Schools regularly hide troublemakers from inspectors, reveals Education Minister as he unveils new tools to crack down on unruly pupils
- Naughty children and poor teachers told ‘stay at home’ during inspection
- Ofsted given powers to launch surprise inspections
- Heads to press charges against students behind false accusations
- Teachers can break up fights and manhandle unruly pupils out of the classroom
Schools are still suffering from ‘a real behaviour problem’ with many hiding naughty conduct from inspectors, the Education Secretary Michael Gove said today.
In some cases poor teachers and unruly pupils have been asked by schools to stay at home on the day of Ofsted inspections.
Bad classroom behaviour is still the main reason why teachers leave the profession, and why many people are turned off teaching, Mr Gove added.
Education Secretary Michael Gove wants to put teachers back in charge in the classroomThe Education Secretary revealed the worrying state of British schools today as he unveiled a raft of new measures designed to limit unruly behaviour.
Under the changes, pupils who make false allegations against teachers could be met with criminal proceedings. Teachers will also be able to break up fights and manhandle troublemakers out of the classroom without punishment.
Education Secretary Michael Gove spoke about the measures today in a bid to reverse the collapse in classroom discipline that has resulted in 1,000 children a day being suspended from school for abuse and assault.
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As well as confiscating mobiles, which are banned in many classrooms, teachers will be allowed to search the phones for evidence of cyber-bullying and inappropriate material.
They will also automatically be given the benefit of the doubt when facing malicious allegations from children or parents – and given anonymity while the claims are investigated.
Under the new rules they will then be allowed to launch criminal action against their own pupils who have made false allegations about them. The youngsters will also face expulsion over the claims.
Teachers will also be allowed to hand out automatic detentions to misbehaving students, without having to give parents 24 hours’ notice.
The 50-page document containing the new measures replaces more than 600 pages of complex guidance on discipline.
Speaking as the Government published the new guidance for schools on dealing with bad behaviour, Mr Gove suggested that Ofsted was not seeing the full picture during inspections.
He said he had been told by teachers that ‘weak teachers are invited to stay at home, we make sure disruptive pupils don’t come in, and the best teachers are on corridor duty. We put on our best face for inspections.’
This is why the Government wants Ofsted to have the powers to conduct specific no-notice inspections, Mr Gove said.
‘It is only by having that power that we can be certain that we will deal with these entrenched problems.’
He later added: ‘We rely on Ofsted to let us know how behaviour is in many schools.’
While behaviour issues have been tackled in many schools, ‘it is certainly the case that in some schools the behaviour problem is critical,’ Mr Gove said.
Two thirds of teachers believe that bad behaviour is driving staff out of the classroom, according to the Department for Education (DfE).
‘We do know from recent evidence that the single biggest reason (for teachers leaving the profession) is because of poor behaviour,’ Mr Gove said.
‘The biggest barrier to entry is the fear of not being safe in the classroom. These are both indicators of a real behaviour problem.’
Schools minister Nick Gibb said: ‘Low-level disruption is far too prevalent across the school system.’
Concerns that schools are hiding badly behaved pupils from Ofsted were previously raised at a Commons select committee hearing at the end of last year.
Force: Teachers will be allowed to break up fights and manhandle pupils out of the classroom under the new rulesTom Trust, a former elect member of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) for the secondary sector, told the committee: ‘Getting evidence from headteachers is not always reliable because they have got a lot to lose.’
He added: ‘Ofsted’s views on behaviour are not worth the paper they are written on in my humble opinion, because there are lots of strategies that headteachers use to avoid the Ofsted inspectors seeing the worst children.
‘That may shock you and you may think that’s just an isolated incident but it’s not, it goes on.’
The Government announced today it is also appointing a new Expert Adviser on Behaviour, headteacher Charlie Taylor who has been a behavioural specialist for more than 10 years, working with children of all ages.
Under the updated guidance, which has been reduced from 600 pages to 50, school heads will be able to press criminal charges against pupils who make false allegations about teachers in England.
And they will be able temporarily or permanently to exclude pupils who make false allegations.
The guidance is based on current laws, and is likely to be updated if and when the coalition’s Education Bill, which includes measures to extend teachers’ search powers, is passed.
The new regime will remove the controversial ‘no touch’ rules, which banned teachers from any physical contact with pupils.
The guidance also gives teachers far greater protection against malicious complaints from pupils and their parents. One in four teachers has faced false allegations from a pupil, while one in six has had unfounded allegations made by parents.
Chris Yeates, the leader of teachers’ union NASUWT, yesterday criticised the ‘disproportionate’ powers allowing teachers to search for mobile phones – despite having previously branded mobiles ‘offensive weapons’ used by bullies.
Charlie Taylor, head of a tough inner-city school for excluded pupils, has been appointed as a school discipline tsar to drive through the reforms. He said: ‘For far too long, teachers have been buried under guidance and reports on how to tackle bad behaviour. I am determined to make sure I help schools put policy into practice.’
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