pledged tough action on discipline to allow teachers to "walk tall".
In a wide-ranging speech the education secretary detailed new plans to combat unruly behaviour in the classroom.
Government Response: Department for Education and Skills
Charles Clarke, secretary of state for education, said: "While standards of behaviour are generally good in the vast majority of schools, I fully back heads in tackling poor behaviour and enforcing discipline in the classroom.
"I expect head teachers to promote good behaviour in their schools, but where they judge it necessary, they have every right to exercise permanent exclusion. However when excluded children are deemed ready to be readmitted to a new school, it is important that heads do not have to take more than their fair share of challenging or excluded pupils, simply because they have places available.
"I am very much aware of the devastating effect that false, or unfounded, allegations can have on a teacher's health, family, and career. The length of time it takes to investigate an allegation and the surrounding publicity can make its impact so much more severe. I am committed to tackling those issues, rapidly, fairly and consistently to better protect teachers from false allegations while at the same time continuing to maintain effective protection for children.
"Most pupils never carry knives, either in or out of school. But there are a few who ignore the fact that it is against the law to have a knife in school. This unacceptable, and no school should tolerate it.
"Head teachers face many tough challenges, and I want to ensure that every head has the means to tackle bad behaviour and raise standards in our schools."
Party Response: Conservative
Tim Collins, shadow education secretary, said: "Charles Clarke must be the only man in
"He has now revealed his determination to level down using any method available to him and to stamp out excellence in our schools. Not only does he want to force our universities to become social engineering laboratories but he will also force grammar schools, city academies and specialist schools to be the same.
"What is clearly needed is an innovative approach to school discipline that will allow well-behaved pupils to study without distraction and disruptive pupils to get the attention they need to improve their lives."
Party Response: Liberal Democrat
Phil Willis MP, Liberal Democrat education spokesman said: "Disruptive pupils make school life impossible for classmates, teachers and parents. But a pupil who is transferred from one classroom straight into the next will simply continue causing chaos and disruption in the new school.
"We need a managed transfer co-ordinated by an independent agency. A cooling off period of several months, during which students are taught in a pupil referral unit and behaviour issues can be addressed.
"The government can't continue creating a illusion of choice and at the same time force schools to include disruptive children."
Stakeholder Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "We give Charles Clarke's proposals a cautious welcome. Although it is helpful to have clarity from the education secretary on the powers given to headteachers, subsequent questions have to be addressed.
"If a young person allegedly carrying a weapon is searched without consent, this may exacerbate an already difficult situation. We would not wish the right of a headteacher to undertake a search to be transformed into an expectation, whether contractual or otherwise, which would oblige our members to take on searches of pupils. This is an issue that has to be carefully managed.
"ATL is pleased to see that the secretary of state has called for professional teachers, parents and pupils to work together to solve this serious problem. Dangerous weapons in schools doesn't just affect teachers but also pupils. Schools must be a safe place for all, and if the carrying of dangerous weapons is indeed an increasing problem it must be stopped."
Stakeholder Response: National Union of Teachers
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "The education secretary is to be congratulated. The government now realises the damaging effects a few young people with unacceptable behaviour can have on the morale of teachers and the learning of pupils. The decision to ensure that all schools, including grammar schools and academies, take a fair share of excluded pupils is a logical step.
"But there is a need to require local authorities to live up to their responsibility to provide appropriate special schools and units for children with emotional and behavioural problems.
"For many young people with such difficulties this provision can turn round their behaviour and enable them to return to main stream education. No child should be written off. But it is not enough for schools to be left to carry the whole burden without this type of support.
"The bringing of weapons into school is a growing menace though it is impossible to quantify at present. Giving the power of forcible search to head teachers will help protect other pupils and staff from the dangers weapons pose.
"Sadly, the growing prevalence of guns and knives on our streets will be reflected in our schools unless determined efforts are made to prevent this happening. Schools are not immune from the changes taking place in the wider society.
"However that power must not put the head teacher or other teachers carrying out the search in jeopardy. It may be that specific legislation is needed to protect teaching staff carrying out searches from allegations of assault.
"I am very pleased that the government is to look at ways of speeding up the handling of allegations made by pupils against teachers. Too often innocent teachers are left in limbo for month after month while an investigation into spurious allegations is carried out. It is disappointing that the education secretary did not accept the need for such allegations to be treated confidentially but speeding up the process will help.
"I look forward to discussing these important issues with the education secretary."
Stakeholder Response: NASUWT
Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "The secretary of state's proposals represent an important and positive step forward on a number of issues on which NASUWT has campaigned.
"It is evident that the representations NASUWT has made have had significant impact on government policy.
"The proposal to ensure that all schools, regardless of their status, will be required to take equal responsibility for hard-to-place pupils is long overdue.
"Seeking to avoid admitting pupils with difficulties may be understandable in a performance league table-driven system, but it is not acceptable.
"Balancing this provision with a limit on the number of excluded pupils a school can be required to admit is fairer and more equitable but not without difficulties.
"The concept of foundation partnerships to support pupils at risk of exclusion is interesting and has the potential to provide the early intervention support many schools desperately need. However, to be effective there must be a clear expectation on all schools to participate in them.
"Incidents involving knives and other offensive weapons are extremely rare and schools remain relatively safe havens of peace and security.
"However, the secretary of state is entirely right to recognise that it is important to keep them that way and to introduce measures to prevent the growing offensive weapon-carrying culture among young people on the streets from spilling over into schools.
"I am very pleased that the proposed measures include the facility for the random, unannounced police searches suggested by NASUWT. This has the potential to be not only a method of detection but an effective deterrent.
"However, I have real concerns about the appropriateness, efficacy, or desirability of the suggestion that schools should be able to conduct searches themselves if the intention is that teachers could be required to carry them out. NASUWT will study the proposals carefully but could not support any strategy which increased the risk of teachers facing assault or child abuse claims.
"Evidence and experience demonstrates that there is no single measure to tackle pupil indiscipline and improve school security. The package of measures announced today is, overall, a welcome extension to the range of options available to schools."
Stakeholder Response: Secondary Heads Association
Dr
"Heads need the powers to be able to deal with these pupils, so that they do not disrupt the education of others. I welcome today’s package of measures, which demonstrates strong government support for head teachers in dealing with discipline problems.
"Heads of some schools are reporting a growing tendency for pupils to carry knives and increased search powers are necessary and welcome. This gives heads the power to deal with these difficult situations quickly and effectively.
"The problem of dealing with excluded pupils falls disproportionately on some schools, which are forced to take an unacceptably high number from other schools.
"The receiving schools are those with spare places and are usually those that already have the highest proportion of hard-to-teach pupils.
"SHA has long campaigned for a limit on the number of excluded pupils that any one school has to take and I am delighted that local admissions forums will now have to set such a limit.
"The new, shorter timescale on dealing with allegations against teachers is welcome and will help heads to deal with such cases fully and fairly, but more quickly. We continue to press the government to introduce for anonymity for teachers and heads who face such allegations."
Stakeholder Response: Professional Association of Teachers
A PAT spokesperson said: "We will be anxious to see what guidance the DfES give to support schools in dealing with the considerable, practical difficulties that will arise.
"Who will carry out the searches – teachers, support staff or specially employed security staff? What would happen to a member of staff injured or assaulted while undertaking such a search? Would there be appropriate insurance and medical cover?
Chris Watkins, reader in education at the
"Schools that collaborate with each other learn from each other’s best practice, and at all levels of the education system, collaboration is associated with better patterns of behaviour.
"The media's presentation of this as a ‘sharing out the pain’ policy demonises the children concerned and ignores the fact that everyone's behaviour is different in different contexts.
"In our research on patterns of violence on six secondary schools in areas of high neighbourhood violence, some schools had significantly less violence. Far from being reactive when incidents occurred, these schools were active and responsive.
"They spent time talking over each event and finding out how all parties could ensure that it did not recur. They anticipated difficulties well, and helped pupils learn the interpersonal skills necessary to defuse situations. They treated pupils as important members of the community who play a major role in creating a safe school, where pupils are crew, not passengers.
"If groups of schools coming together at the local level can learn in this way, the overall level of difficult behaviour will be reduced.
"What the policy proposals do not address are the reasons why schools have collaborated less on behaviour in recent years, and the processes through which some schools have been receiving a larger number of pupils excluded from other schools. The continued publication of league tables plays a part in creating this situation.
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