#banthebooths - do you agree?

[AheartybowlofJan]

I came across this hashtag on twitter today and after reading around it think they may well have a good point. Especially when it comes to no regulation over how long children can stay in these booths over consecutive days. And the fact that SN and BAME children are disproportionately represented in the figures when they are collected.

Our trust has a “unit” where DC are excluded to with children from other schools in the same trust. No lunch break, no outside time at all, from 8.30-4 they are in the booth and do not leave except to use the toilet.

It’s like prison for kids!

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/257745

Most of the dc will have SN of some sort.
Have you got a link to evidence that statement or is it an anecdotal observation

Have you got evidence to the contrary then?

Signed the petition, thank you.

@Evenquieterlife33 - What do suggest as a good, workable alternative?

(Inhume treatment of a kid who stamped on another, much smaller kid? Don't take the piss.)

*@sharpasaknife - I would be interested to know what you personally think is a good, workable alternative

Why? Given that you clearly think the booths are an intelligent solution?

Wow, pretty shitty of that petition to single out kids with ASD and say putting them in a quiet room will give them a mental breakdown.

Actually, some kids with ASD love to get out of the noisy classroom and sit in a quiet room.

Which just goes to show how bollocks the petition is.

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-faces-legal-action-over-confusing-guidance-on-isolation-booths/

Actually, some kids with ASD love to get out of the noisy classroom and sit in a quiet room

Not if it’s portrayed as a punishment they don’t

Silly hysterical campaign headed up by a bunch of behaviour consultants with a vested interest in making money and targeting schools who don't sign up to their principles.
It was poorly thought through, misleading, full of back tracking and the sort of stupid campaign that oversimplifies a complex issue.

Is there a place for isolation as part of a robust behaviour policy? Yes.
Does a behaviour policy need to be viewed in its entirety alongside SEND provision before judgements are made? Yes.
Should examples of poor practice be investigated and appropriate measures be put in place? Yes.
Does any of the above justify ridiculous blanket claims that a particular strategy is terrible across the board? No.

At the end of the day too many people take oversimplified views on topics like this and most haven't actually any more grounding in the issue than 'but my opinion is right and anyone who says differently is wrong'.

Why? Given that you clearly think the booths are an intelligent solution?

Why wouldn't I be interested in your ideas? I have not said that I think they're an intelligent solution and I'm always open to sensible alternatives for almost anything. But I'm a mother whose child has been assaulted in school and I think children should be protected from violence.

We used to have booths but we've got rid. We still have an isolation unit but a lot of thought goes into how it runs and is managed, and it is constantly evolving. I do feel it's a necessary. We have differentiated plans for SEN kids.

@YesItsMeIDontCare.

believe me I understand that, my own son has been assaulted at school. I don’t think schools kids or parents should have to tolerate children who assault other kids. Whenever I’ve complained I’ve been shut up by use of the safeguarding iron curtain which dictates no teacher can talk to me about action taken against offending kids. For all I know they’ve done sweet F.A. About the kid who assaulted my son. If a child assaults another child get them out of the school. Remove them call the parents have them sent home. I can’t walk into my work place and punch a colleague. Why should kids be able to be retained in schools after deliberately injuring other kids? Seriously our schools behaviour has gone down hill but isolation isn’t the answer they need to be properly taken care of there is sod all provision for children who for whatever reason lash out, act up whatever we want to call it. There is also sod all provision for kids with extra needs. And sod all protection for kids who just want to get on with their day without being hurt. It’s a joke.

When I was a kid in the black and white days 🤣 I wouldn’t have dared hit in school because I’d have been expelled.

Ahahaha. Yes if you consider a work sheet being kept busy. Not exactly a great education though is it

At least the 31 other kids get an education that isn't being disrupted by one student. Or is it acceptable they have to have a crap education so rude and defiant little jonny stays in the classroom?

Schools that isolate for minor infractions are doing it wrong. Most schools aren't using isolation for this.

I think some of the bad behaviour especially in boys is too much energy and the need to be out expending energy.

Not convinced the bad behaviour ime was SN related. Some dc are influenced by their own dps who may have had issues with discipline and often found school difficult themselves

YesItsMeIDontCare
But the likes of Paul Dix and his mates would argue you're wrong for wanting the student who assaulted your child to be kept separate.
Every push or shove or assault is the sign of an unmet need. Every piece of disruption is communication. By placing the safety of others first, schools are essentially ruining lives. In fact, what needs to happen is the child who assaulted your child and your child need to sit down with a teacher and the perpetrator needs to explain their feelings and your child needs to understand the perpetrator more and learn how they can better respond to perpetrator so the perpetrator doesn't feel driven to assaulting them again.
Then there needs to be hot chocolate time for all the students who disrupt so they get taken out of lessons they don't like to sit with a soft member of SLT to bitch about staff and how they don't like being told to do some work.
This goes on for years and then in y11 staff are expected to prioritise the perpetrators for intervention over the hard working well behaved children because they've 'got a lot to catch up on'.
The disruptive students and bullies then do very little in all this intervention and continue to behave appallingly, meanwhile students with who would really benefit from it get nothing.

Ban the booths sounds snappy and emotive and is a clever piece of marketing but when you dig behind the front and see the values of some of the men behind it, they have a horrible agenda.

They are nothing like office booths. Would you work here? Be happy to be told off for tapping or sighing and walked to the loo three times a day?

They are nothing like office booths.

That picture I posted looks similar to an office I used to work in.

Obviously the padded cell that someone posted above looks nothing like an office, but that’s not a school isolation room.

Tapping is fucking infuriating.

@LolaSmiles why do you think they are acting like this? If it’s not an unmet need then what? Some kids are just little shits?

At what age do we start saying they are flawed and not the environment they’ve been raised in?

lola theres clearly a middle ground though. Its possible to believe that kids lashing out clearly do have deeper issues that need addressing, but also believe that whilst its being addressed other pupils need to be kept safe.

I dont think we should just dismiss naughty children immediately, deny them an education and then wonder why we have so many unemployed adults.

There needs to be consequences for actions, sure but the reason for those actions also needs to be addressed or the pattern of behaviour will never change and these aggressive children just become aggresive adults.

Have you got evidence to the contrary then?
Ok I'll take that as a no otherwise you would have shown me the link.
I haven't any evidence either but I am genuinely interested as mine is only anecdotal. The young people that my team are involved with who face isolation do not have any SEN but have suffered a lot of trauma ( scoring 4 or more ACEs) That said our team don't get referrals from the SEN team, we deal with young people who need short to medium term intense support and their famlies.
It would be interesting to see breakdown of the types of yp that are constantly in isolation and the reasons why.

Tapping is fucking infuriating.

Amen, sister. The bottle flipping craze nearly took my sanity.

But I’m not talking about desks separated by head height dividers. I’m talking about isolation booths. Designed to keep children isolated

Most isolation rooms are desk dividers, those booths are an image from one place (possibly not even a school).

Some kids are just little shits?
Yes this is true. Usually as a product of their upbringing and lack of parental support. Clear behaviour policies and consequences (including isolation as part of this) actually helps these students to learn boundaries and acceptable behaviour.
I've worked in schools with a Dix style approach, behaviour was still shit despite having 50 restorative conversations with one student.
My current school has a consistent policy. Behaviour is much better on the whole.