Behaviour Policies In Academies

[iloveglee]

I have asked a question on here before about aspects of my grand-daughter's school, but now things have reached a whole new level. They have introduced a new 'behaviour' policy, called 6 strikes. Children can get 'strikes' for a whole range of minor infringements, example from yesterday, pushing blazer sleeves above wrist because they are interfering with writing, giving an answer in class without putting hand up, making a random comment to a child at the next desk for being 'off task' (shades of north korea). many more i am not aware of, but actually neither are the children or parents. there has been no 'little red book' given out of what constitutes a bookable offence, and teachers appear to be applying this very randomly. So far so bad, but worse is, when 6 strikes have been given in a week, the child is removed from classes and put into isolation for a whole day. How can it be right to take children out of classes, especially during their GCSE years. How can they be expected to obey rules that they are not aware are even rules. What I am actually asking for though in this post, is for anyone out there who has any links to education research which demonstrates that this kind of policy actually works. My daughter has an appointment later in the week, and she would like to go up there with some properly documented information to hand. Also, is there anywhere one can go to for what happens in an academy. Local authority used to be the place but they have no authority over academies. Someone must have though, but who is it.

[cassa333]

Oh Iloveglee wait and see.

They have hardly been back at school and you are looking for a fight.

My children have blazers and although teachers are allowed to let them take them off in lessons they don't have to.

I quite believe in zero tolerance. Let the little things slide and it is a slippery slope.

You talk of stiflingly them and making future autonomons but if they can learn now what good behaviour is they will know the limits at work.

Do you not give your grandchild credit for anything? Let her learn. Something's that learning is trial and error but she will learn.

All the piffling things (other than the blazer which I agree is a pain) you have mentioned doesn't stifle creativity. It enhances the time learning.

Every shout out, every distraction to another member of the class is a distraction too many. As a family we pay a heavy price for our 'free' state education and I for one want to get my money's worth.

I'm sorry but you have little sympathy from me especially at such an early stage in the new academic year.

When in six months time she is still getting strikes for calling out in class Ask her why she still does it?

[iloveglee]

This is all so very different from when my kids were in school, and my older grand-children. Also very different from the school where my two youngest go, which is an excellent school, with rules and expectations, but nothing on this scale. It is early in the year i agree, but it has been going on for some years now, since it became an academy and a new head came. she instituted these very strict rules and since then behaviour, bullying, drug and alcohol use (in school) has got worse year on year. So has it been effective - no it hasn't. Enthusiastic children want to let it me known when they know something, that's totally normal behaviour, a good teacher knows how to keep this in control and still have a productive lesson without them all sitting in silence until asked to speak. Believe me i have taught and mentored student nurses, midwives and medical students, both in a class situation and individually and i would have got nothing from them with this kind of regime. And don't go thinking just because they are young adults their potential to misbehave is less than that of kids. It is not. My grand-daughter wants to learn, but her head is now full of what if this is wrong, is it ok to do that, is my skirt ok, believe me the list is very long and very comprehensive. i would find it difficult to remember the intricacies of it all. she is not the only one either. She does not have much time now before she has to take her gcse's so there is not much use sitting on it and thinking oh well it will all be ok in a few weeks, or a few months. she is a pretty well behaved 15 year old actually, and when the deputy head saw her in isolation he was mortified because it was not what he expected of her. when she explained how she had ended up there, he appeared to be a bit concerned actually at what appeared to be the unfairness of some of these strikes. their only cause for hope is that the current head is leaving next month, and they have heard he is taking over. he is, apparently a very nice kind man, and very approachable, so they are all hoping he is biding his time until he is in charge and the regime may be loosened enough to take into account these are children, and not robots. I agree that learning the principles of good behaviour are essential for a future out there, but sadly this is not the way.

[albaqwerty]

sorry if I've missed the answer, but have you or the parents contacted Ofsted with your concerns?

[Mamyalynne]

Not a reply as such, I can't add much but Kvalidir wasn't being sarcastic - she has been home schooled so was expressing her view from that angle.

Hope the new broom manages to appease some if not all of your dissatisfaction with the school.

[albaqwerty]

Mamya, from what I gather the 'new broom' has been there for 4 years and things have become worse.

(must admit, just because there are 4000 characters available doesn't mean they need to be used in every post, sorry)

[Mamyalynne]

Oh, I've misread the post above.

//only cause for hope is that the current head is leaving next month, and they have heard he is taking over. he is, apparently a very nice kind man, and very approachable.//

[derekpara]

I am in full agreement with cassa333's answer.

[albaqwerty]

apologies, but long answers really do not gel. Hope the new broom does some good

[kvalidir]

No Iloveglee, not in the slightest sarcastic. I was home educated by some truly wonderful and crazy people, and every time I hear anything about a mainstream school it makes me cringe, as it seems so awful for the most part, with supposed role model teachers acting like bouncers on a nightclub door instead of fostering learning, wonder, self respect and accomplishment.

[iloveglee]

Well of all the responses the one i thought was being sarcastic is the one i am in total agreement with. if we were able to home-school we would for sure be doing it. We take our three youngest grandchildren, ages 15,14 and 13 on a trip with an educational slant to it at october half term. last year we took them to normandy, to see the beaches, war graves and talk about operation overlord - their great grandfather was part of this, and they visited the village where he was injured. this was very moving for them and they learned a significant amount about operation overlord and its implications, and what that generation sacrificed to keep us from tyranny. We did that in 2 days, and then went to the fun part - paris and disneyland. one of these kids went back to school and wanted to tell the teacher and class about the experience in a history class. they were leading up to the norman conquest. was the teacher interested - no. he slapped her down and said it wasn't relevant. maybe not but he didnt even ask her had they seen the bayeux tapestry, had they looked into anything about normandy generally. result - he's not interested so now neither is she.

I have now had the opportunity to read, in full, this new regime. i defy them to remember it all, let alone comply. it runs to 20 pages. the best of them - if you are caught outside school, standing next to a student who is smoking, you will receive the same penalty as they do. the daughter of a friend has received a strike because her friend was wearing a skirt that was too short. now they are having to police each other! still, it teaches them about joint enterprise just in case they were thinking of committing a crime with their friends.

sorry if these responses appear to be quite long. I will now retreat to my first request. does anyone know, or have links to good research that shows that these measures actually work. thank you.

[bednobs]

hi i love glee, are you watching educating manchester tonight?

[EDDIE51]

If I was the parent I would not allow my child to stay in a school that had that regime and reputation. You say your granddaughter is already suffering from symptoms of stress and panic attacks ! I would get her out pronto and find another school. GCSE year or not.

[iloveglee]

As a matter of fact i did watch educating greater manchester. can anyone tell me how a girl with bleached blonde hair, a lip piercing and a skirt up to her backside, manage to pass 8 GCSE's on the basis that very strict, very high expectations of uniform and behaviour are what get kids through. what gets them through is a recognition that one size does not fit all, and you as a school have to work with each child as an individual. however, as a plus, the meeting my daughter had with school this morning was cautiously positive. maybe some of the teachers had been watching as well.

some positive steps are being put into place regarding the issues which are causing the panic attacks and digestive problems. they are, they say going to get the whole thing from her perspective, and then speak to the teacher concerned. the goal is to rebuild the relationship between her and the teacher. it is possible that this teacher is one of these insensitive types who simply does not realise that it is his management of her that is causing the problems.

as far as the other stuff regarding uniform, minor infringements of behaviour is concerned, the parents who are so angry are waiting until the new head takes over and see if this is relaxed slightly. One disturbing thing though, regarding a girl whose skirt came over her knee when she was walking, the parent was told - by a female teacher - that showing your knees could be distracting for boys. Words completely fail me.

[bednobs]

what's wrong with that? I don't get it

[bednobs]

ps i've been thinking about what you said and again i know this doesn't answer your question and will be unwelcome, but a child that completely loses interest in a subject because one teacher didn't have time/didn't think it relevant to listen about her experiences on holiday probably wasn't interested in it enough in the first place. Your granddaughter surely has to accept some responsibility in her learning journey?

[iloveglee]

bedknobs, to address your query 'whats wrong with that', presumably about girls skirts. it's wrong on so many levels, there is no place for girls and women having to take responsiblity for the behaviour of boys and men. do you by any chance subscribe to the wearing of the veil? boys and men have to learn to control themselves and not rely on girls and women to moderate their behaviour, and dress in order for them to do so.

as far as the history class is concerned, i pretty much agree, she never wanted to take history, and was pretty much coerced into it because of the other subjects she chose and the level of choice there was in the school - i.e. not quite a free choice. she has never really engaged with the subject, and the teacher has not been able to engage her. the lack of interest in her experience was just one more brick she has erected in the wall between herself and the subject/teacher. she understands that she has to begin the process of taking this wall down, if only to make her own life more bearable, and attempting to re-engage, and to give her credit she has, with some support, begun to do this. it doesn't answer my question no, i am still waiting for someone to come up with good studies that show this kind of extreme regime actually works. so far - nothing. but not to worry, i have plenty of time to seek these out, should they exist.