The Scottish government has today published its long-awaited plan on tackling worsening pupil behaviour in school.
The plan urges Scottish schools “to apply relational approaches based upon high warmth and high expectations”.
It sets out 20 points to be achieved over three years. This follows research published in November 2023 showing behaviour in Scottish schools deteriorating, from low-level disruption to serious disruptive behaviour.
The plan:
- Concedes that there have been “challenges” with the move away from punitive approaches towards relationships-based approaches in Scottish schools since 2016.
- Says that - while there is still “general support for relationships-based approaches” - it is “similarly clear that there are challenges with how such approaches are working on the ground, with staff feeling disempowered from setting the effective boundaries”.
- Highlights difficulties reported by school staff, including “a lack of meaningful consequences for disruptive behaviour” and “the lack of time and resources needed to implement such approaches successfully”.
- Adds, however, that there is still “general support for relationships-based approaches”
- Advocates ”a relational style characterised by high warmth and support, high standards and high expectations”.
- Says this approach uses “reprimands and consequences when necessary”.
However, when it comes to the sanctions schools can use, including exclusion, the plan is light on detail.
An emphasis in recent years on keeping exclusion figures low has led, teachers say, to an almost total reluctance to use the sanction, but education secretary Jenny Gilruth had promised clarity in the new plan.
In the Scottish Parliament in March, she said that, through the behaviour plan, there would be “a review of the exclusions policy that is currently in place in our schools”.
Passing reference to exclusion
Today’s plan only mentions exclusion once - saying that in its first phase, which will run until March, clarity will be provided “on the range of approaches and consequences that are available, including exclusion”.
However, in its response to the guidance, the NASUWT union said it welcomed “that the principle of serious consequences for serious misbehaviour, up to and including exclusion, where necessary, has been accepted”.
Mike Corbett, the union’s national official in Scotland, had been frustrated by the time taken to produce the plan, but, seeing it today, is “encouraged by the recognition that a range of approaches and consequences are required, given that restorative approaches to poor behaviour do not work for all pupils”.
The EIS teaching union had already made it clear that it believes worsening behaviour cannot be tackled effectively without more funding for staff.
Today EIS general secretary, Andrea Bradley, said some aspects of the plan were “helpful” but added: “Without the necessary allocation of funding and resources, the plan will become little but a wish list and a real wasted opportunity to deliver a better, safer learning and teaching environment in Scotland’s schools.”
The phases set out in the new plan are as follows.
Phase one (from publication today to 31 March 2025) will “focus on actions which help to set clear expectations around relationships and behaviour”. These will include to:
- Develop a clear national definition of relationships and behaviour, including violence and aggression, to be integrated into national and local school policies and guidance.
- Build a collective understanding of “how we create situations in which children are most likely to learn to behave well”, “how we intervene effectively when they do not” and “the purpose of consequences”.
- Provide resources to schools on whole-school approaches to relationships and behaviour, grounded in developing strong relationships, high expectations and effectively setting limits.
- Update Respect for All, the national anti-bullying guidance.
- Establish a working group on attendance, led by education directors.
- Establish a working group to review recording of incidents, including bullying, violent incidents and incidents against staff; the plan recognises this “may lead to initial increases in recorded statistics”.
Support for promoting positive relationships
Phase two (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026) will focus on “the support necessary to promote positive relationships”, so to:
- Update existing relationship and behaviour guidance.
- Produce guidance looking specifically at whole-school approaches to “preventing and responding to racism and racist incidents”.
- Commission a national review of the implementation of the gender-based violence in schools framework “to establish positive practice and further areas for improvement”.
- Identify and promote professional development available for school staff on relationships and behaviour in schools, and reporting, recording and monitoring of incidents.
Phase three (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) will focus “on embedding the changes necessary to effect the long-term systemic culture change needed”. In this phase:
- A national review(s) will be led by the schools inspectorate on relationships and behaviour, including gender-based violence and relationships and behaviour approaches.
- The sixth wave of Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) will be commissioned, for publication by the end of this period.
In all phases, schools will receive “enhanced feedback on relationships and behaviour” following inspection.
Launching the plan today at Stonelaw High School in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Ms Gilruth said that improving relationships, behaviour and attendance in schools was one of her top priorities. However, she stressed that “the vast majority of pupils” continue to behave well.
She added: “We have been working jointly on this with key partners such as [local authorities body] Cosla and [the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools] since I was appointed and this new action plan contains a series of steps to be taken which will ensure that both pupils and staff are safe and supported.
“It takes an evidence-based approach to responding to the relationships and behaviour challenges faced in our schools and has been informed by [BISSR], which heard from nearly 4,000 teachers and support staff, as well as discussions with a wide range of stakeholders including teaching unions at the three behaviour summits.”
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