One mum got in touch to argue that it’s not just the punishments we should be looking at, but the behavioural management software systems that create them I think that the behaviour management software that schools use is a big…
When my son was coming to the end of Year 8, I started to notice that he was getting a lot of detentions and class removals. But I just assumed that he was in the wrong, and I backed the…
At primary school our eldest child had always been very quiet and struggled socially, but we were told that they were growing in confidence. But on starting secondary, they quickly became lost under the noise. At parent’s evenings every teacher…
My son started his secondary school in September, and gets sent out of lessons pretty much every day for things like not concentrating and fidgeting. These are ADHD behaviours - he was formally diagnosed towards the end of primary school…
One teacher describes how his working life changed after a 'disruption-free learning' approach was implemented at his school I was very happy teaching at my school [a London-based academy] where I’d been a teacher of two subjects for several years,…
Former teacher and Vice Chair of the Campaign for State Education, Dr Tom Mann, discusses the impact of behavioural policies that are performative, cost-effective and lazy I taught for 35 years both in the UK and abroad in comprehensive schools,…
Following last year's Observer investigation into allegations of abuse, Mossbourne Victoria Park academy is undergoing an independent safeguarding review. Read the original investigation here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/nov/23/teachers-at-mossbourne-academy-in-hackney-screamed-at-and-humiliated-pupils-say-angry-parents And details of the safeguarding review here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/dec/15/academy-trust-england-safeguarding-review-mossbourne The BBC reported on it several times,…
A new CEO was put in place at my children’s Multi Academy Trust in 2022, and the first thing they did was a ‘fire and rehire’ round, which resulted in the schools losing a whole load of really good teaching…
As soon as I started at my school, I had a problem. I was seeing students crying - it was very overwhelming. I struggled with anxiety, because I never knew when I'd be in trouble. The shortest detention you could…
In 2021 our school switched from a nurturing style to one with an ultra-strict behaviour policy. The idea is to create a ‘calm environment’, but the means to get that environment is by creating a culture of fear, where kids…