It is vital that teachers and headteachers have the support they need to manage pupils’ behaviour, to ensure all children can get the most out of their school day. Schools are responsible for developing their own strategies for managing behaviour, but I am pleased that there is advice in place to help headteachers and school staff develop these policies.
The Department for Education announced the £10 million behaviour hubs programme in April 2021. It is projected to support more than 500 schools over the next three years. The programme aims to improve pupil behaviour and behaviour practices by enabling schools and multi academy trusts with exemplary behaviour to work in close partnership with those that need and want to improve, alongside a central offer of support and a taskforce of behaviour advisers. I am delighted that the lead schools and multi-academy trusts have now been selected and that training through the behaviour hubs for the first group of participating schools began at the start of the 2020-21 summer term.
The programme will be based on the principles and ideas outlined in Tom Bennett's 2017 review of behaviour in schools. This review identified the core principles of successful schools, which include:
- having a clear understanding of what the school culture is
- high expectations of pupils and a belief that all pupils matter
- consistency and attention to detail in the execution of school routines, norms and values
Further details about the behaviour hubs programme can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/behaviour-hubs.
As part of this, behaviour expert Tom Bennett has been appointed as the lead Behaviour Adviser, supporting the creation of these new behaviour hubs.
Ofsted has also adopted a new inspection framework, which now includes an assessment of behaviour and attitudes in schools. This new criteria will assess whether teachers are creating a calm and orderly learning environment, and whether bullying is tackled effectively when it occurs.
I was pleased to stand on a manifesto that commits to continue backing teachers on discipline and to back heads on using exclusions.