3:32pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
By Daniel Binns
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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