Zero tolerance schools and slant techniques for send - good, okay or terrible

[Zerotolerancetofun]

Dd is starting secondary next year. The school has a zero tolerance behaviour policy so very strict about everything (uniform, homework, behaviour etc). They are also bringing in this new teaching technique called slant that the kids are meant to follow - about how they sit/pay attention/look at the teachers - it sounds very Draconian.

Dd has ASD and significant levels of anxiety and I am concerned how this environment will work for her. I think she will be terrified of making a mistake and getting detention for minor mistakes, but of course if this approach stops bullying etc then that is a good thing for her.

I'd love to know how other people's DC have got on with this type of school. Particularly if they have ASD, but also NT children too.

I've never heard of this SLANT so had to Google, its basically sit up, look at the teacher and pay attention to the lesson? I would have thought that would be a given as standard in school? Unless I've looked at the wrong thing?
I can't see how this is draconian?

@MichelleScarn if you are a slant zealot then it means tracking the teacher visually at all times. In reality it tends to mean not staring out of the window, not lolling all over your desk and answering when spoken to, so yeah not that terrible.

I agree that it's great for an academic child who wants to learn without disruption and likes discipline and rules.

My daughter went to a very traditional strict private school in year 7 and some of the kids there was really thriving in that kid of environment. Unfortunately, my own daughter is not particularly academic and used to constantly get into trouble, so we changed to a more relaxed school. But I can see how these strict schools work well for some kids.

were really thriving*

And just to add - the school had very few (if any) kids with SEN

It sounds like a school for nodding dogs rather than engaged learners. I'd be looking for something more suitable .... for humans

@XelaM

I agree. It may not be the correct choice for my daughter who would probably prefer the more nurturing school down the road which has a higher percentage of SEN and more pastoral care but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

It probably is a good thing for the majority - children with no issues who generally find it quite easy to follow the rules.
Probably also good for the children who are 'just' a bit chatty and boisterous and need firmer boundaries.

Not good for children who are anxious or have SEN - it's easy on paper for schools to say 'we make adjustments for children with SEN' but it takes a very confident and robust child to defend themselves when told to make eye contact, stop mumbling, do up their tie properly, stop fiddling and announce in front of the teacher and the class that they have a special allowance due to SEN.
In reality, when you have a school with 1000+ children, teachers are not always going to know which ones have SEN and what adjustments should be made.

Annoying thing is that an environment that focuses on wellbeing and fostering an inclusive, engaging environment is likely to generate qualifications as a positive by product

Happy people are productive people, is ridiculous that so much of the world fails to realise this.

Lots of children like clear rules and prefer the calmer environment. Others get very anxious about breaking the rules. I think its quite hard to know which your child will be.

My sons school is like this. They give reasonable adjustments for children with ehcps but they were fixated on needing an ehcp, which i think isnt correct. The equalities act comes into play.

I think the biggest issue is if enforcing a rule isnt enough to change the behaviour they need to have a plan.

This is why academy chains should not have a monopoly on an area. There should be an alternative local school that has a different way of teaching.
If the only local schools are the same chain that's unfair.

As someone who had to firmly take a cricket coach aside when he yelled at my ASD child for ‘not looking at him when he’s talking to him’ I’d run a mile…DS1 could then repeat back word for word what the coach had said to him…lack of eye contact doesn’t prohibit your ears from working!

To be fair, the coach had simply forgotten (volunteer) so no fuss was needed but really!

I'm really interested to read/hear about schools like this.

My child (who is still mid-primary age so we're a while off secondary) is autistic with an EHCP which gives full time support at the moment. Hopefully this won't be needed by secondary age (the full time adult support). But she has zero learning disabilities, quite the opposite she's academically advanced. Not bragging, being factual for context. She masks distress at school, and out it comes at home.

I've thought previously that this sort of school would suit her to the ground. She is anxious and one of her biggest struggles is not understanding why other children break the rules/misbehave/disrupt everyone. She wants to sit at her desk, listen, learn and get her work right. She loves to know what the rules are, and once she knows 'the routine', she follows it. Disruptions, especially unexpected ones are really challenging for her. There's safety in the familiarity of very set rules/boundaries/knowing what will happen if rules aren't followed.

I've been thinking that for lots of children with SEND, especially those whose behaviour can unavoidably be unpredictable (of which there are many in state mainstreams) schools like this could be hellish. But for mine, I think she might flourish in this sort of environment. I'd be really interested to look around one, but we don't have any locally.

There's a huge gap in schools for autistic children who are academically able. Standard mainstreams aren't right very often, too chaotic. Special schools aren't either, they're not set up for academic achievement because the vast vast majority cater for children with learning disabilities (amongst other SEND).

Hmmm.

Dd has ASD and significant levels of anxiety and I am concerned how this environment will work for her

Look at it another way; once she gets her head round the rules she may find the extreme control and organisation soothing, reassuring and stable. Everybody knowing exactly what's what and how to behave in every situation. Not much variation. A fixed routine.

Why don't you ask the school how their ASD pupils cope and how they are helping them to adjust?

DS goes to a school like this. He is dyspraxic/dyslexic. It is hard, honestly. He started having panic attacks about school and took a very long time to settle in (nearly 3 years).
Things that helped:

1. He was eventually given a pass which means he is allowed to leave class if he feels panicked and upset. He has only used it once but just having it as an option really helps
2. me having a good relationship with his form tutor and year head, sendco etc. Lots of communication. They never bend on the rules but they do put in add ons that can help - he goes to an art therapy group during assembly for example, which is a double win as assemblies are often a bit stressful.
3. being allowed a laptop (he slightly misuses this & emails me during the day sometimes if things have been forgotten
4. making some friends and developing a less conscientious attitude

Overall, id have preferred if he'd gone to a different school but he's only got a year and a half left now and like you there were no other viable options. We appealled before Y7 but we're rejected.
The plus points of the school are they get good exam results and they do take a hard line on the more serious problems too (knife crime, bullying, drugs etc)

I hope your DC will be able to navigate it

@SummerLover01

Not necessarily. I’ve worked in schools like the one you’ve just described. Some kids can be happier for sure, they experience much less anxiety, however they certainly don’t always achieve highly in their GCSEs. For what it’s worth I don’t think it’s ever worth sacrificing your child’s mental health over their GCSEs but happy children don’t always produce good results.

My son will thrive in a strict school and obtain high results because that’s just who he is. He’s a people pleaser at heart (although he’s getting much better at asserting his needs), loves learning and he’s highly academic. He does indeed thrive in what is commonly referred to around here as an exam factory. Most of his peers are similar, and they’re all happy.

My daughter probably will not thrive in this setting and will go to the more nurturing school down the road. The percentage of those achieving at this school in their GCSEs is far, far lower than my sons. But my kids happiness comes first. Different schools suit different kids, but on the whole I don’t truly believe that a school can be inclusive for all.
Sure they have their own ethos’ on the whole and it’s up to the parents to decide what is best for their child.

@AFriendToEveryoneIsAFriendToNoOne Sounds perfect for your daughter! Honestly, it works for very academic children who hate disruption and just want to learn. My daughter had a friend in year 7 (at her very strict school) who was doing absolutely amazingly. She was highly academic and very well-behaved, but the type of child who probably would have issues with being bullied at a less strict school.

Rules can be great for SEN students. My son loves clear guideline. SLANT however is another issue entirely. The tracking can be very difficult for ND students and sitting up straight can be surprisingly difficult in some of the awful chairs in school (looking at you, old fashioned backless lab stools). As an ND teacher I would struggle in a school using SLANT.

You love your kid right?

Don't. Do. It.

It will be torture.

Hmm am getting worried now....
Great if they can stop bullying as DD has had some problems with this. This is a real positive. However kids get detentions for things like loosing their pe kit rather than bad behaviour and this seems too much.
Tracking the teacher is problematic as DD hates eye contact 🥺

By "help them to develop this behaviour over time" you mean teach them to mask their ND traits and confirm to NT norms, because if they don't they will be punished. Some ND children are simply incapable of doing this and so the school system punishes them for being born Neurodivergent. Some will learn to do it but at a significant cost to their Mental Health and it is utterly exhausting for them, which means parents are often faced with high levels of distress and emotional dysregulation when they get home. Autistic adolescents are more likely than their peers to self-harm, develop Eating Disorders, to suffer from Depression or to stop attending school altogether. One of the reasons for this is the expectation that they force themselves to spend the majority of their waking hours conforming to meaningless NT social norms and environments that are uncomfortable, distressing or even physically painful for them.

To answer your question, OP no I would not send my ND child to a school that practiced SLANT. There are schools who do not buy into this outdated, ableist nonsense and achieve positive learning outcomes and behaviour through approaches that are actually cognisant of neuroscience and focus on building relationships.

@neverbeenskiing yes to masking. This is totally what DD is like. Will do anything she is told at school. Never a single outburst - all saved for home. So from a teachers viewpoint everything is totally fine.

My 14 year old DS has ADHD and his school started this, along with other initiatives, in September. They've had lots of complaints. It's been compared to prison, military- and I'm not surprised.

From our perspective, DS seems to be coping okay with it. Either it works for him (highly unlikely, knowing him) or the school are making allowances as he has an EHCP.

DD starts there this year and is a very anxious child. She wanted to go there so we'll give it a chance but if it doesn't work for her I'm not sure what we can do! There's no other choice for us without travelling.

There’s school like this near us. without exception the parents we know who have chosen it BITTERLY regret sending their children there. Horrible environment for learning.

@sixfoot

It isn’t a horrible environment for learning for those who enjoy learning and love the discipline. My son gets to enjoy classes with no disruption. It was a relief for my son to be honest as his primary school had a high percentage of children with additional needs and lots of others who were behavioural. His learning and happiness has skyrocketed at a school like this.

I will admit though my son is probably good army material. I don’t think anyone here is suggesting it’s the right school for all.

Sounds great... But if you have a disabled child who can't look at a teacher, or can't sit up or sit still because of their disability or is overly anxious or stims, nor gets easily dysregulated... Or doesn't do homework because of their disability...

I think the culture of fear it might cause in some schools is awful and detrimental to all children. There is surely a happy medium between disruption and compliance through fear.