DEPARTMENT FOR
CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2007/0123) issued by
The Government News Network on 6 July 2007
The Secretary of
State will today announce an additional £13.7m over four years to
improve behaviour in schools through the Social and Emotional
Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme.
This very successful programme had a major impact on discipline
and well being in pilot schools and was also linked with increases
in attainment. It helps young people to be more confident and
resilient; resolve conflict peaceably; and empathise with others
by developing behaviour skills across the curriculum.
On top of the £7m a year already confirmed for SEAL, for the
first time Mr Balls will confirm there will be an extra £13.7m
divided into: £3m to support the new secondary roll out from this
September; £3.5m for the whole programme in 08-09; £3.5m in 09-10;
and £3.7m in 10-11. The scheme is already being implemented in 60%
of primary schools. This means that approximately 10,000 schools
are already involved in the programme and over 2 million pupils
stand to benefit.
The Secondary SEAL programme builds on the success of the
programme at primary level and will be rolled out from this
September. It promotes the hard-edged social and emotional skills
all children and young people need to thrive. These skills
underpin positive behaviour, regular school attendance, effective
learning and emotional health and well being. They also contribute
to social mobility and employability skills by ensuring all
children, regardless of background, have confidence in their
abilities and understand how to interact with others in a positive way.
Ed Balls said:
"Many schools that have implemented this programme have
seen a marked improvement in the way their pupils interact with
each other both inside and outside the classroom. The programme
will make sure that all children understand the importance of
being confident and interacting with other children in a
respectful and positive manner.
"The roll out of SEAL follows tough new behaviour powers
which came into force in April this year which remove any
ambiguity over a teacher's right to confiscate items, give
detentions and physically remove violent pupils from the classroom.
"These initiatives give teachers some powerful tools to
make sure that good behaviour and an atmosphere of respect are the
norm in all schools." The programme focuses on developing
skills in the following key areas: understanding oneself;
management of feelings; motivation; empathy and social skills.
Some examples of the skills taught are:
* deal with and resolve conflict effectively and fairly;
* solve problems with others or by themselves;
* manage strong feelings such as frustration, anger and anxiety;
* be effective and successful learners;
* be able to promote calm and optimistic states that promote the
achievement of goals;
* recover from setbacks and persist in the face of difficulties;
* work cooperatively;
* compete fairly and lose with dignity and respect for competitors;
* recognise and stand up for the rights of others; and
* understand and value the differences and commonalities between
people. Opportunities to develop social and emotional skills
across the curriculum might include:
* developing motivation through drama/English by exploring the
experience of characters who have overcome difficulties;
* developing empathy through Citizenship when considering why it
can be so difficult to keep the peace by exploring some current
conflicts; and teaching children through PE how to work as part of
a team and experience winning and losing.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. We are encouraging a phased national implementation. We
recommend that local authorities start in September 07 by
providing intensive support to 10% (300) of their secondary
schools to become leading practice schools, acting as trail
blazers for the national roll-out. We are also recommending that
from December 07 they support a further 5-10% (up to 300) of their
schools which are ready to start implementing the programme.
Within a few years, when SEAL is fully embedded in these schools,
all pupils stand to reap the benefits.
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