Research School Network: Behaviour in Mainstream Education Through the Lens of Alternative Provision – Prevention or Cure? A reflective and noteworthy guest blog from Mark Fairbrother at Spires Education

There are various opinions on the EEF’s recent Improving Behaviour in Schools Guidance Report. As a teacher, middle leader and senior leader in mainstream secondary schools over a period of more than twenty years, I have always adopted (amongst other principles) Tom Bennett’s mantra of the 3Rs: Routines, Responses and Relationships. Having spent the previous two years creating and running an Alternative Provision unit in a secondary school in a significantly deprived area of Nottinghamshire, I still believe in those principles, and have discovered that the mainstream can learn a great deal from alternative provision in applying them effectively.

In 2017, Bennett urged the government to find the cash for internal inclusion units at schools with higher than average levels of challenging behaviour. He said the units would offer ​“targeted early specialist intervention”, with the primary aim of reintegrating students back into mainstream schools. My experience in such settings leads me to believe that AP units can go a step further and not just provide the intervention, but lead on key principles that will improve behaviour in the mainstream:

Routines: There can be a surprising lack of routines in mainstream classrooms. This is often through no fault of the classroom teacher but a combination of circumstances. When students arrived at the door of my AP unit, it was often a case of going right back to basics. Having observed behaviour in the mainstream, it became clear that these routines were required for mainstream classes to function effectively. Simple routines such as: starting every day as a new day, meeting and greeting pupils at the door, consistently reminding pupils of rules and expectations and others mentioned in Recommendation 4 of the EEF’s Improving Behaviour in Schools guidance go a long way towards building a successful culture. Students continuously fed back that they respected the staff and felt safe and secure in an environment where they were appreciated for what they could offer. Students like to know where they stand and want to be given a chance to start each lesson or day afresh. If the inconsistency they often experience across mainstream schools could be minimised, they may not appear at the AP door in the first place.

Responses: Staff need to be prepared for different situations, especially for when things go wrong, or better still anticipate things beginning to go wrong. Different strategies are required for different students’ individual needs. No student is the same, and they need bespoke management. The football manager’s cliché of ​‘arm around the shoulder or kick up the backside’ applies to human beings in general, and a more sophisticated range of responses is required for students who are in need of additional support. There are too many to mention here, but the benefits of a quiet or ​‘chill out’ space are immeasurable, whilst restorative practice used as a routine response to situations reaps enormous long-term benefits. The Proactive and Reactive recommendations from the EEF’s Behaviour Guidance report cement these sentiments with clarity and practicality.

Relationships: Staff in alternative provision are successful when they build relationships with students over time that are based on empathy, patience, sensitivity and flexibility. In order to achieve this, good practitioners will always de-escalate situations. They remain emotionless in that they will not be drawn into conflict or retaliation, no matter how much they are provoked. We are the adults and they are the children. Students don’t just learn academic knowledge and skills in schools, they learn how to behave like adults, and it is our moral duty to model such behaviour. Modelling these relationships with parents and carers, particularly in front of students, is invaluable in reinforcing these behaviours and the key to establishing and reinforcing effective relationships. Never underestimate or overlook the role and leverage parents can have in supporting behaviour in schools. You can find more information on this in the EEF’s Working With Parents to Support Students’ Learning report, specifically recommendations 1 and 3 on ​‘Critically reviewing how you work with parents’ and ​‘Tailoring communications to encourage positive dialogue’. Students’ behaviour is the product of our working partnerships as adults. Quite often teachers reference the divide between parents and school and blame poor parenting, but this mindset can be changed. 

Mark Fairbrother, Director of Spires Education Consultancy

Mark will be co-facilitating training on Improving Behaviour in Schools in 2020 at the Staffordshire Research School. You can follow him on Twitter at @SpiresEducation. For further information on this training, other opportunities and to keep up to date with the latest news from the Staffordshire Research School and the EEF, you can sign up to our free newsletter here. If you are interested in support for your school on behaviour, alternative provision, SEND or teaching and learning, you can contact us and Mark here.

References

Bennett, T.(2017)​‘Creating a Culture: How school leaders can optimise behaviour’, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602487/Tom_Bennett_Independent_Review_of_Behaviour_in_Schools.pdf
(last accessed 4/11/2019)