ATL

Exclusion zones

Every year, hundreds of pupils are excluded from schools for persistent bad behaviour, ending up in what were known as pupil referral units, now short-stay schools. Report speaks to members about their experiences of these centres. Words by Alex Tomlin

A lot of pupils were not too bad in primary school, but things went wrong for them when they went to secondary school. They just couldn't cope with it - the size of the school, the number of teachers, the different subjects, working out what was good behaviour in one class and what was unacceptable in another. Maybe they were just not emotionally or academically ready. That's when the steady downward spiral set in that led to them being excluded."

This is the view of ATL member Elizabeth Dee, who has much experience of excluded pupils after eight years working in a pupil referral unit (PRU) in Hampshire. A unit that, like most of the PRUs in England, is now called a short-stay school (SSS) after changes in the Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Bill that is now meandering its way through the House of Commons.

Jim Howarth, ATL branch secretary for Lancashire, believes the name change is positive in removing stigma and also making clear the short-term intentions of these units. "They [the pupils] spend increasing amounts of time outside the SSS because they are either being reintegrated back into the mainstream, with some outreach from the SSS, or they are doing work in colleges," he explains.

"The secondary schools have got together - they call it local solutions for local schools. Trying to work out between them what to do with an excluded pupil," he continues. "It could be that a child goes to a different school in the area and that could work because all the antecedents have gone - a fresh start, simplistically put."

Fresh starts were very much the philosophy for Elizabeth and her colleagues. "Every day is a brand new day." She elaborates that staff worked hard not to let unacceptable behaviour from a previous lesson colour the next.
This must have been easier said than done, as some members believe that behaviour has deteriorated in the last few years. Elizabeth explains that there were often rows and swearing, but those would sometimes escalate into a child overturning a table or going to attack another child. She believes it is hard for teachers in SSSs to maintain standards as what each individual teacher will tolerate becomes eroded.

Jim Howarth concurs. "A lot of what is done in SSSs is excellent, but we are fighting against rapid societal change in terms of behaviour."

"In a way, students can practise different behaviours here," says Sherry McDowell, an ATL member at a short-stay school in Surrey.

Sherry, along with fellow ATL members Brenda Vines and Lynn Smart, works at a short-stay school that runs an early intervention programme (EIP), asking schools to refer pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 who are at risk of exclusion "but not so far down the line that it's inevitable they are going to be excluded." Sherry explains that the school has two cohorts of eight pupils, each attending for two days a week; one on Mondays and Tuesdays and one on Thursdays and Fridays, for 10 weeks. The remainder of the week they go to their mainstream school as normal. The cohort increases to 12 in January.

Acting head of centre, Lynn, explains how small targets are set to encourage pupils to improve their behaviour. "If you tell a student they've got to turn their behaviour around, that's a massive target, so you've got to break it down."

Each child has a pupil passport containing targets from the Every Child Matters agenda, such as: "I accepted a criticism and changed something as a result." If staff see that happen, they fill out the passport and sign it. "It means a lot. It's written down and acknowledged," says Sherry.

"We hope they will take their pupil passport back to school so they'll see the link and it can carry on," adds Lynn.
Elizabeth also recalls setting small, achievable targets. "It might just be arriving on time, or going 30 minutes without swearing at another pupil."

Celebrating achievement plays a key role for Brenda Vines. "We focus very much on what's been achieved, either in lessons or in behaviour. They can get 'student of the week' or 'good citizen of the week'. They can get £2.50 if they are the nominated student, so it motivates them. It makes the students feel better and more positive about their learning. They are not used to being rewarded or acknowledged. They can put that 'student of the week' certificate on their wall and it means an awful lot."

"It's good for the parents too," adds Lynn. "Usually they get letters and phone calls about their child's bad behaviour. We're phoning up saying we're really pleased with your child - they're student of the week."
Involving the pupil's parents and mainstream school is integral to the EIP. "Having the contact with the schools is vital," Sherry believes. "If we're here with kids who are going to be excluded and have no link to the school, we're excluded as well.

"That link - how the school picks up with the pupil - is the most difficult thing, because the environments are so different. We are hugely at an advantage here. Schools are large and quite unwieldy things. It can be like trying to change the direction of the Titanic. But if inclusion is going to mean anything, it does mean that systems will need to be changed to include children."

With just four in a class, and eight in a cohort, pupils in the EIP definitely feel included. "We get the comments: 'You're always there!'" laughs Lynn.

"Many are taken aback by how in touch we are with them," Sherry says. "We have breakfast with them, lunch with them, and we join in activities at break times. They are never out there on their own without a high proportion of staff and that in itself has an effect. Every aspect of their behaviour is noticed. It gives us the chance to give them really detailed feedback about behaviours they're showing that need to be changed. They do feel very seen - four of them in a class, instead of 30. There's no hiding!"

The concept has been met with scepticism by others who say that these are the children who find it hardest to deal with change, so it is destined to fail. Even within the team, Brenda admits: "We were all a bit dubious at first about the EIP model, but surprisingly it has worked and I think it has had some impact on reducing exclusions. Those schools that work with us and work through issues that come up are having much more success. Schools do need to think carefully about who would benefit from EIP and who could cope with it."

Whether in the EIP or permanently excluded, the aim is to provide some continuity of studies for the pupil. Elizabeth explains that the national curriculum was taught and every child had maths, English, science and PSHE on their timetable, and it was expected that they would attend and do the work. However, whether those expectations were met, or to what degree, varied enormously from pupil to pupil.

"They didn't get the full curriculum though," she adds. "There were limited sports facilities and they didn't get a sense of belonging to a wider community, where their views and behaviours were challenged by their own peers." Some PRUs and SSSs have invited local prison officers to explain what life in prison is like to the pupils, in contrast to some of the more positive and creative outside speakers that often visit mainstream schools.

Elizabeth also remembers trying to get pupils through their GCSEs and the difficulty in not setting up unrealistic expectations for them. While staff would praise pupils for making progress, the reality was that their GCSE results would still be at the lower end and that was very difficult for many pupils to accept. She believes the teachers in SSSs can feel like they are giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

However, Brenda believes the closer attention possible with small class sizes can actually benefit the children's studies. "Some students have said that their relationship with their mainstream teacher has improved after discussions here [in SSS] about achievement. If they can engage more and work on their skills, it's very much to their advantage."

With such close personal attention and encouragement, it's no surprise to hear that many pupils are reluctant to go back to mainstream education. "Sometimes those who were with us for a long time benefited because we could offer them security," Elizabeth believes. "Most of them actually liked coming. Some would deliberately sabotage their chances of getting back into mainstream."

"They do struggle at the end when they have to go back," Lynn agrees. "School is where they should be. This is just a little blip in getting them back on track."

But sometimes they come back, says Elizabeth. Some of those returning to school would return to the unit within days, unable, or unwilling, to settle in a new mainstream school. Others could last a year but something, possibly a problem at home, would cause them to act out again and they would be excluded once more. Elizabeth believes there is mixed success with reintegration.

"Their reputation is one of the hardest things they are going to have to manage when they go back," says Sherry. "Their peers and staff are not going to realise for a while that they're going to change. They have got to lose a bit of the identity they had. The more supportive the schools can be, the more successful the student will be."

But how aware are mainstream teachers of what goes on in a short-stay school? Elizabeth believes the average mainstream teacher, with so much else to deal with, might just forget about an excluded pupil. She wonders if more visits by mainstream staff to short-stay schools and vice versa would benefit staff and, consequently, the pupils.

Maybe they would be tempted to work in such an environment? Jim Howarth believes it attracts a certain type of person: "A lot of people working in SSSs have a great feeling for the underdog. The appeal is that they can make a difference and can be more flexible in what they can offer the kids. That's why they're there. The staff that remain are very committed."