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Pupil behaviour and school discipline: what the Education and Inspections Act 2006 means for schools. Robert Mace Improving Behaviour and Attendance Unit DfES. Contents of this presentation:. Purposes and overall scope of the new legislation Key new provisions
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Pupil behaviour and school discipline: what the Education and Inspections Act 2006 means for schools Robert Mace Improving Behaviour and Attendance Unit DfES
Contents of this presentation: • Purposes and overall scope of the new legislation • Key new provisions • Implementing the new provisions (timetable, guidance)
Purpose of the new legislation In the light to recommendations by the Practitioners Group on School Behaviour and Discipline and the “Respect” agenda: • To provide a clearer and more certain basis for schools’ overall disciplinary authority • To reaffirm and as necessary strengthen/extend other, more specific powers • To improve arrangements for excluded pupils and for parental accountability • To make the law on school discipline more accessible and transparent
Overall scope Part 7 of the Act (“Discipline, Behaviour and Exclusion”) includes: • New statutory power to discipline • New powers on detention and confiscation • Re-enacted duties on school behaviour policies • Re-enacted power to use reasonable force • Extension to powers on parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices • Changes to arrangements for excluded pupils (as regards their continuity of education; supervision; and, for fixed period exclusions, reintegration interviews) • School attendance: tidying up clauses.
Power to discipline • New statutory power • Relates to school rules, instructions and pupil conduct generally • Applies to all teachers and other staff in lawful control or charge of pupils • Flexibility for the Head to modify • Includes new power to regulate conduct of pupils off school premises
Detention and confiscation • Wider scope for schools to use the key sanction of detention, if they wish • Specific defence for confiscating inappropriate items from pupils
School behaviour policies • Existing duties on governing bodies and Heads re-enacted. • However duty to consult extended to include school staff and all pupils. • Non maintained special schools also included, for the first time.
Use of force • Power to use reasonable force to control or restrain pupils already exists • Symbolic importance of re-affirming this • A last resort • Not to be used in order to punish • New DfES guidance (replacing Circular 10/98) will include more on de-escalation, training and taking account of SEN/disabilities
Parenting Contracts & Parenting Orders for behaviour • Parenting contracts to be used more proactively and before the point of exclusion • Schools (not just Local Authorities as previously) empowered to apply to the courts for Parenting Orders for behaviour • Parenting Orders can be applied for (by schools or LAs) where there has been serious misbehaviour, but without the necessity of excluding the pupil first.
“Day 6” provision for excluded pupils • Currently Local Authorities are committed to arrange full-time education from Day 16 of a permanent exclusion • The Act and regulations will require: • Schools to arrange full-time education from Day 6 of any fixed period exclusion. This must be off-site unless in shared provision. • Local Authorities to arrange full-time education from Day 6 of any permanent exclusion
Whereabouts of excluded pupils • Days 1-5 of any exclusion: parents responsible for child’s whereabouts. Must arrange supervision. • Penalty notice (fine) if found in a public place without reasonable justification.
Reintegration interviews • After any fixed period exclusion of primary aged pupil • After a fixed period exclusion of 5 days or more for secondary aged pupil • Mandatory for school to arrange • Failure by parent to attend taken into account if court is considering a parenting order
Implementing the new provisions (1) • Timetable • Power to discipline plus clauses on school behaviour policies, use of force, detention and confiscation come into force on 1 April • Clauses on exclusions and parenting come into force on 1 September • New / revised guidance on each of these things to be finalised for when the relevant clauses come into force
Implementing the new provisions (2) New suite of DfES guidance on the broad range of behaviour-related issues. Includes • new guidance on school behaviour policies, power to discipline etc • revised guidance on use of force • updated guidance on exclusions • separate new guidance on Day 6 provision • updated guidance on parenting contracts, orders and penalty notices • also includes issues around rewarding good behaviour, taking account of vulnerable pupils, tackling bullying