A survey questioned just under 500 persistent truants about their experiences and attitudes. 55 per cent of respondents had been excluded from school at some point; 29 per cent had been bullied to the point where they had been too afraid to attend school; and 32 per cent said that their parents being threatened with fines or legal sanctions would have permanently stopped them skipping school.
Source: Truancy Survey, Rathbone
Links: Summary | Rathbone press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper outlined the case for retaining a local authority-funded education welfare service with a clear remit for providing support to children and young people who were at risk of poor educational outcomes due to their poor attendance and behaviour.
Source: Practical Early Intervention: The Case for Retaining a Local Authority Funded Education Welfare Service, National Association for Social Workers in Education/Association of Education Welfare Managers
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined children's experiences in Europe of victimization and offending while travelling to and from school. Almost one-fifth of young people were regularly subjected to behaviour that they considered anti-social: but most showed high levels of self-confidence and security. The key was the existence of protective friendship groups – pointing to a move away from increasing 'formal' interventions, such as CCTV, towards supporting existing, informal methods used by young people to limit the possibility of victimization.
Source: Stephen Moore, Rachel Maclean, and Tom Jefford, 'The "land in-between": a comparative European study of the victimisation of young people travelling to and from school', Crime Prevention & Community Safety, Volume 13 Issue 4
Links: Abstract | Anglia Ruskin press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A report provided a comprehensive view of the latest statistical trends and analysis on absences in the maintained education sector in England. It investigated the attitudes, beliefs, aspirations, and experiences of pupils who were persistently absent by the end of their compulsory school education, compared with those of their peers; and it contrasted the family background and parental attitudes and aspirations for these pupils with that of their peers.
Source: A Profile of Pupil Absence in England, Research Report RR171, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report provided a synthesis of research findings in the field of school-age bullying. Bullying affected most schoolchildren at some point, either as a victim, a bully, or as a bystander. The worst-affected groups, such as those with special educational needs, experienced bullying more frequently, intensively, and persistently.
Source: Reducing Bullying Amongst the Worst Affected, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
A think-tank report said that parents should face sanctions such as benefit cuts if they persistently failed to co-operate and accept support offered by schools to tackle violent or disruptive behaviour by their children.
Source: Adele Eastman, No Excuses: A review of educational exclusion, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Sep
Campaigners expressed concern that the coalition government's focus on strong disciplinary methods in schools – as set out in the Education Bill 2011 – ran counter to the need for fairness, and risked dealing with disciplinary problems too late. They called for proposals for new and extended disciplinary powers to be dropped.
Source: Jane Evans, Tough Love, Not Get Tough: Responsive approaches to improving behaviour in schools, Barnardo's
Links: Report | Barnardos press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the development of schools counselling in Wales. Early intervention through counselling contributed to better attendance and engagement with learning, as well as promoting young people's broader well-being.
Source: Liz Phillips and Robert Smith, Developing School Counselling Services for Children and Young People in Wales, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2011-Sep
An article examined how boys and girls in secondary schools viewed cross-gender and same-gender bullying. Boy-to-boy bullying was considered to be the least problematic: a boy physically harming a girl, even if in defence against the girl's bullying behaviour, was considered to be the most unacceptable.
Source: Catherine O'Brien, 'Young people's comparisons of cross-gender and same-gender bullying in British secondary schools', Educational Research, Volume 53 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined young people's exposure to aggression and violence, based on a study of young people aged 13-16 from two secondary schools in the north-west of England. Young people's exposure to violence as bystanders was a regular occurrence, and their communities were no more or less damaging than the schools they attended.
Source: Anne Kennedy, 'Aggression and violence exposure in adolescence and the role of school- based policy initiatives', Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, Volume 6 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined the introduction of 'restorative' approaches to discipline in schools, and their compatibility with 'zero tolerance' and other approaches.
Source: Gillean McCluskey, Jean Kane, Gwynedd Lloyd, Joan Stead, Sheila Riddell, and Elisabet Weedon, '"Teachers are afraid we are stealing their strength": a risk society and restorative approaches in school', British Journal of Educational Studies, Volume 59 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on behaviour and discipline in schools. It rejected a suggestion that official data on pupil behaviour were inadequate.
Source: Behaviour and Discipline in Schools: Government Response to the Committee's First Report of Session 2010-12, Sixth Special Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1316, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (February 2011)
Date: 2011-Jun
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that alternative provision outside school – used to prevent exclusion and re-engage students in their education – should be better monitored by schools and pupil referral units, so that it could be used more effectively.
Source: Alternative Provision, HMI 100233, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release
Date: 2011-Jun
An article examined the increased attention given to the issue of homophobic bullying in schools.
Source: Daniel Monk, 'Challenging homophobic bullying in schools: the politics of progress', International Journal of Law in Context, Volume 7 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
An article examined evidence from a small-scale qualitative study of destinations and outcomes for a group of young people who had been excluded from school and who were considered to be at particular risk of negative outcomes – those who had been permanently excluded from special schools or pupil referral units.
Source: Anne Pirrie, Gale Macleod, Mairi Ann Cullen, and Gillean McCluskey, 'What happens to pupils permanently excluded from special schools and pupil referral units in England?', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 37 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
A paper examined whether meeting performance targets in tests at school had an effect on students' subsequent behaviour. Meeting a target that the government set for students at age 11 had an 'insignificant' effect on outcomes such as the probability of absence from school or of a police warning.
Source: Marcello Sartarelli, Do Performance Targets Affect Behaviour? Evidence from discontinuities in test scores in England, Working Paper 11-02, Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education (University of London)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Apr
The government began consultation on revised guidance relating to good behaviour in schools in England. It clarified that teachers had a legal power to use reasonable force; that headteachers could search for items including alcohol, illegal drugs, and stolen property; and that headteachers had the power to discipline pupils who misbehaved outside school premises and outside school hours.
Source: Ensuring Good Behaviour in Schools: Guidance for governing bodies, head teachers, school staff and employers, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | ATL press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Apr
A report examined the effectiveness of anti-bullying interventions in schools in England.
Source: The Use and Effectiveness of Anti-Bullying Strategies in Schools, Research Report RR098, Department for Education
Date: 2011-Apr
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined the extent and effectiveness of action by local authorities and schools to prevent and respond to prejudice-based bullying of young people – both inside and outside school – on the grounds of disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. Bullying based on students' identities remained a widespread problem and was limiting the achievements of those who were bullied.
Source: Neil Tippett, Catherine Houlston, and Peter Smith, Prevention and Response to Identity-Based Bullying Among Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, Research Report 64, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that the data collected by the government on behaviour in schools did not allow for an evidence-based judgment on whether the situation was getting worse or better. The school curriculum could have a beneficial effect on standards of behaviour by meeting the needs of all pupils through a mix of academic and vocational subjects.
Source: Behaviour and Discipline in Schools, First Report (Session 2010-11), HC 516, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | ASCL press release | Childrens Commissioner press release | Labour Party press release | NUT press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2011-Feb
A report examined the latest evidence on violence in schools. Extreme cases of violence, including severe bullying that led to death, were very rare: but low-level disruption, verbal aggression, and 'cyberbullying' appeared to be increasing.
Source: Jane Brown and Mandy Winterton, Violence in UK Schools: What is really happening?, British Educational Research Association
Links: Report | Bibliography
Date: 2011-Feb
