School Discipline and the Law

One of the main concerns of new teachers is how to control unruly pupils in the classroom.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 added a whole range of disciplinary powers to the teachers' arsenal.

The provisions of the Act apply at any time when pupils are under the control of a teacher, whether in official school time or not. The powers given by the Act also apply to other staff with responsibility for controlling pupils, such as teaching assistants, cover supervisors and lunchtime supervisors.

The Act allows the following:

• Power to discipline pupils for misbehaviour outside the school gates: Schools' discipline and behaviour policies may allow teachers to regulate pupil behaviour when they are off school premises and not under the direct control of school staff. Such instances might include when the pupils are causing a nuisance on their journey to and from school or when off school premises at lunchtime. The teacher could then discipline the pupils concerned on their return to school.
• Punishing poor behaviour: Teachers have power to encourage good and punish bad behaviour. Every school should have an agreed behaviour policy, which sets out a clear framework for managing pupil behaviour.
• Detention: Any pupil under the age of 18 can be put on detention, assuming it is a clearly publicised part of the school's behaviour policy. Parents need to be given 24 hours written notice if the detention occurs outside normal school hours. Parents can let you know if this causes particular inconvenience, but they cannot over-rule your decision.
• Confiscation: There is now a specific legal defence for confiscating an inappropriate item from a pupil where the item is confiscated lawfully. This includes a defence for confiscation, holding onto and disposing of the item provided the actions taken are reasonable. If confiscation is used it must be mentioned in the school's behaviour policy.
• Exclusion: The head teacher has the power to exclude pupils if necessary. This can either be permanently or for a fixed term.
• Searching pupils and their possessions: The head teacher may authorise a search of pupils and their possessions if there is reasonable grounds to do so. At present this law only applies to searches for weapons, but will soon be extended to searches for alcohol, controlled drugs and stolen property. Reasonable force may be used to execute the search. Pupil searches can be undertaken by school staff apart from teachers, including those employed specifically for the role. Teachers cannot be required to search pupils. Teachers may demand that a pupil turns out their pockets and punish them if they refuse to do so.
  
• Screening pupils for weapons: School staff can scan pupils for weapons using portable wands or screening arches. Teachers cannot be required to screen pupils.
• Use of force to control or restrain a pupil: Teachers can use reasonable force to control or restrain a pupil if this proves necessary to prevent a pupil from committing a criminal offence, causing injury or damage to property, or prejudicing good order and discipline. This would include physically guiding a pupil from the classroom if they had failed to leave when ordered to. Legislation requires schools to record all "significant" instances where a teacher has used force to control or restrain a pupil.

Previously, teachers had been allowed to restrain pupils under common law, with the same authority as parents.

But the Education and Inspections Act 2006 explicitly states that teachers have the right to physically restrain and remove unruly pupils, and impose detention, including sessions outside school hours and on Saturdays.

Welcome news at a time when anti-social behaviour at school and in the wider community is on the rise.

Observations

As a trainee teacher you're going to be under much closer scrutiny than you care to imagine. It's reasonable to say that anything you say or do, whether in or out of the classroom, could be used by the school to form a judgement about you.

One of the biggest stresses of my training was having lessons officially observed. In my first placement this happened virtually every lesson, with no discernible benefit to me because they couldn't be bothered to give me any written feedback. I literally had to fight for every observation report and piece of evidence for my standards book.

Thankfully my second school took its teacher training responsibilities seriously and only observed me twice a week and at a mutually agreed time. In any scheme of work there are lessons that don't lend themselves to being observed - the lessons where you sit the pupils down to a half hour test, have them tidy up their exercise books/folders or set them a revision task.

Observations will vary from school to school but the good practice in my second school involved the following:

• The generic mentor would come to me on a Friday afternoon and we'd negotiate the following week's observations. I always plan a couple of lessons ahead, so I'd know which lessons were best to observe. Two observations would be planned. The generic mentor would conduct one of the observations and the subject mentor the other.
• By this stage I would have already booked the equipment for the following week and the technician would check everything for me.
  
• I'd spend the weekend preparing my lessons for the following week (certainly Monday and Tuesday's lessons anyway). I'd make sure all the lesson plans were written and run through the sequence in my mind a few times. I would also prepare any presentations and worksheets that I needed.
• On the morning of the observation I'd make doubly sure that all of the equipment was in working order and where I wanted it. I'd also ensure I had two copies of my lesson plan and all the paper resources I needed (worksheet, textbooks etc).
• On arrival at the observed lesson I would hand the teacher observing me a copy of the lesson plan and paper resources. They'd scrutinise the plan at the same time as my lesson was in progress. They'd make notes throughout the lesson, which they'd usually write up neatly later on.
  
• I'd try my best to work to the plan, but you've got to accept that lessons don't always go to plan. I sometimes have to change things as I work because it takes the pupils longer to do something than anticipated. When you're new to a class you occasionally pitch the work at too high a level, so it takes you longer to explain things. If you have a good mentor they will appreciate the reasons why you've deviated from the plan and they won't hold it against you.
• At the end of the observed lesson the teacher observing me would disappear to their own lesson. They would find the time to write up their observation report and come and see me later that day. Sometimes they would discuss aspects of the lesson with me before writing up the observation.
• Your school should be giving you regular written feedback. If they think you're in danger of failing the placement they need to recognise it early and produce evidence to support their opinion. If they never gave you a written observation report and then decided to fail you late in the placement then you'd have genuine cause for complaint.

That's the way observed lessons should be.

A Typical Day

I thought I'd run through one of my typical days in school:

0810: Arrive at school.

0815: Photocopying: I would make sure I had all my masters with me when I arrived so I could hit the photocopier immediately. I'd then head to the classroom and lay them out in the correct order for the day's lessons.

0830: Admin time: Depending on the day of the week I would check the equipment for lesson 1, do any odd jobs I had or attend a staff briefing.

0850: I'm back at the classroom by now ready for my form group to arrive for registration.

0855: Registration: Much to the annoyance of some of the rogues in my form group I am a stickler for punctuality. I always begin reading the register at 0855 on the dot.

0858: Assembly or form time: Depending on the day of the week I either lead my form group to assembly or we'd have some form time. During form time I would complete any admin tasks, have the children read quietly or we might discuss something topical.

0920: Lesson 1.

1020: Break: I quickly check everything is ready for lessons 2 and 3. I'd then head for the kettle and have a quick cuppa and some biscuits. If I had any outstanding photocopying I'd try and finish that. Once a week I would be on duty on the yard.

1035: Lesson 2.

1135: Lesson 3.

1235: Lunch: The first thing I would do is check everything was ready for lessons 4 and 5. I'd then have another cuppa and bite to eat. If I had a backlog of marking I would spend most of lunchtime finishing that. It's not uncommon to eat and work at the same time. I'm fortunate that I don't have any lunchtime duties.

1335: Registration: Again, I always begin promptly so that my form group get to their next lesson on time.

1340: Lesson 4.

1435: Lesson 5.

1530: End of school: The children go home, but I don't just yet.

1530: Admin time: If there was nothing pressing I could go home shortly after the children, although I am normally busy doing something. I would make sure that the equipment was ready for the following morning. I might also try and do some planning or marking. I'm often doing this until about 1700 hrs unless there's directed time/departmental meeting.

1600: Directed time/departmental meetings: A couple of nights a week there will be directed time (meetings/training the teachers are contractually obliged to attend) or departmental meetings. These finish at about 1700 hrs.

1700: Go home: I finally get to go home for the evening. Hopefully I can relax when I get there.

Classroom Management

Classroom management is the art of getting the pupils settled down, on task and working productively with the minimum distraction and fuss. This means planning structured work, where pupils of all abilities can achieve something. It also means managing classroom behaviour when it falls below expectation.

I know from my own experience that classroom management is a difficult skill to develop. It takes a lot of time, effort and practice to get it right. Trainees are at a distinct disadvantage because they don't have the same time to build a rapport with the pupils that their full time colleagues do. Trainees are also seen as 'fresh meat' to the pupils, who will invariably test them out by pushing the limits of acceptable behaviour. Another factor against the trainee is that the pupils know they're just a trainee teacher who will be gone within a couple of months.

It's a sad reflection of British society today that a significant minority of pupils are rude and disrespectful to adults in general. Their attitude and behaviour towards teachers is no exception to this downward social trend. Even in allegedly well-behaved schools, of which I've experienced a few, some pupils' reluctance to learn and willingness to cause disruption is of serious concern.

Of course the overwhelming majority of pupils are receptive, compliant and eager to learn. Sadly their learning suffers if the disruptive minority aren't kept in check.

Even though I'm very new to teaching, I've spotted a few golden rules towards better classroom management.

Before the lesson:
You must be an effective planner, thinking not only about the next lesson but also about what's happening in 2 or 3 lessons time.

Before I start a new topic I always prepare a brief scheme of work outlining the learning objectives, possible activities (lesson chunks) and equipment needed for each lesson I'm going to teach.

Plan your work to fit the ability of the pupils and always have a couple of spare activities in case you make faster progress than expected.

If the pupils are kept busy in a pacey lesson then there's less chance they'll become distracted, chatty or attempt to wander around.

If it's a practical lesson always make sure the resources are set out correctly and positioned around the classroom. This will ensure that you're not short of anything and the pupils don't all stampede for the same thing at the same time.

At the start of every lesson it is good practice to have the pupils line up and settle down outside the room. Ask them to be quiet, line up smartly and wait. You may need to ask a couple of times but eventually the pupils will become quiet and wonder why you're stood there staring and waiting for them.

Remind them to keep silent as they enter the room and find their seats. Let them in either girls or boys first then the other sex. If they're a particular disruptive class you may wish to reinforce your control by walking noisy pupils back outside to repeat the process quietly.

Another trick I use is to position worksheets/exercise books along a bench. As the pupils enter the room they walk along the bench in single file and pick up the correct items. This saves time at the start of the lesson and gets them settled more quickly.

Rules:
Children are like puppies - they need to know the rules and as soon as they break the rules they need to be held to account.

Whenever you meet a new class you need to exert your personality on them and inform them, in no uncertain terms, what your expectations of their work and behaviour are. Keep your rules short and snappy so there's no confusion.

I make my classes write the following rules in the back of their exercise books:

• Do not talk when the teacher, or anyone else invited by the teacher, is talking to the class. Listen and pay attention.
  
• Be polite when speaking to the teacher or each other.
  
• When the teacher asks you to do something do it immediately.
• If you're unsure of anything don't be afraid to ask the teacher for help.
• Give every piece of work your best effort.
  

Anyone who breaks the rules must face the consequences. It can be difficult to do this because you'll find that some perfectly pleasant and hardworking pupils inadvertently break the rules. Conversely, you mustn't be overly critical of troublesome pupils just because you've had a bad experience of them in the past.

You must be seen to apply the rules fairly and equally to everyone.

Managing the lesson:
Good preparation, as mentioned above, can save a lot of hassle during the lesson. The use of praise and encouragement can also prove much more effective than being too heavy handed.

In the first 5 minutes you must get the class settled. Nominate some responsible pupils to give out the exercise books. Try and have a short task or puzzle on the board or pupils' desks to keep them busy while their books are being distributed.

There will be times when you want to bring the class to order. In a clear voice tell them to stop talking and wait. Keep waiting and staring and they should stop talking. If this process is taking too long you can single out a couple of the most persistent talkers and make an example of them. If you hit them hard, clearly announcing your displeasure and warning them of the consequences of non-compliance, then it should reign in the others. Avoid shouting because it gives the pupils the impression that you aren't in full control, which some of them will find humorous to your further annoyance.

For persistently disruptive pupils, of which every class has at least a couple, you have to warn them of the consequences before applying a sanction.

Sanctions:
As I said above, anyone whose behaviour falls short of the teacher's expectations must face the consequences.

Your first port of call should be the school's rewards and sanctions or behaviour policy. That will give you guidance as to what is acceptable practice in your school.

It's good practice to clearly warn pupils about their behaviour before you apply a sanction. That way they'll have less opportunity to claim "you're picking on me" or any such nonsense. It's another sad reflection of society that the same pupils who blatantly choose to ignore the rules of the classroom are the barrack room lawyers who try to stir up trouble for naive teachers.

After issuing a warning your next step is to move and isolate the disruptive pupils. In a large classroom you can put them somewhere out of way, ideally out of the line of sight of their mates. Lots of teachers have reciprocal arrangements with their colleagues, where they exchange troublesome pupils between their classrooms. In some schools it is acceptable to send the pupil outside the room, but that isn't ideal because you can't be sure what they're doing out there. A period of isolation should be followed by stern words of displeasure at the end of the lesson and a word with their form teacher.

Detention is a more serious sanction for persistent offenders. Most schools have a system of unofficial and official detentions. Unofficial detention often involves keeping the pupils in for 15-minutes at break or lunchtime. Official detention is usually after school and requires that the parents'/guardians' are informed at least 24-hours in advance. The law doesn't require the parents'/guardians' consent for the detention to take place - it just requires that reasonable effort is made to inform them of the fact it has been applied. In practice most schools are loathe to upset even the most argumentative of parents, so prefer to have their permission for official after school detentions.

Most schools also allow teachers to contact parents about any concerns they have about pupil progress or discipline. The vast majority of parents are supportive and will help the school tackle the problems raised.

The ultimate sanction in school is exclusion. In theory there are two types of exclusion - fixed period and permanent. In practice some schools send troublesome pupils home to cool off without making it an official exclusion. Exclusion is a rare decision that can only be made by the Head or Deputy/Acting Head in his/her absence.

For all but the most trivial of incidents it's important that records are kept so that trends in pupil behaviour are noticed and the correct action taken.