Commenting on the report on behaviour in schools by Tom Bennett,
the Department for Education’s adviser on behaviour in schools,
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers
and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“It is good to see the Bennett report, which references ATL
members’ views and experiences, recognises the pupil behaviour
challenges facing many schools, particularly in a time of teacher
shortages and school funding cuts.
“It’s refreshing that the report recognises the impact of
workload on the capacity of staff to deliver positive but
time-heavy behaviour interventions, and the need for investment
in high-quality behaviour training for teachers during their
training and throughout their career.
“However, there are some worrying omissions in this report;
special educational needs are hardly mentioned and the role of
external agencies for health, child and adolescent mental
health services, social care and the police is conspicuous by its
absence. We are also concerned that the emphasis on the role of
school leaders, while obviously important, leaves little space
for all school staff to participate in creating a positive
culture and designing a whole-school behaviour policy.
“We hope the Government will note the workload and funding
implications in this report – the start-up costs for new
behaviour initiatives, employing a school counsellor and a
full-time administrator for a centralised detention system,
investing in training for school leaders and their staff, and
giving staff the capacity to put positive behaviour interventions
in place, alongside everything else they have to do.”
