Research School Network: Improving behaviour in schools A guidance report that’s needed now more than ever

22-minute view: Iggy Rhodes, report-co-author, discusses Improving Behaviour in Schools with Julian Grenier

The EEF Guidance Report Improving Behaviour in Schools was published just about a year ago. I think it’s a good time to revisit some of the key messages from the report, when there are so many uncertainties facing schools, families, and children and young people. 

Amidst those uncertainties, one thing is clear: a sense of calm, order, and positivity is essential in schools. It’s by re-experiencing those positive routines, and re-establishing positive behaviour for learning, that many children will get the sense of order and emotional calm which they need. 

It’s not accidental that the first recommendation in the guidance report is Know and understand your pupils and their influences.

Fundamentally, that’s all about relationships. As the report notes, ​‘happily, both teacher and pupil surveys show that teachers usually have positive relationships with students’.

But now, more than ever, it’s going to be vital that teachers and other staff take steps to reconnect with pupils and get to know them afresh. Sometimes pupils will be in re-formed classes, without adults who know them well. So school leaders will need to consider making time for adults to find out how pupils are, and to build those important relationships.

We can anticipate that some pupils will be troubled when we see them, whether that’s in the summer or the autumn. The report’s section on the ​‘Establish-Maintain-Restore’ (EMR) method is a helpful guide to how schools might create a structure to manage proactively some of the challenges which will arise.

It’s also very likely that many pupils will need support to re-establish positive learning behaviours. Whilst there is an argument that schools should primarily focus on their social and emotional wellbeing, I’d suggest that’s more a matter of balance than a black and white choice between one or the other. Many of us who’ve been working from home will know that there are times when getting on with something and being productive has helped our mood and wellbeing more than anything. Learning new things is both challenging and pleasurable for children.

The report’s positive focus is helpful in this respect, too. It suggests how we can work proactively and teach children positive learning behaviours. This is better than being on the back foot and reacting to poor behaviour. There are clear links here to the EEF’s guidance report on Metacognition, too.

The evidence suggests that it’s especially helpful to teach pupils positive learning behaviours, and encourage pupils to reflect on their own behaviour and learning. This approach benefits pupils socially and emotionally; it helps to improve behaviour in schools; and it improves learning, too. These skills may be more crucial than ever, if pupils continue to experience interruptions in their schooling.

The third aspect of the report which feels especially important now, is Section 5:

Whilst the report rightly focuses mostly on positive, whole-school steps, there will always be some pupils who need extra, targeted help.

Potentially, the number of pupils in that category might be greater as more return to school in the summer and the autumn. However, the guidance report clearly cautions us that ‘ a tailored approach to support an individual’s behaviour should complement the school’s behaviour policy without lowering expectations of any pupil’s behaviour.’ In the period ahead, multi-agency interventions supported by CAHMS or the Educational Psychology Service may be needed to support some pupils. Once again, the report shows how important it is for schools to be mindful of two things. Firstly, be choosy about targeted interventions: check the evidence base. Choose the ones which look to be a ​‘good bet’ and are supported by robust research. Secondly, be strategic. Map out the different interventions you plan to offer and consider a pupil’s ​‘journey’ through some or all of these. How will these interventions work together, to support a child or young person in improving their behaviour.

The report shares a particularly comprehensive example from St Mary’s School in Blackpool, which ​‘utilises several recommendations from this report and several ​“best bet” strategies as part of a tailored response to pupil behaviour.’

Finally, the report makes a powerful case for consistency. It’s consistency across the whole school that makes a real difference. On the other hand, it’s a lack of consistency that really affects the morale and wellbeing of teachers and other staff in schools.

I hope this blog has given you a sense of the renewed importance of this vital guidance report from the EEF. You can read the full report here.