LEYTON: School bans detentions to improve behaviour
3:32pm Thursday 2nd September 2010 in
A LEYTON school has taken the unusual step of scrapping detentions in an effort to improve pupils' behaviour.
Helen Jeffery, headteacher at George Mitchell school in Farmer Road, Leyton, insists there is no evidence that the punishment improves children’s performance.
The school, which is in a deprived part of the borough and teaches many pupils from difficult backgrounds, has seen a steady improvement in results in recent years.
This is despite Ms Jeffery also taking the unconventional step of banning homework five years ago.
Although some concerns have been raised by staff over the move, she insists the school has not ‘gone soft’ and students will still be punished when necessary.
Ms Jeffery said: “I had been giving it a great deal of thought and I came to the conclusion that why should we persist in this when there is no evidence that it changes attitudes in young people?
“The term ‘detention’ is very negative and it's very punitive. I think instead of a pupil being told to sit on their own for an hour, it is far more constructive if they have a dialogue with their teacher about what they've done wrong.
“However I would be mortified if people get the idea that pupils can now do whatever they want and that we've gone soft.
“If a pupil, for example, is abusive to a member of staff, is violent or damages property they will be excluded, and we will still have internal exclusions where a pupil must work on their own away from other children if necessary.
“But this is more about low-level classroom disruption. If something happens I want the pupil to talk with their teacher. We need to find out why a pupil is being disruptive and what we can do to stop it.”
Ms Jeffery, who has been at the school for seven years, said she will also be introducing a ‘payback’ system, which will see pupils who waste time or are late for lessons made to stay after school for the equivalent time.
“Our school is a safe and happy one and we have been recognised for the way we work in partnership and in a dialogue with our pupils. This is very much an extension of that,” she added.
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Comments(9)
myopinioncounts
says...
5:59pm Thu 2 Sep 10
Sorry, but isn't that the same as detention - a trendy name for the same thing?
Helen, Walthamstow
says...
6:53pm Thu 2 Sep 10
Looking back to my own school days, I don't believe we had detention in the schools I was at. But we did have other forms of discipline, and they worked.
Sometimes, it is easier for all concerned to keep children back at school in detention than to make the effort to find out what is really going on and dealing with poor behaviour in a more constructive way. The ultimate aim is to persuade pupils that they can get on in life without resorting to disruption, rudeness and so on.
The Voice of Commonsense
says...
7:05pm Thu 2 Sep 10
Helen Jeffery's views are not alone, with many educational sociologists and psychologists publishing works that not only support Helen's views, but conclude that the idea of 'detentions' do not help educational, sociological or psychological growth within children (feel free to google this if you want, it makes quite persuasive, powerful reading).
'myopinioncounts' i feel you are indeed correct, it is a change of name from giving a detention (which is a very blanket term with quite stereotypical connotations), to receiving 'pay-back time', which not only breaks the monotomous idea of a detention, but also allows pupils to connect reason for their punishment to the event for which they are receiving it.
The traditional 'stay silent, sit still, do nothing' school detention approach is a punitive and ineffective way to change behaviour, as interaction between parties about the incident rarely takes place. It does little to create positive school climates. For those children who have been traumatised through fear, isolation, and emotional abuse, poorly managed detention can add to that trauma. This restorative justice approach is a better way. I believe this alternative discipline approach to school detention will further respond to the needs of children who misbehave.
Well done Helen and George Mitchell for not being a sheep!
chanchita
says...
8:15pm Thu 2 Sep 10
L-town
says...
12:37am Fri 3 Sep 10
rubberneck
says...
9:51am Fri 3 Sep 10
hotredman
says...
5:24pm Fri 3 Sep 10
What kind of moronic idea to ban homework then detention.
Pamella
says...
2:32pm Thu 9 Sep 10
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Helen Jeffery believes detentions do not improve pupils’ performance
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Redfox says...
4:32pm Thu 2 Sep 10
Already their has been a complete breakdown in discipline, to the stage where many children are simply unemployable because they can't and won't take orders. Thanks to the naff politically correct brigade, this Country is producing anarchic, knife-welding hoodlums who disrespect everyone else who is not in "their gang".
In two years we come to the centenary of the Great War. Who would give this century's modern youth a hope in hell's chance to exhibit the same pride in Great Britain, as did their counterparts in 1914 ?
Don't forget either, Black Africans and Asian's from India and Pakistan enlisted too, in droves.