Controversial Behaviour Policy changes

[Chattonnoire]

I am looking to get some insight into the changes taking places at a number of Free Schools, especially London, that have been making dramatic changes to Behaviour Policy since Michaela Community School made headlines as being the strictest school in Britain:

time.com/5232857/michaela-britains-strictest-school/

metro.co.uk/2017/09/11/britains-strictest-school-bans-pupils-from-looking-out-the-window-and-smirking-6917747/

www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/13422769.The_secrets_of_Magna_Academy_s_transformation__Students_who_walk_silently_between_lessons/

I noticed, that the comments at the end of these articles were mostly negative from parents and students in these schools, and don't appear to be in line with the "hard sell" the schools are making it out to be.

The impression is that teachers are asserting control over the difficult and disruptive students at the expense of the rest; the average student is muted in these "silent transitions" to and from classes and expressed feeling unhappy and the environment oppressive and weird.

None of the students have the authority to question the new policy, too afraid of being given 90 minutes detentions on the same day regardless of any commitments they may have (Medical or Sporting...at the expense of either their health missing long awaited NHS appointments or financial loss for missed activities to lower income families, as many students on free school meals) for often arbitrary and minor and low level disruptions such as is listed on many of these schools behaviour policies.

So they are being taught not to learn any assertiveness, question authority at any point, to conform, never to speak out, contest or oppose injustice, and may in fact have long lasting emotional and psychological negative impact on these teen developing minds in the real world, where they may not be able to defend themselves from unfair treatment from employers, or even personal relationships.

I am concerned about how fitting and convenient it is for the staff of schools in managing the delinquents, but how damaging this can potential be for bright and able children to be treated with less freedom than correctional facilities. Mental health and self harm and teen suicides statistics are already depressingly high, and with high pressured expectations and penalised for low level infractions can sabotage a once engaged teen's self esteem. A friend's 14 year old son recently committed suicide. So this really touches a raw nerve.

I've seen how a hostile school environment can crush a student with so much potential too many times.

I can't help but thinK of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" with faceless children put through the grinder...sorry for the grim comparison....but I can't shake it.

Is this radical new Behaviour Control in developing adolescent minds a good thing, or setting them up to fail in the real world in order that the schools get "Outstanding" Ofsted reports as inspectors come and see automatons walking silently through schools for fear of punishment and exclusion?

Are any of you in these super strict schools and finding it great or awful?

*If you are a teacher or part of school staff, please indicate in your response, so an understanding of your perspective is made clear.

Thank you

Orchiddingme I agree, trying to change policy won't work at this stage, they need to see this through at the expense of student who don't adapt.

I am looking at alternative schools, and so far there are no available spaces anywhere at the beginning of term, so looking pretty dire. Central London is oversubscribed.

They like my DS, as he's academic and sensible, with good results, so I may go in and speak to the head, and see if we can make an arrangement somehow that he can just do work from home and attend assessments or exams. Stay on top of his academics through their online learning portal or something.

I don't know, just throwing ideas out, as it's all desperate atm

They'll want his results/achievements, but they can't have one policy for everyone else and not apply to him on-site, so we need to figure out how to get out of the new behavioural policy regime, but still get an education

Are you in touch with other parents? A joint letter from a group of you to the governors might be a useful next step.

IrenetheQuaint I immediate contacted a parent governor, but was given reasons for the SLT's policy changes being in the best interest of the students. So, part of the system...

Hmm. Nevertheless, if the board receives several formal complaints, and able students like your DS start looking to leave, SLT may have to rethink.

It's not hard to see why many schools struggle when you see many of the attitudes on this thread. If even parents don't support school policies, what chance have they got?

DS's head doesn't have any of this nonsense. He'd reply with transfer papers and a list of other schools if someone complained about the rules at his place.

milky, there's a balance though! I'm all for no-nonsense behaviour policies but this school seems insane. Enforced sitting throughout the lunch break and no hands to even ask a question are utterly ridiculous rules. What do they do if they get stuck?! If they put a hand up they get in to trouble, if they sit doing no work they get in to trouble - barmy.

IrenetheQuaint NobleGiraffe
DS is convinced the new rules will relax as the teachers themselves appear to be finding them odd.

I just wonder how long that will take for that to happen, or will there be an incident that will lead him to breakdown before it sinks in that the policy is there until some external body forces them to change. What will be needed for the school to take notice that it's gone too far. A teen suicide? The craziness we see in the US where kids retaliate once they've snapped? Wasn't there in the news, a few kids in UK recently prosecuted for planning a US style attack on their school?

I hope DS optimism is right, but not taking any chances

I'm all in favour of sensible rules, sensibly applied, milky

For the rest of it, I'm with Captain Picard.

If even parents don't support school policies, what chance have they got?

Perhaps the school might then have the chance to develop more reasonable policies.

I feel sad for the kids and I really feel for these teachers caught in the middle tbh

MilkyTea20
It's all within reason.

Some parents don't give a shiny shit about uniform and then will go out of their way to pass the chip on their shoulder to their kids and back them being defiant. In those situations Yes, it's hardly surprising you get badly behaved disruptive kids.
Most people (Staff included) will have their own feelings about uniform but acvept it's a totally ordinary part of being in school so follow the damn rules.

Others the rules are excessive, bordering on unreasonable and not needed.
E.g. at one place I worked staff were given a script to use for giving out warnings. It was cringeworthy. I followed it because rules etc only work consistently across the school and had few issues in thay area but other staff had issues of students messing on and then other students parroting the script. In all honesty, the school would have been better having centralised detentions to support staff actually managing behaviour than trying it have robot staff on a script.
Limited free time at lunch is excessive to me. If there's issues at lunch, shorten lunch to half an hour or provide some enrichment to get involved in. Don't kettle kids in a lunch hall and then wonder why they're a bit unsettled after lunch

This 'forcing' DC to stay seated at lunch is a red herring for me. There's no reason whatsoever for DC to move from their seat at lunch, except perhaps to visit the toilet with permission.

In fact, it's a good thing for DC to be taught proper table manners and behaviour rather than running about like animals like some on here seem to want.

A little tangent. I don't know why...

I remember last year there was a TV programme called Indian summer school, I think. It was about 6 white UK boys, 17-18 years old, poised to fail their GCSEs for a second time. They were taken to the most prestigious private boarding school in India, the equivalent of Eton, to study for 6 months. It was based on research that white working class boys do better in a peer group with asian boys. The idea was that the school environment, the systems and the attitude of the peer group together with good teaching would enable them to improve. To participate, the boys had to be motivated and the parents had to be supportive of the project, which they were.

The project failed because the gap was too wide to catch up in 6 months, but mostly because they boys' behaviour and attitude didn't allow them to take advantage of the opportunity.

For 4 out of 6 months the boys channeled their efforts to sabotaging themselves and each-other. Instead of letting the system to take and carry them, like a current, they fought hard the system and the people that were there to help them succeed. Two boys in particular were relentless in undermining the others' good effort. They defended their right to lie and drink alcohol on campus, to ignore basic sensible health and safety, to not show up for lessons, to be disruptive, to be rude and disrespectful to each-other and to the headmaster, who was passionate about enabling the boys to succeed.

Obviously there wasn't anything draconian or unreasonable in the rules, they were consistent with good work ethic. But they felt they were in goulag of some sort.

Only one out of 6 got 1 good GCSE pass. One boy had to be sent home because the headmaster couldn't guarantee his safety as he would persistently climb over the wall to escape to the indian town for a beer.

At the end I suppose they proven the point that nobody could tell them what to do, to force them to hike up the mountain as a matter of personal achievement, to show up for lessons , to not 'challenge authority'. At a cost to no one else but themselves.

While the fee paying Indian boys purposefully got on with their work of getting into Harward etc.

Milkytea20 the forced seating is no “Red herring” as you put it, they used to have a playground and a groups were really into some burning off energy on breaks by playing basketball after they finished lunch, others, preferred games, others football...now they are not able to socialise during “their” break from class, meant to give the student some down time from focused lessons. After eating, they should be free to socialise or do ball sports in gymnasium or something to unwind from all the sitting all day. It isn’t a matter of teaching them table manners, they can be allocated a canteen seat to stay until lunch finished being eaten, then permitted to shake it off and go elsewhere to catch up with friends before heading back “Silently” to class....no? All very civil, and far healthier than stunting their development to keep them in line at all costs the their wellbeing

MilkyTea20
*This 'forcing' DC to stay seated at lunch is a red herring for me. There's no reason whatsoever for DC to move from their seat at lunch, except perhaps to visit the toilet with permission.

In fact, it's a good thing for DC to be taught proper table manners and behaviour rather than running about like animals like some on here seem to want.*

Are there any playgrounds, sports or physical activities to compensate for lack of activity during lessons and lunch break at DC school? Is DS seated all lunch break? Does he have any free time to interact with friends?

I’d send my kids there in a heartbeat. If you choose it, then you need to believe in the ethos.

They radically altered. So are not the school I chose years ago. Very new sudden changes, ones I did not buy into or sign up for.

If you choose it, then you need to believe in the ethos.

But the OP did not choose this ethos. That's really the point of the whole thread.

To me it says that the school has a load of disruptive kids in it and to avoid that school like the plague.

JenFromTheGlen
I’d send my kids there in a heartbeat
it’s oversubscribed it’s such a good school

What school are you referring to? Ones listed in the links on OP? Or another school you know is oversubscribed it’s so good?

As all schools are oversubscribed in Central London regardless of being any good or not, shortage of places...Mostly

But again, I have never in my life heard of a workplace that has these rules for lunchtimes. Maybe some separate lessons on how very formal meals work could be useful for some but lunch on a working day doesn't compare to a posh dinner party.

I find it ironic that the government is telling us to move more while schools like this one are want their kids to sit all day long...

Yes, it's easier to manage behaviour in this way, but easy is not always best.

So- if that's the position, and there's nowhere to move, I'd suck it up and keep your eye on the long game. Explain to your son that you don't personally agree with some of these rules, but that's the option right now for him to get his GCSE's and get out of there. It's only for one year. There's no point in scuppering his GCSE chances for the opportunity to be the first boy to open his mouth after being expressly told that the next boy to open his mouth would be out of the exam room (there is no way this was an accident).

All your energy is going into fighting the system. It isn't going to change quickly or for one parent, or even a small group. You are wasting time from now on in if there are genuinely no other schools he could move to. I'd tell him to get with the program, do sports clubs after school (my dd's school does a different sport every day after school and she also joined an athletics club) to let off steam. Apply himself to the work and not the injustice of it all. Get a tutor if there's any weak subjects and try to come out with a fabulous set of results so he can go to a different sixth form or college. That's what will set him free!

My son attends a school with a strict discipline and uniform policy and operates isolation and same day detentions. He has autism and is thriving as he knows what is expected of him and more importantly it allows a calm environment for him to learn.

His school don’t have a silent corridor policy, but he would prefer it if they did. He finds hustle and bustle of changeover quite stressful, but has permission, to wait for the rush to clear even if it means he is a couple of minutes late. Yes - contrary to popular opinion, even “no excuse” schools can make reasonable adjustments.

That said - I do have some sympathy for you as it was not what you signed up for.

For me - the seated only breaks - crosses the line into ridiculous territory. Even the likes Tom Bennet and Mark Lehain are unlikely to be supportive of this.

I don’t think you will have much luck changing their policies as a parent. Spend your effort looking for an alternate school if you are unhappy. If you are in Central London there are an awful lot of schools to try that will be within reasonable travel distance. If he is Y11 I would think about homeschooling.

Another option would be to name and shame the school in the hopes it would be picked up by the press - they love this sort of thing and not being able to socialise freely at breaks trumps all uniform/haircut stories.

Good point Jaxx it was my last resort if I couldn’t work something out. Indeed it would cause a far bigger debate and uproar than on this thread. One that would overtake my initial request to hear from parents inside these schools and how they like if or not.