The Behaviour in Schools guidance, updated in 2022, provides advice on situations that may warrant the removal of pupils from the classroom due to serious misbehaviour, and to maintain the safety of all pupils. The removed pupil should never be isolated but taken to a supervised space where they can regain calm and continue to engage in their education. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-in-schools--2.

Behaviour is a priority for the Government. All schools should be calm, safe and supportive environments where all pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.

The Department has an ambitious programme of work on improving behaviour in schools which aims to provide clarity and support for headteachers and staff. This includes the recently updated suite of guidance: ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-in-schools--2, the ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion, and the ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation. These are practical tools to help schools create environments which young people want to attend.

The Department is investing £10 million through the Behaviour Hubs programme to enable schools with exemplary behaviour cultures to support schools that want and need to turn around their behaviour, alongside a central offer of support and taskforce of advisers. The programme will support up to 700 partner schools during the three years it is scheduled to run.

Good behaviour in schools is central to a good education, and strong behaviour cultures and boundaries have a positive impact on the wellbeing of pupils and staff. Schools need to manage behaviour well, so that they can provide calm, safe and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. No pupil should miss out on education because they feel unsafe or miss out on teaching because their lesson is disrupted.

Where behaviour is poor, pupils can suffer from issues as diverse as lost teaching time, child-on-child abuse, anxiety, bullying, violence, and distress. It can cause some children to stay away from school, missing vital education.

The Department has published non-statutory guidance on behaviour and mental health in schools, entitled ‘Behaviour in Schools’. This is the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture with high expectations of behaviour.

Ofsted’s guidance to inspectors, outlined in its published School Inspection Handbook, sets out that inspectors will consider how leaders and staff set high expectations for behaviour, and how well these are communicated and understood. Inspectors will look at whether there is a safe, calm, orderly and positive environment in the school, and will consider the effect this has on the behaviour and attitudes of pupils. Inspectors will also want to see that schools are supporting the development of pupils’ confidence, resilience, and knowledge to help support their wellbeing.

Strong behaviour cultures and boundaries have a positive impact on the wellbeing of pupils and staff. Schools need to manage behaviour well so that they can provide calm, safe and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. No pupil should miss out on teaching because their lesson is disrupted.

Where behaviour is poor, pupils can suffer from issues as diverse as lost teaching time, child-on-child abuse, anxiety, bullying, violence, and distress. It can cause some children to stay away from school, missing vital education.

The Behaviour in Schools guidance, published in 2022, focuses on how schools can proactively support pupils to behave appropriately through explicit teaching of what good behaviour looks like, and highlights the need for mutual respect and kindness between staff and pupils. It acknowledges that positive relationships can be built in environments where there is predictability, fairness and trust, and in these environments, pupils with additional needs can be better supported to meet a school’s behaviour expectations.

Any school behaviour policy must be lawful, proportionate and reasonable and comply with the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Account must be taken of a pupil’s age, any special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) they may have, and any religious requirements affecting them.

Strong behaviour cultures and boundaries have a positive impact on the wellbeing of pupils and staff. Schools need to manage behaviour well so that they can provide calm, safe and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. No pupil should miss out on teaching because their lesson is disrupted.

Where behaviour is poor, pupils can suffer from issues as diverse as lost teaching time, child-on-child abuse, anxiety, bullying, violence, and distress. It can cause some children to stay away from school, missing vital education.

The Behaviour in Schools guidance, published in 2022, focuses on how schools can proactively support pupils to behave appropriately through explicit teaching of what good behaviour looks like, and highlights the need for mutual respect and kindness between staff and pupils. It acknowledges that positive relationships can be built in environments where there is predictability, fairness and trust, and in these environments, pupils with additional needs can be better supported to meet a school’s behaviour expectations.

Any school behaviour policy must be lawful, proportionate and reasonable and comply with the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Account must be taken of a pupil’s age, any special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) they may have, and any religious requirements affecting them.

Good attendance and behaviour in schools is central to a good education, and strong cultures and boundaries set by schools have a positive impact on the wellbeing of pupils and staff.

The department does not routinely collect specific attendance data on anxiety-related absence from school, or the impact of disciplinary approaches within schools.

The department has, however, asked pupils about reasons for school absence in the department’s ‘Parent, Pupil and Learner panel’ surveys. Across the last two waves in which the questions were asked, 12% and 27% of those pupils and learners surveyed who said they did not attend school every day in the two weeks prior to the survey said this was due to anxiety or mental health problems, respectively.

The results of the survey responses to the June wave 2021/22 can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1122899/PPLP_report_rw4_june.pdf. The results of the survey responses to the November wave 2022/23 can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137863/Parent__Pupil_and_Learner_Panel_2022_to_2023_November_wave.pdf.

Although the percentage in the November wave appears much higher than the June wave, it is important to note that in June, 36% of pupils surveyed reported that they missed one or more days of school for ‘any reason’ in the preceding two weeks, whereas only 13% missed one or more days for ‘any reason’ in November. This means that, as a proportion of absence, the overall number of pupils reporting having missed a day or more due to anxiety or mental health is similar across waves.

The department has not assessed the potential impact of the type of disciplinary approach used in schools on levels of anxiety. Schools need to manage behaviour well so that they can provide calm, safe and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. No pupil should miss out on education because they feel unsafe or miss out on learning because their lesson is disrupted.

The government has an ambitious programme of work on improving behaviour in schools which aims to provide clarity and support for school leaders and staff. Well-managed schools create cultures where pupils receive the right support at the right time, and therefore pupils and staff can flourish in safety and respect.

The Behaviour Hubs programme builds upon Tom Bennett’s independent review of behaviour in schools to achieve this. The review can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602487/Tom_Bennett_Independent_Review_of_Behaviour_in_Schools.pdf. The review identified a set of core principles which include: having a clear understanding of what the school culture is, high expectations of pupils and a belief that all pupils matter, and consistency and attention to detail in the execution of school routines, norms, and values.

The programme is flexible and non-prescriptive, with a tailored offer of support to develop a behaviour culture which works for schools, their pupils and their communities.

The National Behaviour Survey is underway and is asking panels of pupils, parents, leaders and teachers about their perception of pupil behaviour. Running termly, the survey will track experiences and perceptions of pupil behaviour in schools across England.

The Department publishes figures on the proportion of pupils permanently excluded or suspended from schools in England. The most recent full academic year figures, covering academic years up to 2020/21, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england/2020-21. The following link includes a table showing the rate of permanent exclusions and suspensions at state funded schools in England and in York between 2015/16 and 2020/21: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/42028c56-89de-42d4-02ad-08daf870ec67. Note that this is the most recently published full academic year data.

The Department does not hold data on pupils placed in isolation by their school.

The Department used the responses from the call for evidence on behaviour management strategies, in-school units and managed moves, which was launched on 29 June 2021 and closed on 10 August 2021, to inform the updated Behaviour in Schools guidance and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance.

A public consultation on the updated Behaviour in Schools guidance and the Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance was launched on 3 February 2022 and closed on 31 March 2022. The updated Behaviour in Schools guidance, updated Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance and government response to the consultation were published on 13 July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revised-behaviour-in-schools-guidance-and-suspension-and-permanent-exclusions-guidance.

The department will shortly be publishing the updated Behaviour in Schools guidance. This guidance advises schools on how they can build a positive behaviour culture through a whole-school approach to help schools create calm, safe and supportive environments.

In addition, the department is pursuing an ambitious wider programme of work to improve behaviour in schools. Our £10 million behaviour hubs programme, launched in April 2021, is projected to support up to 700 schools over three years. It enables schools with exemplary positive behaviour cultures to work closely with schools that want and need to improve pupil behaviour, alongside a central offer of support and a taskforce of advisers.

Moreover, the national behaviour survey is underway and is asking panels of pupils, parents, leaders, and teachers about their perception of behaviour. The aim of the survey is to support future policy development by improving our evidence base and data collection on behaviour. By capturing the views of professionals and listening to the voice of children and parents, the department will gain a better understanding of behaviour and what we need to do to support teachers and leaders in practice.

In autumn 2021, the department introduced a new and updated suite of fully funded National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), including the new specialist NPQ for Leading Behaviour and Culture. Specialist and leadership NPQs provide training and support for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice, such as behaviour management, to those leading multiple schools across trusts.