THINK TANK CALLS FOR A BEHAVIOUR REVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS

24^th July 2023

A new report, Behaving to Learn, by the think tank ResPublica challenges the Government to be bold and drive a revolution in behaviour management across state schools to improve the outcomes for children and the lives of teachers. ResPublica argues the solutions are already out there. Some of the best performing state schools in the country are non-selective with expertise in behaviour management that enables their pupils to succeed in the classroom and beyond. In many cases these schools significantly outperform their selective rivals.[i] So there is every reason to be optimistic and turn the tide on behaviour.

The recent incident in Tewkesbury, where a teacher was stabbed by a pupil, is rare. However, it illustrates the violence that school leaders and teachers have come to increasingly fear. Add to this the dismissal of a teacher in Swansea for breaking up a fight between pupils and the neglect of behaviour management as a core plank of school reform is laid bare.  Yet without taking a radical approach the statistics are not going to change for the better: 60% of school leaders and teachers cite pupil misbehaviour has a negative impact on their health,[ii] 27% of pupils cite being bullied a few times a month, with 25% saying they lose time in their lessons to due to disruption.[iii]

Against this backdrop analysis of official data by ResPublica makes some powerful findings:

• The 20 best performing state schools are non-selective, non-faith with the senior leadership teams, including teaching and administrative staff playing akey role in setting a highly-visible example for implementing behaviour policies at all levels of the school structure;
• Non-selective high performing schools boast alarger core of full-time teachers as a proportion of their total staff, and on average are £1,500–2,500 p.a. better remunerated than their equivalents at other non-selective and even many selective schools;
• The learning outcomes of the top performing state schools prove that for the bulk of pupils the OECD assertion is true that “disadvantage is not destiny”. School size does not have adiscernible impact on their learning outcomes. The smaller, specialised schools are not better at ‘adding value’ than larger, generalised ones.

 

The report, which is being launched in parliament on Wednesday 19^th July, calls for a raft of reforms to schools’ policy in the UK, in particular for the behaviour guidelines to be implemented at the national level. Drawing on the latest best practice across the state school sector, it proposes:

Ten strategic recommendations for future national legislation around school behaviour, for example:

• A dedicated School Behaviour Unit in the DfE
• Behaviour ranking, an equivalent of the Attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures for academic outcomes, to supplement Ofsted inspections.
• Behaviour records and behaviour scores, which can inform UCAS applications and job references.

 

Ten tactical action points for school leadership teams to prioritise in their behaviour policy implementation, for example:

• Conditional confiscation’ of personal items as abehavioural sanction.
• Behaviour celebrations and enrichment trips as areward for good behaviour.
• Dedicated ‘Behaviour Support’ staff and reconciliation of Behaviour and SEND policies.

 

Supporting Quotes:

“One thing that unites many of the best performing schools is that they take a strong stand on behaviour. Every child deserves to have the same opportunities to study in an environment that promotes good behaviour as the key to successful learning. Unfortunately, there is a lack of consistency in approach between schools that is holding some pupils back. We urgently need to bring in new thinking to support schools to get the core questions of behaviour right and help every child to achieve their full potential.” Miriam Cates, MP

“This report confirms what every teacher in the country will tell you: behaviour matters. It is the number one thing that schools have to get right. Without that a school cannot succeed. We have to put behaviour at the heart of school policy if we want to help children from less privileged backgrounds do well. Teachers need to know that schools and government are on their side when they set firm standards for their pupils to stick to. But we cannot expect teachers to do all the work. Government needs to look at the schools that are succeeding. What are the principles, values, methods and strategies that they have in common and which they are using to improve and hold high standards for behaviour.” Katharine Birbalsingh, Headteacher, Michaela Community School

“As a Headteacher witnessing teacher strikes for the first time in 15 years, I am drawn to the report’s conclusions that “the profile of the best performing non-faith, non-selective schools was one of low absence and low persistent absence, better SEND provision, a more diverse but not necessarily better or worse-off pupil body, and a strong core made up predominantly of better-paid full-time teachers.” Government should acknowledge that recruitment and retention issues for a female majority workforce, with an unmet demand for part-time work, and the widespread promotion of flexible working as an aid to work life balance, must be resolved as a priority to support elevation of pupil outcomes.” Violet Walker, Headteacher, Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School

“There is plenty of research to show that high behaviour standards are a key component in helping pupils achieve better learning outcomes. However, behaviour has been a missing ingredient in the last several decades of school policy legislation. If we are to reform school policy, we need the metrics to measure behaviour, the facility to hold behaviour to account and the support from government to embed behaviour policies in the instruments of school inspections and assessment.” Dr Marius Ostrowski, Report Author

“This report provides valuable evidence that policies for good behaviour can help to nullify the effect of household deprivation. Behaviour is not enough in itself but in combination with other good teaching practices it can help to raise the educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils.” Phillip Blond, Director, ResPublica

 

Notes to editors:

[i]    The report examined 150 state secondary schools, representing the top 50, median 50, and bottom 50 non-selective, non-faith state schools. Of the top 50 state secondary schools in the 2022 Progress 8 rankings, 39 are non-selective with only 11 selective schools. And the 20 highest-performing schools are all non-selective.

[ii]    2022 National Behaviour Survey

[iii] OECD, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018 – Country note: United Kingdom (2018), https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_GBR.pdf

[iv]  Attached an Embargoed copy of the report

[v]  Media contact: Mike Mavrommatis, Head of External Affairs, ResPublica M: 07983242135 E: mike.mavrommatis@respublica.org.uk

Press enquiries to press@respublica.org.uk.

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