As schools across the capital are encouraged to sign up to a scheme to reduce absenteeism and suspensions, the BBC visited one primary in east London that is taking a different approach.
At Uphall Primary School in Ilford, teachers are told never to shout at pupils who misbehave.
“The only reason I’d expect someone to shout at a child is if they’re running into a road and a car is coming,” says head teacher Dr Kulvarn Atwal.
He does not believe in giving detentions, or suspensions, because he is not convinced they lead to better behaviour.
“If someone makes a mistake, if someone does something wrong, then that is a learning opportunity,” he says. “Behaviour is learned in the same way as maths or English, and every child learns differently.
Some find it very difficult to manage their behaviour.”
Instead of a detention, he says, a teacher or staff member will sit with the child and talk through what they did, why they did it, what emotions led to it, and what they could do differently.
He says the child will need to apologise, and to commit to improving their behaviour.
“Pupils know how we are supposed to be treated in the classroom, and we know how to treat others in the classroom”, says 11-year-old Fatima.
Her classmate Aaron, also 11, adds: “If they hit someone, they’ll probably have to write a letter to apologise to them.”
Uphall Primary is recognised as a “rights respecting school”, external by the children’s charity Unicef, which provides training and lesson plans focused around recognising a child’s rights and encouraging them to become more involved in school life and their community.
London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is encouraging schools across the capital to sign up to the scheme. It is spending £1.4m to offer all state-funded education settings free access over the next four years.
The VRU, which was set up by the mayor to tackle the underlying causes of violence, says rising suspensions and absenteeism are putting more children at risk.
The number of children in London persistently missing more than 50% of school sessions rose from 6,586 in the 2018-19 academic year to 14,689 in 2022-23.
School suspensions are also rising, from 49,404 in the 2018-19 academic year to 56,376 in 2022-23.
BBC
