Super-Strict UK Secondary Schools

[LuluBlakey1]

This is a minor trend at the moment. A small number of, mainly, academies and Free Schools use this type of system and embed this culture- some very successfully. It provokes views at opposite ends of the spectrum. However, behaviour is a really big issue, particularly in secondary schools and an increasing problem. I suspect most parents would be very shocked by the daily experience of students from Y7-13 in state schools.

I don't know how widespread this sort of system is across the country or how well-known it is to parents generally.

I have seen a system very like this in a Teeside Church school several years ago. Its effect on behaviour in classrooms and corridors and at break and lunchtime was amazing but they had not managed to embed high quality teaching so staff only used it as a means to control behaviour without it being tied into creating a place for calm thinking, concentration, reflection, listening to others, thoughtful contributing, pacy learning, creative spaces etc.

How it is introduced and embedded matters hugely and how staff and students are trained to use it matters hugely- and the quality of teaching and learning has to be high on that agenda. The balance between enforced control and a system everyone finds helps them so 'agree' to using is important.

I can see many students would find it calming, creating a place that felt safe, gave them space to think and learn. Others would rebel. Some wouldn't cope and would end up excluded or simply sitting in silence not learning if a teacher was not on the ball.

I wonder how parents feel about it? I think it is probably aimed at 11+. I haven't seen it in a primary school.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/europe/uk-strict-schools.html?unlocked_article_code=1.b00.uKgO.msv0Y5lP7vrS&smid=url-share

@AllProperTeaIsTheft yes exactly I went to a strict school with plenty of uniform checks, quiet corridors etc. but no way you'd have got detention for not making eye contact or nodding at the teacher. Pettiness feels like contempt at a certain point, I would not want to work in an environment like that.

In England there needs to be a huge shift onto parents and the teenagers themselves to be responsible for their learning and for allowing others to learn and teachers to teach.

Yes. When the students, parents, SLT and government all think that the grades are entirely the responsibility of the teachers, no wonder many teenagers have no morltivation to behave themselves or work hard.

This

I think this is a really good way of putting it.

My DCs have always learned best in classes where their teachers are firm but fair. They get the respect of the pupils by having reasonable and fair expectations that are clear, and being able to manage low level disruptions quickly and calmly.