Action to tackle abuse and violence in Beverley and Holderness schools
Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, says he is deeply concerned by official Government figures which reveal more than 1,000 pupils every school day are being suspended or expelled from schools for physical assaults, verbal abuse and threatening behaviour on both pupils and teachers.
Across the East Riding alone there were 10 expulsions for assaults and abuse and 560 suspensions – equivalent to eight exclusions for each school day, in the last recorded year.
Since 1997, Labour Government rules have deliberately made it more difficult for schools to expel pupils.
This has undermined the authority of head teachers and means bullies and disruptive children end up back at the same school as their victims.
Labour Ministers have also hindered teachers on ‘human rights’ grounds from searching and confiscating items which might cause violence or disruption in schools.
Now the Conservatives are pledging to give teachers new powers to tackle violence, to introduce home-school contracts to improve behaviour, and to reform the flawed exclusions process which undermines head teachers.
Graham said: “Despite the hard work of our teachers, it is clear we have a serious problem with discipline in our schools. Unless there is good discipline, pupils can’t learn and teachers can’t teach. The children who suffer most are the poorest and the country as a whole loses out when teachers’ authority is undermined. “
And he added: “A Conservative Government will raise standards in schools, giving teachers across the East Riding the power to restore discipline. We need to encourage responsibility and back those who do the right thing.”
CONSERVATIVE POLICIES TO RAISE STANDARDS
Head teachers are increasingly having their authority over discipline undermined. Exclusions appeals panels overrule head teachers on expulsions in a quarter of the cases they hear, and 35 per cent of these pupils are then returned to the school from which they were excluded.
Power to Discipline. Conservatives will change the law to make it easier for teachers to use reasonable force to deal with violent incidents, remove disruptive pupils, and physically restrain disruptive children without fear of legal action. We will abolish the legal requirement of 24 hours’ notice for detentions so that bad behaviour can be punished with detention the same day.
Search Powers for Schools. We will give head teachers the legal power to ban, search for, and confiscate any items they think may cause violence or disruption.
Home-School Contracts. We have been calling for legally-enforceable home-school behaviour contracts since 2007 and are pleased the Government is finally taking up this idea. We would take the policy a step further and allow home-school contracts to be used as a condition of admission.
Reforming the Exclusions Process. We will end the right to appeal against exclusion to an independent appeals panel, which undermine head teachers’ authority and signals that the school cannot cope with violence. There will only be an appeal to the school governors. We will abolish the Government’s new rules forcing good schools to take pupils expelled from bad ones (‘one in one out’).