The Department for Education has revealed the first 22 lead schools for its new £10 million behaviour hub programme.
The plan is to partner high-performing schools and multi-academy trusts with those struggling with poor discipline through peer mentoring, training and support.
The programme will begin at the start of the summer term with heads or behaviour leads at the chosen schools working as mentors or trainers.
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The DfE has said the programme is being launched at a time when “a minority of pupils may need extra support from their schools to re-engage with education following the pandemic”.
The announcement came as Mr Williamson said that his department would consult on how it can “help heads remove phones from the school day” as part of its drive to improve behaviour.
The DfE has said its behaviour hub programme will expand next year, with further lead schools and MATs appointed to support more schools to help reach the target of 500 supported schools over three years.
Of the 22 lead schools named today, 16 are academies or academy trusts.
There are nine secondary schools, seven primaries, three special schools, a PRU, an alternative provision provider and an academy trust that includes mainstream primary and secondary schools, a special school and an alternative provision college.
The 22 leads are spread across the country with five in the South East, three in the West Midlands, North East and London, two in the North West, East Midlands and in the East of England and one in Yorkshire and one in the South West.
Behaviour hub lead schools and trusts
- Throckley Primary School, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Sedgefield Community College, Durham
- Carmel College, Darlington
- Tor View School, Lancashire
- Evelyn Street Community Primary School, Warrington
- Dixons Trinity Academy, Bradford
- Painsley Catholic College, Staffordshire
- Witham St Hughs Academy, Lincolnshire
- Keyham Lodge School, Leicester
- Perryfield Primary Pupil Referral Unit, Worcestershire
- Saint Augustine’s Catholic High School, Worcestershire
- Bedford Free School, Bedford
- Oak Bank School, Bedfordshire
- Chepping View Primary Academy, Buckinghamshire
- Ashmole Academy, Barnet
- St Gregory’s Catholic Science College, Brent
- Charles Dickens Primary School, Southwark
- Lyons Hall Primary School, Essex
- Maiden Erlegh Trust, Wokingham
- The Limes College - Alternative Learning Trust, Sutton
- Glenmoor Academy, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Polegate School, East Sussex
The DfE has said that schools taking part in the programme will also have access to training on common problems and effective approaches led by Tom Bennett, the department’s lead behaviour adviser and his team.
Mr Bennett said: “It’s been a real honour to recruit some of the best schools in the country to offer their support to other schools who want to refocus on behaviour and culture.
“Every school can, with assistance, be safe, calm places where everyone is treated with dignity, and students and staff can learn and flourish together.
“We know that some schools are further towards that ideal than others, and many more only need direction from those who have walked the path before them.
“The Hubs project is designed to start reasonably modestly, build a model that works, and then expand into a size and shape that supports more schools that need it. This has the capacity to make a real and substantial difference to the lives of futures of many thousands of children and families and I cannot wait to see it develop.”
