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– ‘Satisfactory’ schools should be rated ‘good’ or better by 2012 –

 

Ed Balls today championed the improvement of behaviour in schools – and set out plans to raise the bar further to ensure all schools have good, not just satisfactory, behaviour.

 

The majority of schools have good or outstanding behaviour. Today’s behaviour challenge is part of the Government’s strategy to raise overall standards and improve behaviour in the secondary schools that remain ‘satisfactory’. The strategy, which includes the Government’s action in response to Sir Alan Steer’s recommendations, outlines what heads, governors and teachers can do to improve behaviour – learning from schools with good behaviour and working with the support of parents and pupils.

 

Standards of behaviour have increased over the last 10 years with the number of schools where behaviour is a significant concern at the lowest levels ever recorded – from eight per cent in 1997/8 to two per cent in 2007/08. The proportion of secondary schools judged good or better was 72 per cent in 1997/8 and is on track to reach around 80 per cent in 2008/09. This shows an improving picture when set against a tougher Ofsted inspection regime.

 

The strategy outlines what qualities a ‘good’ school has so that ‘satisfactory’ schools can see what they should aspire to. In ‘good’ schools teachers set high expectations and standards for behaviour, manners and personal appearance – many have a smart uniform policy that helps to enforce the school’s authority. In ‘satisfactory’ schools occasional incidents of disruption make it harder for pupils to have a positive and active attitude to their learning.

 

Today the Secretary of State has written to all local authorities asking them to make behaviour a priority, and has produced a leaflet to parents setting out their rights and responsibilities in supporting their school’s behaviour policy.

 

The Government is setting out a new ambition that all schools should have a good or outstanding Ofsted rating on behaviour by 2012, or be on track to reach one at their next inspection.

 

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said:

 

“Today’s challenge to secondary schools is to help them recognise that satisfactory is not the gold standard. Schools should not be complacent about behaviour. Classrooms need to be environments where pupils engage and are positive about learning, so that pupils have better attitudes, are respectful of others views and want to achieve to a high standard. I want this for every single pupil in every school. Heads and teachers must be congratulated for the vast improvements in school behaviour over recent years, but we must go further because good behaviour is crucial to improving children’s overall achievement.

 

“I want all satisfactory rated schools to make behaviour a priority because there is a vital link to improving overall standards. Children deserve to learn in a school that makes behaviour a priority.

 

“Parents also play a crucial role and have a responsibility to support their school’s behaviour policy. Today we are strengthening our message to parents and pupils that disruption by the few will not be tolerated because teachers have all the legal powers they need to get tough on bad behaviour. Parents must challenge their child’s school if they feel learning is being disrupted and good behaviour is not a priority. I hope that the new advice for parents will give them the confidence to push their school to be the best on behaviour.”

 

Schools that do not improve behaviour could face the following action:
• a warning notice to improve if lack of improvement on behaviour is part of overall underperformance at the school. This is a legal requirement and if it is not met the school will be subject to a range of interventions to help them improve
• re-inspection by Ofsted within one year, directed by the local authority or Secretary of State
• Ofsted will in most cases not grade a school ‘good’ overall if they do not have a ‘good’ rating on behaviour.

 

Schools will also be more directly accountable to parents since the new report card for schools will include Ofsted’s rating on behaviour.

 

We know that 98 per cent of schools are now part of Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships which are proven to help manage unruly behaviour through local school to school support. And although the vast majority of primary schools – 93 per cent – are already rated good or better on behaviour, one in five secondary schools are not. Progress has also been uneven across the country.

 

Making behaviour a priority is key to improving attainment and results. Analysis of Ofsted judgements in 2007-08 show a very strong correlation between the judgement for behaviour and for the school’s overall achievement and standards.

 

The plans for behaviour improvement in the strategy include:
• creating a national network of lead behaviour schools, with heads who have a track record of improving behaviour that can provide expert support and advice for schools and teachers in different parts of the country
• every school to be part of a Behaviour and Attendance Partnership;
• every Behaviour and Attendance Partnership to include at least one good or outstanding school to support and lead the rest
• tackling exclusions of SEN pupils as a priority - Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships must address the specific needs of SEN pupils before they become serious problems
• satisfactory schools must submit a behaviour improvement plan which should include the school’s teaching and learning policy so that staff and pupils know what is expected of them.

 

A leaflet published today outlines what parents can expect from their school to maintain good behaviour. It will also set out to parents their responsibilities to support the school as this is vital to enforce good behaviour and discipline. This will help parents and pupils better understand the important role they play in working with their school to make good behaviour a priority, and builds on the Pupil and Parent Guarantee set out in the 21st Century Schools White Paper.

 

Ed Balls has today written to all local authorities asking them to support and challenge their satisfactory rated schools to improve. The Government is especially targeting those local authorities with a high proportion of satisfactory schools asking them for a plan of action to raise their schools to higher standards.

 

Vernon Coaker, Schools Minister, said:

 

“Good behaviour must be the norm in all schools – a satisfactory rating is no longer good enough. As Sir Alan Steer reported earlier this year satisfactory schools have the potential to raise their standards to good or outstanding and must not be complacent.

 

“We know that teachers have got a lot better at managing pupil behaviour and addressing problems before they reach crisis point. But sometimes exclusion is the right option and for those young people who are permanently excluded we must make sure they have suitable and specialist support to progress. That is why we are issuing statutory guidance so that schools and local authorities know what minimum standards are expected in pupil referral units and other alternative provision. We also intend to legislate to provide suitable full-time education for these young people.

 

“We are also looking at strengthening links between schools and uniformed organisations like the scouts and the girl guides, encouraging more children and young people to join these groups because we know that positive activities can help to build young people’s resilience and social and emotional skills and can have a real impact on their behaviour in the classroom.”

 

Sir Alan Steer, behaviour expert and former headteacher, said:

 

“I warmly welcome the behaviour strategy published today. It will help parents, teachers and schools in ensuring that good standards of behaviour exist among our children. All children are entitled to learn in a calm and encouraging environment, and to expect that their parents and teachers help them acquire the skills to live and work harmoniously with others. We cannot accept anything but the best for our children and must strive to ensure that where a standard is satisfactory it is raised to being good, or outstanding.

 

“Behaviour standards in most of our schools are already high and we should acknowledge the good work of our school staff. I remain confident that most schools and teachers are successful in maintaining good standards of behaviour.

 

“Some problems in behaviour do exist and in some cases these can be severe, but I regret that the young are so often denigrated and held responsible for the misconduct of the few. Where they do exist, problems should not be tolerated, or accepted as being impossible to resolve. It is the responsibility of all adults to model good behaviour for the young and to intervene when problems arise.”

 

The department is working with the Prince’s Trust project ‘YOU’ (Youth Organisations Uniform) to improve links between schools and uniformed organisations. The ‘YOU’ project aims to increase young people’s participation in positive activities, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, delivered by the scouts, guides, sea, air and army cadet forces, and other services. The organisations in turn could use school premises for activities.

 

Today’s behaviour strategy also focuses on the early intervention and support that is needed to control and manage poor behaviour. The strategy requires that every secondary school must have access to withdrawal facilities, through their Behaviour and Attendance Partnership, to help pupils with problem behaviour get back on track quickly before an exclusion. For younger children with social and emotional problems nurture groups in primary schools provide an environment where they can begin to trust adults and learn more effectively whilst remaining in the school. We are asking Ofsted to evaluate the impact of nurture groups, following Sir Alan Steer’s recommendations.

 

In addition, the department intends to legislate to require local authorities to provide suitable full time education for all children in alternative provision. This will ensure good support for the minority of vulnerable children where their poor behaviour cannot be resolved within mainstream education. Statutory guidance will set out to local authorities the minimum standards and number of hours that these children and young people are entitled to receive.

 

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'

1. The behaviour strategy and parents leaflet can be found at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/behaviour/bc/

 

2. The strategy builds on our commitments in the 21st Century Schools White Paper and the final report on behaviour by Sir Alan Steer earlier this year. Sir Alan said that when schools are rated satisfactory this should be a trigger for the school to make improvements.

 

3. Ofsted report that standards of behaviour are good or outstanding in 93 per cent of primary schools and 72 per cent of secondary schools and the number of schools inspected where behaviour is a significant concern is at the lowest levels recorded.

 

4. Where schools do not improve behaviour and are still rated satisfactory at their next Ofsted inspection the local authority would be expected to consider whether the school’s failure to engage on improving behaviour, taken with other evidence about the leadership and management of the school and overall standards in the school, would justify issuing a warning notice to the school, foreshadowing further intervention if the school did not improve. The Secretary of State could also use his proposed new powers to direct or ask a local authority to issue a warning notice. These arrangements will be reflected in similar arrangements for Academies.

 

5. If a school ignores a warning notice to improve they are eligible for intervention and all the intervention powers. Sections 63-66 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 set out local authorities’ intervention powers in relation to those schools eligible for intervention:
(i) Section 63 is a new power to require such a school to enter into a contract or other arrangement with another school, F.E college, or other named person for the purpose of school improvement;
(ii) Section 64 is a re-enactment of previous legislation which allows the local authority to appoint additional governors;
(iii) Section 65 is a re-enactment of previous legislation which empowers the local authority to apply to the Secretary of State to replace the entire governing body with an Interim Executive Board (IEB);
(iv) Section 66 is a re-enactment of previous legislation which empowers the local authority to take back the school’s delegated budget.

 

6. School Improvement Partners are the single agent for challenge and support to schools on behalf of local authorities. The role of the SIP will be to monitor schools' performance, provide advice to the governing body and to make sure that school improvement plans are realistic and ambitious. If the School Improvement Partner is concerned that a school is not giving sufficient priority to behaviour improvement, and that they are unwilling to do so, the local authority can use that as evidence, along with other evidence of under-performance, to issue a warning notice to improve.

 

7. Lead behaviour schools will be set up through the Good and Great Schools Programme announced as part of the 21st Century Schools White Paper.

8. Children with SEN are eight times as likely to be excluded from school.

 

9. The Pupil and Parent Guarantee set out in the 21st Century Schools White Paper sets out what action parents should expect their child’s school to take on behaviour. Pupils should know what behaviour is expected of them and the consequences of their poor behaviour, and parents should support their school in addressing their child’s behaviour.

 

10. Statutory guidance on alternative provision will include a requirement of a minimum standard and number of hours that young people in alternative provision should receive.

 

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk