Elton (1989)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Contents, Foreword, Membership, Summary
Recommendations
Chapter 1 The enquiry
Chapter 2 The nature of the problem
Chapter 3 Teachers
Chapter 4 Schools
Chapter 5 Parents
Chapter 6 Pupils
Chapter 7 Attendance
Chapter 8 Police
Chapter 9 Governors
Chapter 10 Local education authorities
Chapter 11 Government
Appendix A Written evidence received
Appendix B Witnesses
Appendix C Visits
Appendix D(i) Teachers and Discipline Part I
Appendix D(ii) Teachers and Discipline Part II
Appendix E Selected bibliography
Appendix F Behaviour policies

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1989
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 4 Schools
[pages 88 - 132]

SCHOOLS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

1 When we visited schools we were struck by the differences in their 'feel' or atmosphere. Our conversations with teachers left us convinced that some schools have a more positive atmosphere than others. It was in these positive schools that we tended to see the work and behaviour which impressed us most. We found that we could not explain these different school atmospheres by saying that the pupils came from different home backgrounds. Almost all the schools we visited were in what many teachers would describe as difficult urban areas. We had to conclude that these differences had something to do with what went on in the schools themselves.

2 The findings of recent studies support this view. Research published in the last 10 years shows quite clearly that schools do make a difference. The most influential work in this field is the study of 12 London secondary schools by the team led by Rutter, published as Fifteen Thousand Hours in 1979. A more recent study of 50 London junior schools by the team led by Mortimore, published as School Matters in 1988, confirms many of Rutter's findings. These studies were commended to us in a considerable number of submissions we received from LEAs, teacher training establishments and teachers' professional associations. Other important studies of school effectiveness include work led by Reynolds in Wales and Gray in Scotland.

3 Most researchers now agree that some schools are much more effective than others in promoting good work and behaviour. This does not mean that schools can eliminate the effects of social differences between pupils. A child from a disadvantaged background is still likely on average to do less well than a child from an advantaged home when they attend the same school. But if the disadvantaged child attends an effective school he may well do better than a more advantaged child attending an ineffective school.

4 The message to heads and teachers is clear. It is that they have the power, through their own efforts, to improve standards of work and behaviour and the life chances of their pupils.

5 Looking at school timetables, we were impressed by their sheer complexity. A secondary school may contain well over 1,000 children and adults. Even the smallest primary school is in some ways more complicated than a small company because it has a greater variety of aims. The reasons why some schools are better than others have not been explained in every detail by researchers. Nor do all their findings confirm that good schools are good at everything they set out to do. We cannot therefore offer a standard formula for success in every school. But much of our evidence, together with recent research findings, can be used to identify useful signposts towards improving standards of behaviour.

6 Visiting different schools left us with the strong impression that the attitudes and motivation of their headteachers and staff were decisive influences on their atmosphere. This impression is confirmed by research evidence. Heads manage schools in different ways. Teachers use different classroom styles. Schools have different discipline codes and different timetables. Research shows that differences in the ways in which schools and classrooms are run are associated with different standards of work, behaviour and attendance among their pupils. Rutter suggests that the school atmosphere, which is produced by all these routines or processes working together, also has an effect on pupils' behaviour which is stronger than the sum of individual processes. This idea must be used with caution, but we found it useful in explaining what we saw and heard in schools.

SCHOOL ATMOSPHERE

7 In chapter three we consider the ways in which an effective teacher can create a positive, encouraging atmosphere in the classroom and an ineffective teacher can create a negative, demotivating one. Schools can have a positive or negative atmosphere. Our evidence from visits, confirmed by research findings, suggests that schools with a negative atmosphere will suffer more from bad behaviour than those with a positive one.

8 We supplemented our first hand experience with evidence from reports by HMI and from research in order to identify some symptoms of a negative atmosphere in a school. They include widespread litter and graffiti, teachers starting lessons late and finishing them early, teachers ignoring bad behaviour in corridors and playgrounds, pupils regularly skipping lessons and getting away with it, pupils' work not displayed and the regular use of inappropriate punishments.

9 Our evidence suggests that these symptoms indicate a school's failure to achieve a sense of community. Neither staff nor pupils feel valued or respected. Teachers expect pupils to behave badly. More often than not their expectations are fulfilled.

10 Research evidence suggests that pupils' behaviour can be influenced by all the major features and processes of a school. These include the quality of its leadership, classroom management, behaviour policy, curriculum, pastoral care, buildings and physical environment, organisation and timetable and relationships with parents.

11 The way in which a school is run can be changed. We know that this is not easy. Changing the nature of an institution can be a long, complicated and uncomfortable process. We recognise that the difficulties involved in breaking into the vicious circle of ineffective performance and low morale can be very great, and that some schools may need a great deal of help in achieving this breakthrough. We are convinced however from what we have seen in schools, from research evidence, and from experiences described to us in other countries that successful change can be achieved. The first and most important requirement is a positive commitment to change by the headteacher and other senior staff. The second is for them to carry as many of the rest of the staff as possible with them and to be open to their suggestions. To see the need for change, heads and teachers need to recognise the school's present atmosphere, particularly from the pupils' point of view. This is not always easy for an insider. They need to recognise their power to create a different atmosphere, and to be convinced that the changes they make will produce positive responses from the pupils. They then need to work out what practical steps they intend to take and how they are to be taken. For most schools, effective action starts with the recognition that behaviour problems cannot simply be attributed to factors outside the institution, such as pupils' home backgrounds.

12 Heads should keep up to date with the research evidence on school effectiveness. This evidence currently suggests:

12.1 that school processes and the atmosphere which they produce can have a substantial influence on pupils' behaviour;

12.2 that in schools where standards of behaviour are considered unsatisfactory by staff, significant improvements can be achieved through institutional change; and

12.3 that perhaps the most important characteristic of schools with a positive atmosphere is that pupils, teachers and other staff feel that they are known and valued members of the school community.

13 Our evidence indicates universal agreement that the quality of leadership provided by the headteacher and the senior management team (deputies, senior teachers etc) is crucial to a school's success in promoting good behaviour. Mortimore's study of junior schools found that good work and behaviour were not only linked with purposeful leadership by the headteacher but with the active involvement of the deputy head in managing the school. We are aware of many examples, both here and in the USA, of schools in difficulty which have been 'turned around' by energetic heads and senior management teams. The concept of teachers as a team of managers even in a small primary school can be a powerful starting point for improvement.

14 Our visits to schools convinced us that, while good heads can have different personal styles, consistent themes run through effective school management. These include clear aims for teachers and pupils and good staff morale and teamwork. Effective leadership tends to produce a positive atmosphere and a general sense of security.

15 We consider that quality of leadership has two distinct but related aspects. The first is personality. Just as not all adults can become good teachers not all teachers can become good heads. The personal qualities needed to manage adults are similar but not identical to those needed for managing children. Selecting senior managers is therefore a key task for governing bodies. We discuss this in chapter nine. The second is management style. This can be acquired through experience and training.

16 We have identified seven aspects of school management which seem to be particularly important for pupils' behaviour. The head's role is central to them all. They are: staff management; establishing and maintaining internal and external communication systems; fostering a sense of community; taking the lead in setting aims and standards; encouraging collective responsibility; supporting staff; and directing overall curriculum and organisational planning. There is scope for positive action in each of these areas, but effective staff management is the key to success in them all.

Staff management

17 A high proportion of our letters from teachers emphasise the importance of team work in schools. Our survey confirms this desire for discussion and consultation. Managing professionals presents special challenges. A headteacher must be both line manager and first among equals. We believe that getting the best out of professional staff means combining positive leadership with a consultative management style. Teachers need to feel that their school has a sense of direction. They also need to feel that it can be influenced by their views. Some headteachers find this balance difficult to strike.

18 At one extreme is the permissive management style. This allows a school to become a mere collection of classrooms. Contrasting disciplinary regimes operate. Corridors and playgrounds become a no man's land. The fragmented atmosphere which this style produces is confusing and demoralising both to teachers and to pupils. There is no sense of direction, no sense that someone is 'in charge', and no sense of collective responsibility for good behaviour. Consistent standards cannot be maintained in a school like this.

19 At the other extreme is the autocratic style, in which decisions are made without consultation with staff. This demoralises teachers by denying their professional competence. It produces a similar lack of collective responsibility. It can also have more specific effects on standards of behaviour. For example, our evidence indicates that schools which achieve good standards tend to deal with disciplinary problems where they happen, and at the lowest possible level. The active involvement of class teachers and form tutors is a vital factor. In autocratic regimes problems tend to be quickly referred up to senior management level. This reduces the authority of class teachers and gives status to misbehaviour. Such systems also tend to become overloaded because senior staff are dealing with an endless stream of minor offenders.

20 We consider that the existence of such ineffective management styles should not be blamed entirely on headteachers and their senior colleagues. Our impression is that few senior managers in schools have had any systematic management training. Traditionally it has been assumed that training in, and experience of dealing with children provides sufficient preparation for managing adults. This is a false assumption.

21 The Secretary of State has set up a task force for the management training of heads and other senior managers in schools. Its aims are to review existing arrangements, to identify training needs and to recommend patterns of training for the future. We welcome this development. We recognise that the task force's terms of reference include the full range of management skills required by senior school staff. We have two concerns. The first is the impression that, in some LEAs at least, courses which have the word 'management' in their title are actually about other issues. They are, for example, about the content of the curriculum rather than about how to manage curriculum change. The second is the possible impact of the local management of schools (LMS) initiative on headteachers' training. Under LMS, heads will be responsible for managing school budgets. This will generate considerable demand for training in financial management. Our concern is that personnel management in its broadest sense, which includes leadership and team building, should not be neglected as a result of this demand. We also believe that the introduction and implementation of whole school approaches to behaviour should be a feature of future management training programmes. This would cover how to analyse the problems, how to draw up a behaviour policy, how to establish priorities within that policy, how to make sure that it is being applied and how to ensure that staff have the motivation to apply it consistently. We therefore recommend that the school management task force should ensure that management training programmes for headteachers and other senior staff give specific emphasis to personnel management in its broadest sense and to the management of institutional change. (R14)

Communication systems

22 Poor communication is generally recognised as a feature of bad management. Our evidence suggests that communication with and between staff is particularly important for maintaining the kind of morale and atmosphere necessary to promote good behaviour. Controlling the volume of communication is also important in any busy organisation. Staff want to be kept informed of and, where appropriate, consulted about significant developments. They do not want to be swamped with low grade information. In a large secondary school communication systems will tend to be fairly formal. In smaller schools more informal systems may be appropriate.

23 Throughout this report we emphasise the importance of mutual expectations as an influence on behaviour, and the need for consistency and fairness in relations between staff and pupils. Appropriate expectations and consistency depend to a large extent on staff and pupils having a clear understanding of their roles in the school. An effective communication system helps to clarify these roles and produces the necessary sense of coherence within the institution.

24 Heads also represent their schools when dealing with parents and governors. We discuss the importance of effective communication with parents later in this chapter, and the head's role in relation to the governing body in chapter nine. Heads are often in a better position than other members of staff to pick up messages about how the school is perceived by the community that it serves. They should ensure that the staff as a whole are aware of the school's public image and, where necessary, work to improve it.

25 The local press provides one effective way of communicating with parents and the wider community. Schools can get a lot of bad publicity. We have read many lurid accounts of bad behaviour in local papers. But we know that local papers will also print good news about schools if they are given the right kind of material. It does not seem unreasonable to us for headteachers to set targets for positive publicity in order to promote the public image of their schools. We recommend that headteachers should review and, wherever necessary, improve channels of communication within the school and between the school and parents, governors, the community and outside agencies. (R15)

Sense of community

26 At the beginning of this chapter we identify a sense of community as an important factor in promoting good behaviour. This involves a feeling of commitment to the school by staff, governors, pupils and parents. Heads should take the lead in communicating that sense of commitment.

27 Assemblies provide a regular opportunity to transmit this message. Researchers have found positive links between features of school assemblies and pupils' behaviour. Heads can use assemblies to communicate their own enthusiasm and expectations directly to staff and pupils. In primary schools it is not uncommon for parents to attend assemblies. We consider that this adds to their potential value.

28 Heads can promote a sense of commitment in a variety of other ways. They can, for example, encourage staff through private and public recognition of their efforts and achievements. They can ensure that open evenings are organised in ways that make them as rewarding as possible to the parents and staff involved. They can encourage pupils to identify with the school by emphasising the value of wearing its uniform and supporting the development of clubs and other extra-curricular activities. We recommend that headteachers use all the means available to them to build up a sense of community in their schools and to encourage staff, governors, parents and pupils to play an active part in that community. (R16)

Aims and standards

29 We have emphasised the need for heads to combine purposeful leadership with maintaining the professional involvement of their staff in decision making. This is not always easy. The balancing act becomes even more complicated when governors and parents are brought into the picture. The ideal would be universal agreement about the standards of behaviour that the school is aiming for. In practice complete consensus is impossible, not least because of the turnover of staff and parents from year to year.

30 It is the head's statutory duty under section 22 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 to decide how acceptable standards of behaviour are going to be achieved. We believe that it is also the head's responsibility as a manager to take the lead in defining these standards.

31 We consider it unlikely that they will be achieved without a wide measure of agreement among staff, governors and parents. We believe that it is also the head's job to ensure that the communication systems needed to achieve this agreement exist and are used. In chapter nine we emphasise the need for governors to take account of the head's professional advice if they decide to draw up general guidelines for the school's behaviour policy. We emphasise later in this chapter the need to involve staff in working out the details of the policy and the need to communicate it clearly to parents. The head's role is crucial to all these processes.

32 Once standards have been set, it is the job of the headteacher and other senior managers to ensure that they are consistently applied by teachers and other staff. Pupils will quickly spot any inconsistency between public statements and what staff actually do. This will undermine the effectiveness of any policy. We therefore recommend that headteachers should:

32.1 take the lead in defining the aims of the school in relation to standards of behaviour; (R17.1)

32.2 create the conditions for establishing the widest possible measure of agreement on these standards and how they will be achieved; (R17.2) and

32.3 ensure that these standards are consistently applied throughout the school. (R17.3)

33 Teachers have a general responsibility for encouraging pupils to behave well at all times, but different management styles will make them more or less willing to translate that responsibility into action. We have suggested that permissive or autocratic management styles are likely to diminish teachers' sense of collective responsibility. We believe that the right balance between leadership and consultation will increase it.

34 In chapter three we stress the need for teachers in their classrooms to model the kinds of behaviour they wish to see in pupils. This is equally important for the school as a whole. The maxim 'don't do as I do, do as I tell you' convinces no one. In this as in many other areas, heads should lead by example. We recommend that headteachers should ensure, by consistent policy-making and encouragement, that all teachers accept responsibility for maintaining good behaviour throughout the school and that they model the types of behaviour encouraged by school policy. (R18)

Support for staff

35 We highlight the need for management support for teachers in our discussion of appraisal in chapter three. Some of our evidence from individual teachers complains of a lack of support from senior colleagues and particularly from the headteacher. It has been suggested to us that some heads are more concerned about protecting the public image of the school than with supporting staff in disciplinary matters. We have no objective evidence to confirm this, but the fact that some teachers believe it is worrying in itself. Teachers need to feel that they are supported by senior management when they are facing difficulties in the classroom, but it must be the right kind of support. We have suggested that taking responsibility for discipline away from classroom teachers is the wrong kind. It simply undermines their authority and confidence. The primary aim of management support should be to increase teachers' capability to solve their own classroom problems.

36 It is good practice for heads and other senior staff to visit classes taught by their colleagues. This is not necessarily to 'inspect' but to be seen, both by staff and pupils, to be interested in and to value their work. With proper planning, these visits can be very supportive and encouraging. Headteachers should also create opportunities for regular one-to-one discussions with teachers. These discussions should give teachers the opportunity, in a relaxed way, of voicing any concerns they may have, of proposing improvements which could be made in their working environment and of exploring their professional and career development, including training needs. We believe that teacher appraisal will help in this. Heads should encourage the development of peer support groups in their schools (see chapter three). They should also ensure that when their staff take part in in-service training courses they are able to apply and pass on what they have learned, and also that the extent to which any training has achieved its objectives for those taking part is monitored. We therefore recommend that headteachers should promote the development of both management support and peer support within the staff team, and the professional development of its members. (R19)

Curriculum and organisation

37 The headteacher has overall responsibility for the school's internal organisation. This includes such major features as management structure, staff deployment, timetabling and supervision. The introduction of LMS, giving heads and governors control over school budgets, will increase heads' scope for decision making. The theme of this chapter is that all the major features and processes of a school can influence pupils' behaviour. They also affect staff morale. The rest of this chapter deals with these processes in more detail. We feel it important, however, to emphasise the key role of the head in shaping them. We therefore recommend that, in making all major management decisions, headteachers should consider their likely effects upon the commitment and morale of teachers and pupils. (R20)

APPRAISAL OF HEADTEACHERS

38 The pilot teacher appraisal schemes discussed in chapter three also include arrangements for the appraisal of headteachers. Their performance is appraised by an appropriate person with relevant experience as a head. We welcome this development and look forward to the introduction of headteacher appraisal schemes nationally in the near future. We consider that a school's success in promoting good behaviour among its pupils should be an important factor in headteacher appraisal. We recognise that the part played by the headteacher cannot be evaluated as directly as the effectiveness of individual teachers in classroom management. We would, however, expect appraisers to consider the headteacher's effectiveness in developing the structures and promoting the atmosphere in which good behaviour is most likely to occur.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

39 We discuss classroom management in chapter three. The classroom management styles of individual teachers play an important part in creating a positive or negative atmosphere in a school. Complete uniformity is impossible and undesirable, but styles which do not take account of the principles of good practice that we identify are likely to have a negative influence.

BEHAVIOUR POLICIES

40 We have referred in chapter two to the need for clearly identified boundaries of acceptable behaviour, and for teachers to respond promptly and firmly (with punishment if necessary) to pupils testing these boundaries. These boundaries and responses are sometimes regarded as a self-sufficient system of discipline. They are not.

41 All schools have rules. Some of those we visited also had behaviour policies. Rules may be no more than a list of prohibitions. Behaviour policies underlie the rules and affect the whole conduct of the school. They ensure that a whole range of important school processes are consistent with one another. In particular they establish:

41.1 the reasons for rules. It may be clear to teachers why particular rules are necessary. It is not always clear to pupils or parents. Rational authority depends on understanding. Any rule for which no rational explanation can be provided is suspect;

41.2 the affective curriculum (see chapter two). Schools teach values as well as knowledge and skills. Some of this teaching is done in lessons. Most is through the way in which teachers and pupils behave to each other, including how rules are applied. A set of written rules does not mean that they will always be applied by all teachers in the same way. There must be a consensus among staff on the aims of the affective curriculum;

41.3 models of behaviour. Most sets of rules are written for pupils. The behaviour of teachers must be consistent with them. If pupils are told, for example, to be polite and respectful to others, teachers must provide good examples of such behaviour in their dealings with adults and children; and

41.4 consistency with religious education and personal and social education. Tolerance and self-discipline are common themes in these areas. The values which underlie the rules must be consistent with them.

43 Our evidence suggests that schools which put too much faith in punishments to deter bad behaviour are also likely to be disappointed. This is confirmed by research findings. Rutter found that different forms or frequencies of punishment bore little or no relationship to standards of behaviour in secondary schools. Mortimore found that behaviour tended to be worse in junior schools which emphasised punishments more than rewards. The more punishments listed, the more negative the effect seemed to be.

44 The use of corporal punishment illustrates these points. We received few submissions recommending its reintroduction which is not, in any case, in prospect. We are, however, aware that strong feelings still surround this issue.

45 The corporal punishment argument has two strands. One is about principles, the other about effectiveness. The issue of principle is about whether corporal punishment is right or wrong. We decided that this question was outside our terms of reference, which were to look at what works. We therefore commissioned a brief review of research findings on the effectiveness of corporal punishment.

46 Its conclusions will be surprising to some. They are that there is little evidence that corporal punishment was in general an effective deterrent either to the pupils punished or to other pupils. There is also some evidence that standards of behaviour tended to be worse in schools which made more frequent use of corporal punishment when differences in the nature of their catchment areas had been taken into account. The argument that corporal punishment reduced the need for other sanctions is also not supported by the evidence. One study found that schools which used corporal punishment more frequently also tended to exclude pupils more frequently. This seemed to be the case irrespective of catchment area differences.

47 The general conclusion which seems most relevant to our work is that some schools appear to have more punitive regimes than others, and that punitive regimes seem to be associated with worse rather than better standards of behaviour. This does not mean that punishments are not necessary. All the effective schools in the studies we refer to, as well as those we saw in action, had punishments and used them. The message seems to be that, in order to create a positive atmosphere, schools need to establish a healthy balance between punishments and rewards.

48 Several of our witnesses commented on the lack of praise for good behaviour in many schools and emphasised its importance. Most schools have a range of rewards for good academic work or effort such as good marks, good reports, prizes etc, but they tend to benefit a limited group of children. We are left with the disturbing impression that in some schools a pupil can only get attention in one or other of two ways - by working well or by behaving badly.

49 We received a number of submissions suggesting that more and/or tougher punishments provided by schools would by themselves be the answer to indiscipline. Our evidence does not bear this out.

50 We consider that the best way to encourage good standards of behaviour in a school is a clear code of conduct backed by a balanced combination of rewards and punishments within a positive community atmosphere. Establishing a whole school behaviour policy is an important step in that direction.

51 Appendix F to this report offers examples of guidance given by three schools to pupils and staff derived from such policies. They are not blueprints. We consider that the process of developing a whole school behaviour policy which is owned and valued by the staff as a whole is just as important as its content. We therefore recommend that headteachers and teachers should, in consultation with governors, develop whole school behaviour policies which are clearly understood by pupils, parents and other school staff. (R21)

52 We believe that successful policies are likely to have the following characteristics.

Clear principles and rationale

53 The policy should be based on a clear and defensible set of principles or values. Our suggestion is that mutual respect is a useful starting point for policy building. These principles should be consistent with the school's overall aims and its affective curriculum. The need for punishment will not disappear but it should be clear that the central purpose of the policy is to encourage good behaviour rather than simply to punish bad behaviour.

Professional agreement

54 Behaviour policies should be specific to each school. The head should take the lead in proposing principles and standards, but the policy should be worked out cooperatively by the whole of the teaching staff in consultation with non-teaching staff. The commitment of governors is also vital (see chapter nine).

Rules

55 The number of rules should be kept to an essential minimum, and only include ones which the school will enforce. The reasons for each rule should be obvious. Obscure, arbitrary or petty rules discredit the whole code. The distinction between rules which are a direct application of fundamental principles, such as an absolute ban on physical violence, and administrative regulations, such as the name tagging of clothes, should be made quite clear. Wherever possible rules should be expressed in positive terms: for example 'take care of the building' rather than 'don't write graffiti'. We recommend that schools should ensure that their rules are derived from the principles underlying their behaviour policies and are consistent with them. (R22)

Rewards and punishments

56 Rewards for pupils may include such things as commendations, merit marks and letters home. We believe that they should cover the broadest possible range of academic and non-academic achievements, for example group projects and community service. Telling parents about their children's achievements, as well as any behaviour problems, should be an important part of this system. We recommend that schools should strike a healthy balance between rewards and punishments and that both should be clearly specified. (R23)

57 We do not suggest that schools should have a rigid scale of punishments covering every conceivable offence. However, the system of punishments should be designed to signal the degree of disapproval involved. This should mean for example that the most severe punishments, such as exclusion from school, should be reserved for the most serious offences such as violent behaviour. We recommend that pupils should learn from experience to expect fair and consistently applied punishments for bad behaviour which make the distinction between serious and minor offences apparent. (R24)

58 Our evidence suggests that pupils expect and respond well to fair play and an ordered atmosphere. If a pupil is late, for example, it should always be made clear that a rule has been broken. Pupils are, however, sometimes late because their home circumstances are extremely difficult. They may, for example, be responsible for looking after younger brothers or sisters. We are not suggesting that schools should turn a blind eye to lateness in such cases. It should be made clear to pupils that they are expected to be on time. But punishment in these circumstances is not seen as fair by the pupils involved or by their friends. Teachers will have to make judgements about whether punishment is appropriate in such cases. We do not pretend that judgements like this are easy to make. But we are aware of evidence suggesting that inflexible punishment systems are associated with worse rather than better standards of behaviour. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should ensure that rules are applied consistently by all members of staffs but that there is flexibility in the use of punishments to take account of individual circumstances. (R25)

59 Punishing the innocent with the guilty is always seen as unfair by pupils and their sense of grievance damages the school's atmosphere. In their recent survey report on secondary schools (1988) HMI comment that the use of whole group punishments seemed to be a feature of the schools they described as too permissive. In one school it was used as a last resort when things got completely out of hand. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should avoid the punishment of whole groups. (R26)

60 We comment on the use of humiliating punishments in chapter three in relation to classroom management. Humiliating young people in front of their friends by, for example, public ridicule makes good relationships impossible. It breeds deep resentments which can poison the school's atmosphere. Punishments do not need to be humiliating to be effective. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should avoid punishments which humiliate pupils. (R27)

Guidance to staff

61 The principles of good group management outlined in chapter three apply just as strongly throughout the school. 'Succeeding' rather than 'winning' should be the aim when dealing with conflict situations in school. Success is more likely to result from de-escalation than from confrontation. We consider that an important feature of any whole school behaviour policy should be written guidelines for staff based on these principles.

Support from non-teaching staff, governors and parents

62 Our visits convinced us that non-teaching staff and, in particular, midday supervisors play an important part in promoting good behaviour. They need to be recognised as an important part of the school community. The school's behaviour policy needs to be made clear to them. So should the action they can take to support it. Governors should support the policy in principle and in detail. We discuss their role in chapter nine. Parents have a very important part to play in encouraging their children to behave well in school. We discuss this later in this chapter and in chapter five. Where they have not been involved in developing it, the school's behaviour policy, and the principles and reasons behind it, should be communicated to them as clearly as possible.

Where the policy applies

63 It should be clear that the principles of the behaviour policy apply to all school activities on- or off-site. We recognise that the detailed requirements of some off-site activities may be different. Uniform, for example, may not be appropriate for field trips. But the policy must contain the message that the school is a community of people, not just a physical space, and that consistent standards of behaviour are expected in all school activities.

Monitoring and review

64 We have said that it is the job of the headteacher and the senior management team of a school to monitor the way in which the behaviour policy is working. They must see that it is being applied consistently and consider whether it is achieving the right results. It is equally important to keep the whole staff involved. We consider that the best way of doing this is by a regular review of the policy's effectiveness to which all staff should be invited to contribute. The policy will not be fully effective unless non-teaching staff are involved in this process.

Bullying and racial harassment

65 Misbehaviour is usually defined as behaviour which causes concern to teachers. But there are also some serious forms of bad behaviour which only or mainly affect pupils. Bullying and racial harassment are cases in point. Bullying includes both physical and psychological intimidation. Recent studies of bullying in schools suggest that the problem is widespread and tends to be ignored by teachers (Tattum and Lane 1989). In Norway our attention was drawn to the work of Olweus and other Scandinavian researchers which analyses similar problems there. Research suggests that bullying not only causes considerable suffering to individual pupils but also has a damaging effect on school atmosphere. This is perhaps even more true of racial harassment. The Commission for Racial Equality expressed concern to us about accounts of racist name calling, graffiti and physical attacks in schools. We consider that sexual harassment is also an aspect of bullying, and are concerned that this was given very little attention in the evidence put before us. It is hard to see how a school can win the confidence of its pupils if it fails to deal with behaviour which so seriously damages the quality of their lives.

66 A positive school atmosphere involves a sense of community. This sense of community cannot be achieved if a school does not take seriously bad behaviour which mainly affects pupils rather than teachers. It should be clear to pupils that such behaviour is a serious offence against the school community which will be punished. We therefore recommend that headteachers and staff should:

66.1 be alert to signs of bullying and racial harassment; (R28.1)

66.2 deal firmly with all such behaviour; (R28.2) and

66.3 take action based on clear rules which are backed by appropriate sanctions and systems to protect and support victims. (R28.3)

CURRICULUM

68 On the curriculum there are issues at three levels. First, the National Curriculum. Second, the curricula offered by individual schools. Third, the curricula pursued by individual pupils.

The National Curriculum

69 The Education Reform Act 1988 established a National Curriculum. The National Curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils can receive a broad and balanced education which is relevant to their needs. Its requirements will be introduced gradually from 1989. It will consist of either three or four core subjects (mathematics, science and English plus Welsh in Welsh medium schools) and between six and eight other foundation subjects (history, geography, technology, art, music and physical education, plus a modem language in secondary schools and Welsh in those schools in Wales where the teaching medium is English). Religious education also forms part of the basic curriculum. Attainment targets will establish what children should be expected to know and to be able to do at around the ages of seven, 11, 14 and 16. There will be a system of national assessment at these ages to show what pupils have learned in comparison with these attainment targets. The National Curriculum will, with very few exceptions, be followed by all pupils aged five to 16. Formal assessment will be a new experience for many pupils, particularly in primary schools. In some secondary schools, the National Curriculum will mean that less able and lower achieving pupils will have to study a wider range of subjects than at present.

70 Strong concerns have been expressed to us that the National Curriculum will make things worse for low achievers and will therefore lead to more disruption. We hope that these concerns will prove to be ill-founded. They do, however, highlight two important general points. The first is that good behaviour has a lot to do with pupils' motivation to learn. The second is that motivation can be increased or reduced by the content of the curriculum and the methods used to deliver it. Children who feel that they are failing at school, or who see what it has to offer as boring or irrelevant, are those most likely to behave badly. Links between pupils' behaviour and detailed aspects of the curriculum, such as particular subjects or teaching methods, are not well understood. Research has tended to concentrate on other issues. Our present state of knowledge does not allow us to make recommendations in precise detail. It seems clear, however, that the curriculum and the way in which it is delivered are significant factors.

71 We therefore recommend that all parties involved in the planning, delivery and evaluation of the curriculum should recognise that the quality of its content and the teaching and learning methods through which it is delivered are important influences on pupils' behaviour. (R30) Interest, relevance, breadth, balance and accessibility to pupils of differing abilities, are all important considerations. The parties involved include the government, the National Curriculum Council, the Curriculum Council for Wales, the School Examinations and Assessment Council, LEAs, school governors, heads and teachers.

72 The focus of concern in our evidence is on the implications of a National Curriculum for low achieving pupils. Particular anxieties are expressed about provision for such pupils in their fourth and fifth years of secondary education. It is clear from our survey that, for teachers, this is the most difficult group of pupils to deal with. In some secondary schools low achieving fourth and fifth year pupils are provided with an 'alternative curriculum'. This often means studying a more limited range of subjects than other pupils. It may also mean more active learning involving practical and problem-solving methods and project work. It has been suggested to us that the need to provide these pupils with the full range of subjects required by the National Curriculum will mean the end of 'alternative' provision, including 'vocational' activities like office skills or motor vehicle maintenance, and that this will result in an increase in disruptive behaviour and truancy.

73 Some pupils are low achievers because they lack the motivation to work in school, others because they lack intellectual ability. For many both factors are at work. We have evidence that a significant number of pupils involved in persistent and serious disruption, resulting in their exclusion from school, may be much less able as well as less well motivated than other pupils. In some cases they may have special educational needs which have not been identified. We discuss this issue in more detail in chapter six. The National Curriculum can be modified for individual pupils with special educational needs.

74 The National Curriculum is intended to cater for pupils of all abilities. If this aim is achieved, we believe that it may help to promote better behaviour. 'Non-examination' fourth or fifth year groups are notorious among teachers for being difficult to manage. An important reason for this seems to be the pupils' feeling that their chances of any academic success have been written off by the school. They may see their alternative curriculum as confirming that judgement. We believe that giving such pupils access to all areas of the National Curriculum and to a system of assessment which records their achievements may reduce their sense of rejection by the system. Their need for stimulating learning methods and opportunities to succeed will not however diminish. If the introduction of the National Curriculum were to mean a worse match between the abilities and interests of lower achieving pupils and the work that they are asked to do in school the result would be more bad behaviour. We understand that one of the intentions of the National Curriculum is to identify achievements and goals more clearly for pupils of all abilities. It is important that this intention is realised.

75 We do not underestimate the problems of giving all fourth and fifth year pupils access to the mainstream curriculum. In some schools they will be considerable. We believe that it is important to preserve the most successful features of alternative approaches within the National Curriculum. These seem to relate to learning methods rather than to content. Clear links with the 'real' world outside school, an emphasis on solving practical problems, work experience and link courses with colleges of further education all appear to improve pupils' motivation and performance. It is important to find means of reconciling them with the requirements of the National Curriculum.

76 By stressing the importance of meeting the needs of lower achieving pupils we are not in any way suggesting that those of average or high achievers should be neglected. They too can become bored and disaffected as a result of inappropriate curriculum content and teaching methods. Our emphasis on low achievers simply reflects the balance of concern expressed in our evidence.

77 Section 2 of the Education Reform Act 1988 makes it clear that the content of the National Curriculum and the processes through which it is to be delivered should be matched to the different abilities and maturities of pupils. We welcome this commitment and look forward to its implementation. We recommend that the Secretaries of State should ensure that the National Curriculum offers stimulating programmes of study suitable for the full ability range. (R31)

Testing and assessment

78 Our evidence suggests that many children who behave badly in school are those whose self-esteem is threatened by failure. They see academic work as competitive and the competition as unwinnable. They soon realise that the best way to avoid losing in such a competition is not to enter it. Testing is an essential school process. However, the use of test results often gives the test itself the characteristics of a competition. Among high achievers this can actually encourage better work. But for low achievers it can involve regular public failure. This can be very threatening to their self-esteem and lead to disaffection, bad behaviour and truancy. Where the test is a part of a national rather than an internal system its importance, and hence the threat it poses, will be increased.

79 The Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT), set up by the Secretary of State to consider assessment within the National Curriculum, was fully aware of this problem. It therefore recommended that the national system of testing at seven, 11, 14 and 16 should be criterion-referenced, that test results for individual pupils should be confidential and that, up to the age of 16, its primary purpose should be formative. This means that testing should provide information about a pupil's achievements in relation to specific learning objectives rather than to the performance of other pupils; that individual pupils' results should only be available to themselves, their parents and teachers, and others who need to know; and that the results should inform decisions about pupils' future learning needs. Ranked class lists should not be produced. We consider it essential for assessment systems to be supportive rather than threatening to pupils. We support the TGAT principles of criterion-referencing, formative assessment and confidentiality. We believe that they can form the basis for a supportive system, which is particularly important for younger pupils. We therefore welcome the acceptance by the Secretaries of States of these principles.

80 We have mentioned the need for schools to recognise non-academic as well as academic achievements in order to improve pupils' motivation. We consider that this has important implications for the development of records of achievement for secondary pupils. We discuss these implications in chapter six.

Curricula for individual schools and pupils

81 We identified six possible problem areas. They are: emphasis on academic achievement; grouping pupils by ability; teaching and learning methods; relevance to the outside world; cultural messages; and messages about values.

Emphasis on academic achievement

82 Our evidence suggests that an emphasis on academic achievement is likely to promote good behaviour as long as it is not the school's only emphasis. Rutter found that regular setting, checking and marking of homework in secondary schools were associated with better pupil behaviour. Mortimore found that a work-centred atmosphere was important in encouraging good behaviour in junior schools. But both studies also found that good behaviour was associated with praise and rewards. A school in which academic achievement is the only source of positive encouragement is likely to experience more difficulties with low achieving pupils.

Grouping pupils by ability

83 These difficulties may be increased if academic emphasis is translated into the rigid streaming of pupils by ability. Streaming is now relatively rare, but it still exists. About 5% of the secondary schools covered by the recent HMI survey report were streamed. Streaming means that a pupil is in the same class for all subjects even though his level of ability in, say, art may be substantially different from that in maths. A pupil in the seventh stream of a seven form entry secondary school knows exactly where the system places him - at the bottom. It is therefore not surprising that lower stream classes have a reputation for bad behaviour. Setting is a more common system of grouping pupils. It involves placing them in different 'sets' for different subjects according to their differing abilities. Careful setting and the recognition of a wide range of non- academic achievements can help to restore to low academic achievers a proper sense of self-respect, and avoid generating the feelings of rejection and hostility that often give rise to bad behaviour.

Teaching and learning methods

84 Most primary schools have mixed ability classes throughout. In secondary schools this is hardly ever done but the extent to which pupils are separated by ability into streams, bands or sets varies considerably. Mixed ability teaching can be demanding. Matching learning materials to a wide variety of abilities can be difficult, but it probably reduces the feeling of rejection which seems to be common among low achieving pupils. There is a balance of advantage to be struck. In the case of banding, which consists of grouping pupils into two or three broader ability ranges, and setting, which consists of ability grouping for particular subjects, the balance is finer. We therefore recommend that schools should not use rigid streaming arrangements to group their pupils by ability and that they should take full account of the implications for pupil behaviour when reviewing their arrangements for grouping pupils. (R32) The probability of improving general standards of behaviour through dispersing lower achieving pupils needs to be balanced against the demands imposed by mixed ability grouping on teacher skills and resources.

85 It is not unknown for lower bands or sets to be given the least effective teachers and the worst rooms. This is clearly bad practice. We consider it essential for lower achieving pupils to have a fair allocation of the school's resources. It is, for example, important that heads of department should teach pupils across the full range of ability. Pupils should also have equal access to a range of rewards, such as commendations and merit marks, both for academic and non-academic achievements. We recommend:

85.1 that schools should distribute their teaching and other resources equitably across the ability range; (R33.1) and

85.2 that they should provide a range of rewards accessible to pupils of all abilities. (R33.2)

86 Even in schools that value non-academic ability, academic achievement remains a principal goal for all pupils and they are encouraged to value it. If the school itself places obstacles in the path to this achievement it is understandable if they become frustrated and angry. We emphasise the importance of lesson planning as an aspect of effective classroom management in chapter three. Bad lesson planning and delivery, which includes failure to match learning tasks to abilities, therefore makes disruptive behaviour by bored or frustrated pupils more likely. It is the lot of the inefficient teacher.

87 Our recommendations on teaching methods in the classroom are to be found in chapter three. Pupils also learn in a variety of other settings. We consider that educational visits, residential education, work experience and other forms of 'off-site' learning are important in motivating pupils generally and providing alternative opportunities for achievement for less academic pupils. We therefore recommend that schools should make full use of off-site learning as a means of motivating their pupils. (R34)

Relevance

88 Our impression is that a significant number of pupils see part or all of the conventional curriculum as irrelevant to the 'real' world outside school. By no means all of them are low achievers. However, the prospect of rewards such as good examination grades, college places and white collar jobs at the end of the process helps pupils who rate their chances of academic success as reasonable to resist the temptation to 'muck about' in lessons or play truant. Low academic achievers looking towards an unskilled job or unemployment lack this incentive to cooperate.

89 Our evidence suggests that an important factor in promoting good behaviour among pupils is a curriculum which they see as being relevant to their needs. The Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) is making a positive contribution in this area by developing technical, practical and work-related elements in the curricula provided for 14 to 18 year olds. There is evidence, both from the national evaluation of TVEI and from evaluation at local levels, that it has improved the motivation of the pupils involved. Its practical emphasis and relevance to the real world seem to be important factors in achieving this improvement. We hope that the momentum of TVEI development can be maintained in the context of the National Curriculum. We have emphasised the need for a practical and relevant curriculum in particular for low achieving pupils earlier in this chapter. Our evidence suggests that initiatives such as TVEI are also likely to improve the motivation and behaviour of a much wider range of pupils. Work-related activities, work experience and compacts between pupils and employers are also important aspects of curriculum relevance. We look at them in more detail in chapter six.

Cultural messages

90 We have argued that good schools give pupils a sense of community. Many schools contain pupils from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It seems to us unlikely that a school will be able to create this sense of community if its curriculum does not convey the message that all cultures are of equal value. This includes that of the majority of pupils as well as those of minorities. Our attention was drawn to a study of primary schools serving multi-ethnic areas in New Zealand (Ramsay 1983). This found that the most effective schools in terms of both work and behaviour were those which built on the pupils' own cultural backgrounds. In less effective schools teachers tended to think that cultural background was irrelevant to the curriculum. This confirms our own impressions. The curriculum becomes more meaningful in schools where the cultural realities of young peoples' lives are taken seriously. This applies equally to children from minority ethnic and white working class backgrounds.

91 We refer to evidence of racial harassment in schools earlier in this chapter. It seems clear that racist attitudes among pupils can lead to anything from name-calling to assaults resulting in serious injury or even death. Schools must counter these attitudes. Head-on confrontation is likely to be counter-productive. It may alienate as many pupils as it wins over. We believe that using the curriculum to emphasise the importance of tolerance and respect for other cultures is a more productive approach. A variety of subjects can be used to point out the achievements of different cultures. Where possible these achievements should be linked to cultures represented in the school as well as to the principle of mutual respect in the school's behaviour policy.

92 Testing which is culturally biased will not help schools to build a sense of community. TGAT recommended that assessment tasks should be reviewed regularly for evidence of such bias. We welcome and support that recommendation.

93 We recommend that the Secretaries of State should ensure that multi-cultural awareness and equal opportunities become identifiable cross-curricular themes and are used to promote the attitudes on which respectful and tolerant behaviour are based. (R35)

Messages about values

94 There is more to behaviour than impulse. It springs from attitudes and moral values. Our impression is that many schools are not making explicit use of the formal part of their affective curriculum which covers religious education and personal and social education to establish and reinforce their behaviour policies. This is a lost opportunity.

95 We received a considerable number of submissions expressing concern about personal and social education (PSE) being 'squeezed out' by the National Curriculum. PSE is not one of the National Curriculum's core or other foundation subjects.

96 PSE is an important part of the affective curriculum of many schools. It covers such areas as moral education. It deals explicitly with issues like social responsibility and tolerance and coming to terms with adolescence. It can be used to discuss the way in which the school works as a community with pupils, and to help them to understand their role and behaviour in school. Throughout this report we emphasise its importance in reinforcing schools' behaviour policies. We also consider that it has a part to play in educating pupils to be responsible adults and good parents. This is discussed in chapter five. We would therefore be very concerned if we thought that PSE was about to disappear or be reduced. We believe that it should be strengthened, and that it should be provided by all schools.

97 We do not consider that the National Curriculum need pose any threat to PSE. If the right action is taken it could encourage its development. PSE should be delivered in two ways. Some elements can form a cross- curricular theme, dealt with in a number of different subjects, within the National Curriculum. It can also be provided as a course in the time available outside that taken up by the foundation subjects of the National Curriculum. Our primary concern is not how it is delivered but that it is delivered effectively. The Secretaries of State have specifically asked the National Curriculum Council and the Curriculum Council for Wales to advise them on the place and content of PSE in the curriculum. We welcome this recognition of its importance. We recommend:

97.1 that the Secretaries of State should ensure that personal and social education is effectively covered as a cross-curricular theme within the National Curriculum; (R36.1) and

97.2 that schools should also provide personal and social education programmes outside the National Curriculum. (R36.2)

98 The tradition in British schools is for teachers to combine academic, disciplinary and welfare functions. Its strength is its integration. It makes knowing and educating the 'whole' pupil possible. Some other education systems do not have this pastoral tradition. Some teachers in this country look wistfully at such systems. But they are not always so highly regarded in their home countries. Deep concern was expressed to us in the USA about the effects on pupils' behaviour of high schools described as impersonal 'education factories'. The concept of the tutor group was a revelation to one very eminent American educationalist. If, as we have argued, a pupil's sense of being known and valued by the school is an important factor in ensuring good behaviour, the pastoral system has a vital role to play.

99 The primary class teacher and secondary form tutor are key figures. Their active involvement in both welfare and disciplinary functions is crucial to the success of a pastoral system. Secondary schools also have senior pastoral staff, including heads of year or house as well as deputy heads who exercise oversight of all systems in the school.

100 The existence of such senior staff may tempt teachers to refer welfare or discipline problems to them. Some systems seem to encourage rapid referral in all cases. This is unwise. Our evidence suggests that schools in which form tutors carry out mainly administrative functions, such as taking registers and reading notices, tend to suffer from more disruptive behaviour than schools in which they are actively involved in disciplinary, counselling and guidance activities, monitoring academic progress and other pastoral work. Disciplinary systems which result in streams of minor offenders being sent out of class by teachers to be dealt with by senior staff seem to be particularly ineffective.

101 Heads of department in secondary schools are potentially valuable sources of disciplinary as well as academic support for their teams. A drawback of splitting academic and pastoral functions too sharply is that it denies them a disciplinary or welfare role.

102 Secondary schools should have a structured referral system which involves all teachers. Behaviour problems in class should always be dealt with in the first instance by the class teacher. When more serious problems arise the form tutor should be brought in. Form tutors should only refer the pupil involved to a more senior level if they consider that the problem is too serious or too persistent to be dealt with at the first level of referral.

103 We recommend that secondary headteachers and teachers should base pastoral systems on the strengths of the traditional integrated academic, welfare and disciplinary role of the teacher. (R37) They should expect their senior pastoral staff to give priority to advising, supporting and encouraging colleagues carrying out pastoral functions rather than dealing with a large number of pupils directly.

104 In their recent survey report on secondary schools, HMI comment that there are still too many schools which are not making good use of tutorial time. Tutor periods are usually at the beginning of the school day. A session which just consists of taking the register and killing time before the bell goes gets the day off to a bad start for a number of reasons. First, the opportunity to foster commitment to the school has been lost. Second, the pupil is not taken seriously. Third, there is no crossing of a psychological frontier which helps young people take up the role of pupil, rather than son or daughter, and which demonstrates that adults have taken up the role of teachers rather than parents or child-minders. The quality of this opening session of the school day is, we believe, crucial for creating a climate of mutual expectations which lead on to purposeful behaviour during the day.

105 Tutor periods are valuable opportunities to carry out pastoral work. They can be used to teach study skills or to deliver part of the school's PSE programme. We have emphasised form tutors' central role in effective pastoral systems earlier in this chapter. A structured programme of activities should help to develop the relationship between tutors and their groups. We recommend that secondary headteachers and teachers should identify clear aims for the use of tutorial time, and that these aims should include reinforcing the school's behaviour policy. (R38)

106 The tutor group system can also provide valuable information from pupils on the problems that they see around the school. Seeing the school from the pupils' point of view is important for heads and teachers. Knowing what pupils see as positive helps them improve the atmosphere. Although they may not realise it, schools that do not use their pastoral systems in this way to provide them with feedback receive it nonetheless through bad behaviour. Primary class teachers are well placed to gather this kind of information from pupils. In larger secondary schools a more formal system is needed. Form tutors and other pastoral staff should provide channels of communication through which the senior management team and the staff as a whole can pick up the feelings of pupils about their school. This is a valuable source of management information. Where they exist, school councils on which pupils are represented can also provide a forum for constructive discussion. We consider school councils in chapter six. PSE programmes can also provide opportunities for exploring pupils' perceptions of the school. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should:

106.1 recognise the importance of ascertaining pupils' views; (R39.1) and

106.2 organise systems for doing so and for taking the information gathered into account in the management of the school. (R39.2)

107 Pastoral staff are important points of contact for support services outside the school, for example education welfare officers, educational psychologists, health and social services personnel, and for parents. Our evidence suggests that when persistent behaviour problems arise with a pupil, some schools do not call in the support services or parents until a point of crisis has been reached. The pupil may for example be on the brink of exclusion. This is usually too late. By then so much bad feeling has been generated that the situation may be very difficult to retrieve.

108 In some of the schools we visited, pastoral staff were clearly in close and regular contact with both parents and LEA support staff such as education welfare officers and educational psychologists. Written evidence and statements from expert witnesses suggest to us that this is by no means universal. We recommend that headteachers should ensure that there is regular and effective communication between their staff and support services, and that these services are given early warning of developing problems. (R40)

109 Timetabling senior pastoral staff for regular meetings with education welfare officers and educational psychologists is a practical method of ensuring regular contact in secondary schools. This can be easier if educational welfare officers are based in schools. We consider this possibility and other ways in which educational welfare officers and psychologists can be used to support the work of schools in chapters six, seven and 10.

110 Effective schools seem to be able to combine high expectations with a sympathetic atmosphere. Teachers are not social workers or psychotherapists. They cannot solve a pupil's home problems however much they may sympathise with them. Rutter found that schools in which teachers saw misbehaviour as a disciplinary rather than a welfare problem tended to achieve better standards of behaviour. He also found better behaviour in schools where teachers made themselves available to be consulted by children about their problems. These findings are not inconsistent with one another. They illustrate the need to strike this balance. We therefore recommend that headteachers and teachers should ensure that pastoral care in schools is characterised by a healthy balance between challenge and support for pupils. (R41)

111 We are convinced that there are skills, which all teachers need, involved in listening to young people and encouraging them to talk about their hopes and concerns before coming to a judgement about their behaviour. We consider that these basic counselling skills are particularly valuable for creating a supportive school atmosphere. The skills needed to work effectively with adults, whether teachers or parents, are equally crucial. We therefore recommend that initial teacher training establishments should introduce all their students to basic counselling skills and their value. We regard such skills as particularly important for all senior pastoral staff (deputy heads, heads of house and year). We recommend that LEAs should provide in- service training in basic counselling skills for senior pastoral staff at least. (R42; R43)

112 A few secondary schools have specialist counsellors on their staff. The school counsellor is a senior member of the pastoral staff, usually with extensive training, whose job is to provide guidance and support for both pupils and colleagues. We visited one school with a counsellor. Our impression is that, where they exist, school counsellors are well used. They can themselves, for example, provide in-service training in basic counselling skills for their colleagues. A recommendation for their general use would, however, need to be based on convincing evidence of their effectiveness. We do not have such evidence.

113 Maintaining regular contact with parents is an important function not only of pastoral staff but of the staff as a whole. We consider this in detail in the last section of this chapter.

BUILDINGS AND ENVIRONMENT

114 We noticed considerable differences in the appearance of the schools that we visited. It seemed to us that there was a connection between their appearance and the behaviour of their pupils. In some we were impressed by the obvious care and effort which had gone into producing an attractive environment. Classrooms and corridors were well decorated. There were no signs of litter or graffiti. In primary schools particularly there were colourful displays of pupils' work on the walls. Staff commented to us about the benefits to the school's general atmosphere of a welcoming environment. The appearance of other schools was bleaker and less well cared for. The lack of display of pupils' work in some of the secondary schools was particularly noticeable.

115 We recognised that the pupils themselves had a considerable effect upon the appearance of the accommodation, for good or ill, but we felt that the resulting conditions also had an effect, for good or ill, upon the pupils as well as upon visitors and staff. We were therefore interested to note that, while there is no evidence that the age or size of school buildings have any effect on pupils' behaviour, there is much clearer evidence of a link between shabby, untidy classrooms without posters, plants or displays of pupils' work and poorer standards of behaviour. The converse also seems to be true.

116 It was brought home to us on many occasions, both at home and abroad, that where pupils are provided with a pleasant environment they respect it, and where they have contributed to it they treat it as their own. This applies to buildings, grounds and equipment. We believe that this sense of participating in the ownership of a school plays an important part in the way pupils behave.

117 Staff and pupils can do a great deal themselves to improve and maintain the quality of their school's environment. We were impressed by the concerted efforts being made in some of the schools we visited. We recommend that headteachers and staff should adopt comprehensive policies for the care of premises, with responsibilities allocated to specific people, including pupils. Such policies should cover: (R44)

117.1 damage and graffiti control. Staff and pupils should be encouraged to notice and to report damage and graffiti as quickly as possible. The school's behaviour policy should make it clear that intentional damage to premises and equipment, including graffiti, is considered a serious offence against the community which will result in appropriate punishment. Ideally, graffiti should be removed immediately and minor damage repaired in a day or two. If possible, pupils responsible for damage should be involved in repair work as part of their punishment. Where work cannot be done by pupils, rapid repairs would be made much easier by employing caretakers whose contracts include such duties. We therefore recommend that LEAs and governing bodies which employ school staff should include the repair of minor damage and the removal of graffiti in the duties of caretaking staff where such arrangements do not already exist and can be negotiated; (R45)

117.2 litter control. The first and most obvious steps are to ensure that there is an adequate supply of sensibly designed and placed litter bins around the school, and that they are regularly emptied. Headteachers should make clear to staff and pupils that keeping the school litter-free is the responsibility of the whole community. Punishments for dropping litter should involve picking up litter; and

117.3 display of pupils' work. We believe that more secondary schools would do well to follow the good example set by many primary schools in this area. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should recognise the importance of displaying pupils' work in creating an attractive environment, increasing pupils' self-esteem and fostering a sense of ownership of the premises. (R46)

119 We are not qualified, nor would we wish, to provide guidelines for the construction of new school buildings. But we have seen the effects upon users of many school buildings put up in the past. We therefore feel that we should emphasise that the cost of maintenance, and therefore the probability of its being done, is affected by the design standards set and the materials used at the time of construction. DES Building Bulletin 67, Crime prevention in schools - practical guidance (1987), contains a number of useful suggestions about careful design reducing the risk of intentional and unintentional damage to school buildings.

120 While considering the influence of buildings upon those within them we noticed that their design, as well as their maintenance, is of importance. We found that in a number of schools, even of recent design, quite elementary requirements had been overlooked. In particular we would emphasise the need for adequate space for circulation between rooms and the need for staff to have a good view at all times of the pupils in their charge. Neglect of either point results in difficulty of supervision.

121 We recommend that the Secretaries of State, LEAs and governing bodies with responsibility for buildings should ensure that school buildings are designed with durability (consistent with attractiveness), ease of maintenance, avoidance of circulation bottlenecks and good sightlines for the supervision of pupils in mind. (R47)

122 The impact of major maintenance work, such as rewiring, can clearly be very disruptive if undertaken in term time. It can not only disrupt school routines but also have a disturbing effect on pupils' behaviour.

123 Headteachers should always be consulted about the phasing and timing of such work. This may appear too obvious to be worth saying, but we know that extensive works are sometimes carried out in term time and without any consultation with the headteacher. The result is severe disruption and damage to staff morale. We therefore recommend that LEAs and governing bodies with responsibility for buildings should ensure that large scale maintenance and other building work are carried out only with due notice after consulting the headteacher and, whenever possible, in the school holidays. (R48)

124 Maintenance is a key issue. For the majority of schools this is currently an LEA responsibility. As LMS schemes are phased in from 1990 heads and governing bodies will take over responsibility for day to day maintenance and internal decoration. LEAs will retain responsibility for structural maintenance. Delegating part of the maintenance budget to schools in this way may encourage them to care for their buildings. It may also result in a more flexible and effective use of maintenance funds by, for example, combining self-help with the use of local contractors. But it may mean that maintenance is neglected because other priorities seem to be more pressing. LMS will not change the essential nature of the maintenance problem. Our impression is that, in some LEAs at least, there has been for whatever reasons a history of substantial underinvestment in maintenance. The result is some rather shabby, depressing school buildings, LEAs have argued that their budgets are restricted and that building maintenance cannot be given the same priority as, for example, maintaining the pupil-teacher ratio (see chapter 11). Under LMS, governors will be faced with equally difficult choices. We consider it essential that building maintenance should be given adequate priority. It seems clear from our evidence that inadequate maintenance is likely to lead to progressive deterioration in the quality of a school's environment. This will have a damaging effect on its atmosphere. It may lead to a downward spiral with pupils doing further damage to the building and equipment because they see that it is not cared for. Regular structural maintenance and redecoration and the prompt repair of minor damage can reverse this downward spiral. We recommend that the government, in its expenditure plans, should give explicit encouragement to LEAs and governing bodies with responsibility for buildings to ensure that adequate funds are made available for the maintenance of school premises. (R49)

125 We were impressed by the effect on school atmosphere of areas with carpets. Such areas are commonplace in primary schools. Expert witnesses mentioned the effect of carpeting in improving pupils' regard for their schools. Soft floor coverings not only produce a pleasanter environment. They also significantly reduce noise from the scraping of chairs, the pounding of feet and the echoing of voices. This can make school life noticeably less stressful for teachers and pupils. In general, carpets are to be found in domestic settings. Hard floors belong more in public and institutional buildings. It may be for this reason that pupils appear to treat carpeted areas with more care than uncarpeted ones. An increasing number of LEAs are finding that the use of carpeting now compares economically with that of vinyl flooring. We therefore recommend that LEAs and governing bodies with responsibility for buildings should help schools to create a better environment for both staff and pupils by providing soft floor coverings and other noise reducing features wherever possible. (R50)

TIMETABLING, CIRCULATION AND SUPERVISION

126 Some of our evidence suggests that the organisation of the school day can increase or reduce the chances of pupils misbehaving, particularly in the secondary sector. Certain aspects of primary school timetabling and organisation, such as the withdrawal of small groups of pupils receiving specialist support from their classes for part of the day, can cause difficulties if they are badly arranged. But the greater size and complexity of secondary schools increases the risk of disruption as a result of organisational defects. Most of the comments in this section are therefore about secondary schools,

127 We identified five issues related to the pattern of the school day which can affect a school's atmosphere and the behaviour of its pupils. They are: the use of assemblies and tutorial time; the structure of the timetable; circulation between lessons; the general supervision of pupils outside lessons; and lunchtime supervision.

128 We have commented on the use of assemblies by headteachers. We consider them to be an important feature of school life. An assembly which consists of nothing but a token prayer and a string of notices is more that just a wasted opportunity. It gives a negative message to pupils about the nature of the school community. So does wasted tutorial time.

129 We believe that the timetable is an important management tool which may be undervalued by some schools. Timetabling is a complex process. Structuring the school day and matching teachers to classes is complicated enough in a primary school. The number of variables involved in constructing a secondary school timetable is very great, and the task is highly complex. We recognise that there is no standard formula for success. Each school has a different mixture of people and buildings, so timetables have to be individually tailored. Each school has its own priorities. Our evidence suggests, however, that some arrangements are more likely to produce behaviour problems than others. These include:

129.1 excessive movement between classrooms. Movement from classroom to classroom can be stressful for both pupils and teachers. The more there is, the greater the chance of misbehaviour in corridors. In primary schools pupils are taught by one teacher in one room for most of the week. This tends to produce a more stable atmosphere. We know that secondary schools cannot adopt this model, although we are aware of some which use a 'transitional' timetable, with more time spent with one teacher, for their first and sometimes their second year classes. We consider that the principle of keeping movement between classrooms down to a necessary minimum is valid for all schools;

129.2 movement in 'nil time'. Some timetables allow no time for movement between lessons. This means that everybody is always late. In schools with large sites and scattered buildings, both pupils and teachers may be several minutes late. Research evidence suggests that late starts to lessons are associated with worse standards of behaviour. Lesson time should be set to allow for movement, and to make a punctual start possible;

129.3 bunching of activities. Good teachers know that they can keep pupils' attention by varying activities in lessons. We consider that the same principle should apply to timetabling. If, for example, a group gets nearly all its practical and activity lessons on a Monday it is likely to become rather restive by the end of the week;

129.4 mismatches between teachers and groups. We know that primary heads spend a great deal of time thinking about matching teachers to classes. We recognise that this is more difficult in secondary schools, but the same principles apply. If, for example, an inexperienced teacher is given a particularly difficult fourth year group behaviour problems are likely to arise, especially if they have a lesson in a hut at the end of the playground on a Friday afternoon;

129.5 lack of consultation with staff. We comment earlier in this chapter on the weaknesses of autocratic management styles and on teachers' proper desire to be involved in decision making processes. The staff represent an invaluable source of information and professional advice. We believe that failure to use that source of advice is likely to produce a less effective timetable. It will also be resented by teachers because of the lack of consultation involved in constructing it; and

129.6 teacher stress. Timetable features can generate or reduce stress. In one school we visited year groups had, until recently, had breaks and lunches at different times in order to reduce congestion in the playground and dining hall. This meant that teachers' breaks were also staggered. The difficulties involved in arranging lunchtime meetings and loss of informal staff room contacts increased stress among teachers. A new timetabler identified the problem from staff comments and changed the practice. This example also illustrates the danger of suggesting standard solutions. We know of other schools that have found staggering the lunch break helpful in improving behaviour. What matters is that headteachers and timetablers are fully aware of the effects of the timetable on behaviour, and its importance as a management tool, and are prepared to use it as such.

131 We observed pupils circulating between lessons in all the schools we visited and were, in general, favourably impressed by what we saw. We are, however, aware of schools where circulation is a much less orderly affair. In a large school, circulation can involve over 1,000 people moving simultaneously. Bottlenecks in narrow corridors or stair wells and badly placed queues can lead to pushing, jostling and other behaviour problems which damage the atmosphere and sometimes the fabric of the school. They can also escalate into more serious problems such as fights. A high proportion of teachers in our survey reported that physical aggression between pupils was a frequent problem around the school. Building design and layout impose constraints upon any school, but circulation problems can be exacerbated by bad timetabling and bad flow management.

132 Standard solutions to circulation problems are also of very limited value. Some schools operate 'one way' systems to relieve bottlenecks. These need to be carefully signposted and supervised. Unorthodox solutions may work. One school we visited had abandoned the use of bells. It had a very concentrated pattern of circulation with large numbers of classrooms off a long, central corridor, and this caused difficulties when every class emerged simultaneously. Abandoning bells had the effect of slightly staggering the beginning and end of lessons which alleviated congestion. The solution was successfully tailored to solve the school's particular problem.

133 We emphasise earlier in this chapter the collective responsibility of staff for promoting good behaviour throughout the school. Schools in which senior teachers are 'visible' during lesson breaks are less likely to suffer from bad behaviour in circulation areas. Schools in which teachers tend to ignore bad behaviour when they are not inside their own classrooms are much more likely to suffer from it. To ignore bad behaviour in these circumstances is to condone it, and to encourage its spread to the classroom. Regarding general supervision, We recommend:

133.1 that senior staff should be visible and strategically placed during mass circulation periods between lessons; (R52.1) and

133.2 that headteachers and teachers, when moving about the school, should be aware of and take responsibility for pupils' behaviour. (R52.2)

LUNCHTIME SUPERVISION

135 We were told at several schools that the supervision of pupils at lunchtime is the biggest single behaviour-related problem that they face. This was confirmed by a number of expert witnesses. We also note that the analysis of injuries to school staff sustained as a result of violent incidents provided by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA - see chapter 10) suggests that the risk to midday supervisors is significantly greater than to other staff, particularly when breaking up playground fights. We observed lunchtime supervision arrangements at most of the schools we visited. It seemed clear to us that they were a source of difficulty even in the best ordered schools we saw. We concluded that this is an issue which needs to be taken very seriously.

136 We believe that the most effective lunchtime supervision is provided by teachers. It is also clear to us that teachers need lunch breaks. The debate about whether lunchtime supervision is a normal part of a teacher's duties ran on for many years. The agreement that it is not a contractual obligation dates back to 1968. Between 1968 and 1985 many teachers continued to volunteer for lunchtime duties in exchange for free meals. However some LEAs had to bring in midday supervisors, who are not teachers, to make up numbers. Industrial action by teachers in 1985 ended voluntary lunchtime supervision in many schools. Many teachers are no longer prepared to do it. Although some LEAs employ teachers under separate contracts for this purpose, the use of midday supervisors in schools is now more or less universal.

137 Headteachers are formally responsible for lunchtime arrangements. We were told by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) that, in a few schools, the head alone provides supervision. We believe that this is unacceptable. Employing adequate numbers of midday supervisors will not, however, in itself result in acceptable standards of behaviour at lunchtime. In many of the schools we visited, we were told that some midday supervisors may actually provoke a certain amount of bad behaviour unintentionally while trying to maintain order. We have emphasised the importance of effective authority for teachers. Midday supervisors do not have the same status as teachers. Nor in general are they likely to have been trained in group management skills. Some midday supervisors seem to rely entirely on their status as adults as a source of authority. They may, for example, refuse to listen to, shout at, or threaten pupils. We were given numerous accounts of situations, and witnessed one, in which this kind of approach escalated a minor incident into a major confrontation involving intervention by the headteacher. In most schools, midday supervisors who are not teachers will continue to be employed. We recommend that LEAs and governing bodies which employ school staff should ensure that midday supervisors are given adequate training in the management of pupils' behaviour. Training programmes should take account of the findings of the ILEA analysis referred to above. (R54)

138 In 1985 the government made an Education Support Grant (ESG) available to supplement the funding already provided by LEAs for midday supervision. Its current (1988/89) value is about £40 million. This grant was always intended to be a temporary measure. The government has announced that it will be discontinued from April 1989. The money will not be lost to LEAs, since it will be redeployed within the ESG pool, but will no longer be available to help fund midday supervision. LEAs will have to find the whole cost of midday supervision from other sources of revenue as they did before this ESG was introduced. It has been suggested to us that, in the light of concern about pupils' behaviour in general and behaviour at lunchtime in particular, the timing of this change is unfortunate.

139 We accept that ESG funding is temporary or 'pump priming' in nature, and that priorities change. We are not, therefore, recommending the restoration of this ESG. Taking account of the strong concerns expressed to us about this issue, however, we recommend that the government, in its expenditure plans, should give explicit encouragement to LEAs to ensure that adequate funds are made available for lunchtime supervision. (R55)

140 LEAs will be able to devolve the funding of lunchtime supervision to schools as LMS is phased in from 1990. We consider that such devolution would be consistent with the headteacher's overall responsibilities. It would make possible the negotiation of local arrangements, which could result in different combinations of teachers and midday supervisors being deployed according to schools' circumstances and needs. We believe that it is important for some teachers to be employed for lunchtime supervision, perhaps as leaders of supervisory teams. We recognise that the present rates of pay received by midday supervisors would not be sufficient to attract many teachers. Headteachers will need to bear this in mind when making their arrangements. It is important that the schools make adequate financial provision for lunchtime supervision. We recommend:

140.1 that LEAs should devolve the funding of lunchtime supervision to schools; (R56.1) and

140.2 that headteachers should use these funds to devise schemes which meet the needs of their schools and encourage participation by teachers. (R56.2)

141 The majority of individual teachers who wrote to us suggested that the attitudes and behaviour of some parents were major causes of bad behaviour by their children in school. We were told that the factors involved ranged from family instability, conflict and poverty to parental indifference or hostility to school. We consider the role of family conflict and poverty in chapter five. This section deals with teachers' perceptions of parental indifference and hostility and what schools can do to improve matters.

142 Teachers' attitudes towards parents seemed to differ in the schools we visited. Some of the schools clearly gave high priority to promoting the active involvement of parents in as many aspects of school life as possible. Others generally saw parents as a source of difficulty, and appeared reluctant to involve them in disciplinary matters because of a feeling that they would not support the school. Most fell between these two extremes. We could not explain different attitudes to parents by differences in the schools' catchment areas.

143 We know that there is a minority of parents who seem to be actively hostile to schooling. There are even a few who assault teachers. Our evidence suggests, however, that the hostile minority is very small. We are convinced that the vast majority of parents, regardless of social class, ethnic or cultural origin, want their children to work hard and behave well at school. We do not perceive any major divergence of interest between schools and parents at this fundamental level. But we do perceive a range of practical problems which can prevent active partnership developing.

Talking about behaviour

144 We believe that parents have a vital role to play in promoting good behaviour in schools. There is much that they can do on their own initiative, but they also need help and encouragement from schools. We felt that two research findings were particularly interesting in this connection. About 900 secondary pupils in the West Midlands were asked in a survey which reward for good work or behaviour in school they valued most, and which punishment for bad behaviour they feared most (Wheldall and Merrett 1988). A positive letter home was one of the two rewards most valued. The punishments most feared were also those involving parents - a letter home or being put 'on report' (a system in which teachers write comments on a pupil at the end of every lesson, a summary of which can be made available to parents). Wheldall and Merrett suggest that, while schools often use letters of complaint, positive letters home are very rarely used. This must mean that some parents get nothing but negative messages about their children from school. Parents most likely to find themselves in this position are those of lower achieving pupils whose own memories of school may be bad. It seems likely to us that they will become hostile to the school rather than being prepared to work with teachers to improve matters. We recommend that headteachers and teachers should ensure that parents receive positive and constructive comments on their children's work and behaviour as a matter of course. (R57)

145 Good communications with parents are made more important by the home-school 'perception gap'. Researchers have consistently found that when parents and teachers are asked to identify children with behaviour problems in a class they identify roughly the same number, but they are largely different children. The overlap is small. Parents who tell the headteacher that their child 'doesn't behave like that at home' are likely to be telling the truth. Our evidence suggests that many heads and teachers tend to underestimate or even ignore the school-based factors involved in disruptive behaviour. We have also been told that some schools only involve parents in behaviour problems as a last resort. Again, demanding that parents 'deal' with behaviour which they do not recognise seems likely to us to provoke a negative or even hostile reaction. We recommend that, when disciplinary problems arise, headteachers and teachers should involve parents at an early stage rather than as a last resort. (R58)

146 We recommend that teachers should recognise that pupils' behaviour at home may differ markedly from their behaviour at school, and that they should take this into account when discussing pupils with their parents. (R59) This helps to encourage cooperation and reduce the risk of confrontation with parents. In this, as in other contexts, it is very important for teachers to listen to what parents have to say. The aim should be to reach agreement about the nature of the problem and what needs to be done about it. If such agreement is reached it may even be possible for parents to use home-based strategies, such as the removal of televisions from bedrooms, to reinforce school behaviour policies. We heard of examples where such steps had proved effective.

147 One method for bridging the gap, which was illustrated by our visit to schools in Norway and has also been suggested in this country (Hargreaves 1984), is an association of the parents of pupils in one tutor group or class. Meetings between this small group of parents and the form tutor or class teacher help to establish closer understanding between them. They also provide opportunities for parents to compare notes on children's claims about what other parents permit. This will often come as a surprise to them and help them considerably in controlling their children's behaviour.

Involving parents

148 Schools are not always welcoming places for parents to visit. We know that many parents themselves have bad memories of failure at school. They may find schools intimidating. If heads and teachers do not open the door to parents and create a welcoming atmosphere for them, they should not be surprised if some parents appear to be indifferent or even hostile when contacts are made.

149 One of the most important findings of the School Matters study of junior schools was that school effectiveness is related to parental involvement. The most effective junior schools in the sample, in terms of work, behaviour and attendance, were those which had the best informal relationships with parents. These schools encouraged parental involvement in a variety of ways. Parents were to be found in classrooms using their talents and experience to work with individual pupils or groups. Parents were also encouraged to involve themselves in their own children's learning out of school through home reading and other similar schemes. The research team found that formal links with parents such as parent-teacher associations (PTAs) were not a substitute for other kinds of parental involvement. The most effective junior schools in their sample seemed to have been successful in breaking down the barriers between home and school. This is not just true of the primary sector. The recent national survey of parental involvement in schools carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research, and the 'Parents and the Community as Educators' project have identified numerous examples of good practice. These range from the use of parent volunteers in primary classrooms to parental contributions to careers education and work experience in the secondary sector. Schools involved in these kinds of initiatives see parents as a valuable resource for educating children, rather than as a hindrance.

150 We discuss the role of PTAs and parents' evenings in chapter five. Schools can involve parents in their work in at least five other ways, by;

150.1 maintaining good channels of communication. This includes both written information and regular opportunities for parents to meet teachers;

150.2 providing a welcoming environment for parents visiting the school which may include social facilities such as a parents' room;

150.3 ensuring effective liaison with individual families. This is sometimes called home-school liaison and may involve education welfare officers as well as teachers;

150.4 using parents as helpers in the classroom to work with individuals and small groups of pupils; and

150.5 encouraging parents to take part in home learning schemes, which may involve them reading or watching particular television programmes with their children as an extension of work in school.

152 We recognise that active parental involvement in schools poses practical problems. Liaison with parents takes time which teachers may have difficulty in finding. In schools where there has been a tradition of keeping parents at a distance, teachers may be apprehensive about the possible threat to their professional status posed by bringing them into the classroom. Our evidence suggests, however, that the benefits which can flow from collaboration with parents can be substantial and make it worthwhile for schools to overcome these difficulties and make the experiment. The scope for using parents as classroom helpers and in home learning schemes is probably much greater in primary than in secondary schools. We recommend:

152.1 that headteachers and teachers should develop an active partnership with parents as an aid to promoting good behaviour; (R60.1)

152.2 that they should ensure that their schools provide a welcoming environment for parents; (R60.2) and

152.3 that, particularly in primary schools, they should encourage parental involvement in the classroom and in home learning schemes. (R60.3)

154 Good written communications are important. They can take a number of forms including information booklets, news sheets and letters home. They should always be expressed in terms which are easily understood by all parents. This generally means no more than using plain English, but schools serving areas in which there may be parents who are not fluent in English should also produce information in other community languages. In many parts of Wales, of course, information should be provided in both Welsh and English. We recommend:

154.1 that schools should ensure that written communications to parents are in language easily understood by them; (R62.1) and

154.2 that, where significant numbers of parents use first languages other than English, communications are available in these languages as well as in English. (R62.2)

155.1 that headteachers should ensure that their schools have effective induction arrangements for parents of new pupils; (R63) and

155.2 that they should ensure that their schools' behaviour policies are communicated fully and clearly to parents, who should be reminded of them regularly and informed of any major changes to them throughout their child's school career. (R64)

156 The NAHT suggested to us that the most effective way of doing this would be through a home-school 'contract' or agreement. This agreement would be a document setting out what the school will provide for the pupil and the parent, and what it expects from the pupil, in the way of effort and good behaviour, and the parent, in the way of support, in return. It would be signed by parents when their children entered a school and could, in secondary schools at least, also be signed by pupils. We were told that a number of schools already use such agreements and are satisfied with them.

157 The NAHTs representatives told us that, at this stage, they were recommending the use of home-school agreements by schools on a voluntary rather then a statutory basis. They did not, however, dismiss the idea that signing such an agreement should become a legal condition of entry to school in the future. We decided to explore the possibility of a legal entry 'contract'.

158 Our first conclusion was that it would be inappropriate to borrow the contract concept from civil law for this purpose. Contracts are usually entered into voluntarily by both parties. A breach on either side can involve legal action for damages. If all schools used contracts but parents were still legally obliged to see that their children were educated, it could hardly be argued that a parent's agreement to sign was voluntary. We found the concept of damages even more difficult to envisage in the school context. Damages need to be proved. In chapter five we suggest that there may be other means of making parents accountable for physical injury or damage done by their children in school. When it comes to breaches of school rules which do not involve injury to people or property, it is difficult to see what measure of damages could be specified. The 'contract' model could also expose schools to litigation from parents as a result of the school's failure to deliver its side of the bargain, which might be because of staff vacancies or other factors beyond its control. We therefore rejected the notion of a contract enforceable in civil law.

159 We went on to consider the possibility of making it a condition of entry that parents should sign an undertaking to make every effort to ensure that their child conformed with the school's behaviour policy. If any such requirement were to be imposed by law, it would have to be reconciled with the provisions of section 6 of the Education Act 1980, which require LEAs and governors to comply with any preference expressed by parents as to the school to which their child should be admitted. Making parents sign such undertakings would be a very forceful method of communicating a school's behaviour policy to them. Its advantages would, however, stop there. If a pupil's parents refused to sign and did not send him to school, they would be served with an attendance order. The pupil would then be required to attend a school to which the missing signature was a condition for entry. If he was excluded, no educational advantage would have been secured. If he was admitted without a signature the system would be seen to be unworkable. Moreover, breach of the undertaking would not involve any penalties for child or parent which are not currently available. The NAHT's representatives suggested that a significant minority of parents would refuse to sign. This would undermine such a system. We concluded that the balance of advantage lay with schools making use of non-statutory agreements rather than with our recommending changes in the law.

160 We consider that all schools should formally specify conditions for the readmission of pupils who have been excluded for an indefinite period. Pupils should only be indefinitely excluded for serious and persistent misbehaviour. They should only be allowed to re-enter a school on the basis of a clear and specific understanding about how they will behave. We consider it essential for parents to be asked to sign an undertaking that they will make every effort to ensure that their child complies with the terms specified in this re-entry agreement. Pupils themselves should also be asked to sign the agreement. If parents or pupils refuse to sign, exclusions should be made permanent. We recommend that headteachers should use re-entry agreements, specifying the conditions under which an excluded pupil can be re-admitted to school, as a means of ending indefinite exclusions. (R65)

Home visits

161 We emphasise the value of education welfare officers as channels of communication between parents and schools earlier in this chapter, and recommend that schools make full use of them. Education welfare officers spend a considerable amount of their time talking to parents and children in their homes. Home visiting can be an effective method of breaking down barriers, but it requires time and skills which are more likely to be possessed by education welfare officers than teachers. Senior pastoral staff in some schools make regular home visits. Teachers we spoke to in the Netherlands regarded home visiting as a normal part of their duties. The introduction of home visiting as a normal part of a teacher's duties in this country would have major resource and training implications. A recommendation on these lines would need to be supported by strong evidence of significant benefits in terms of pupils' behaviour. We do not at present have such evidence. It seems clear to us, however, that there are occasions on which home visits by teachers are appropriate, necessary and beneficial. We therefore recommend that, in appropriate cases, LEAs and headteachers should make time available for home visits by teachers, who should consult with the education welfare service and other agencies where necessary. (R66)

162 Some LEAs employ teachers whose job is to develop links between schools and parents. They can do this by home visiting, by encouraging parental involvement in schools, by developing materials such as home reading schemes for home-school learning and by advising colleagues. In Wales a number of these home-school liaison teachers have been funded by an Education Support Grant (ESG) since 1985. We were given a preliminary LEA evaluation of the Welsh project. This concluded that some useful results had been achieved but problems had also been encountered, including significant cost in terms of staff time and other resources. In one English school we visited, we met a teacher whose post was funded through arrangements established by section 11 of the Local government Act 1966 (covering provision for Commonwealth immigrants). Although she was not called a home-school liaison teacher and had other duties, she seemed to have been successful in creating links between the school and Asian parents. We do not doubt the value of effective home-school liaison. We are not, however, convinced that the appointment of specialist teachers is, in general, the best way forward in this area. It may, however, be appropriate to create such posts in particular schools for various reasons, some of which have little to do with pupils' behaviour. Where this is done, home-school liaison teachers should be aware of the implications of their work for pupils' behaviour.

Links with the community

163 Parents are part of the wider community in which schools are set. Primary schools usually serve a fairly small geographical catchment area. Secondary schools may have much larger and more scattered catchment areas, taking in a number of neighbourhood communities. A number of LEAs have set up community schools which may provide facilities for adult education classes, youth centres, pre-school playgroups, pensioners' groups and even social facilities such as bars. We visited one purpose-built community school and were impressed by the enthusiasm of staff for the concept. They were convinced that community use of the premises during the school day improved standards of behaviour because it gave the local community, which includes parents and pupils, a sense of ownership of the school. It has also been suggested to us that the presence of more adults in school encourages better behaviour by pupils, that community schools provide opportunities for pupils to behave responsibly on the premises by helping the very young and the very old, and that community schools make it easier for teachers and parents to meet informally on a more equal footing.

164 Standards of behaviour in the community school we visited appeared to be very good. We do not, however, have research or other evidence indicating that behaviour in community schools is generally better than in other secondary schools. Thus we cannot recommend community use as a way of improving behaviour problems. We do, however, recommend that LEAs, headteachers and governing bodies should give serious consideration to providing community access to school facilities, where it does not already exist, as a means of fostering good relations with parents and the wider community. (R67)