Supporting behaviour in Schools
At today’s Education Committee (Wednesday 4 June), Members noted the evidence base that supports the approach taken in Highland to address relationship and behaviour issues in our schools and agreed the actions being taken to ensure practice across Highland is in line with national recommendations.
The 2023/4 national Behaviour in Scottish Schools survey and subsequent report (BISSR) indicated a difference to behaviour in schools from the previous report (2016) and cited the significant impact of COVID-19 on overall attendance and behaviour in schools and communities across Scotland.
The BISSR findings identify that most children can manage school well most or all of the time, however the evidence identifies an increase in classroom disruption and in physical and verbal aggression.
Education Committee Chair, Cllr John Finlayson said: “To better reflect the relationships and behaviours across our Highland schools, we recently conducted an extensive school staff survey which gathered in-depth information about the behavioural barriers, indicating that low-level disruptive behaviour remains the thing that causes most impact in pre-school and infant classrooms.
“Last school session less than 2% of children were involved in reported staff/pupil incidents. In many cases their language, communication and cognitive skills were poorly developed. The age where there is the highest level of pupil-staff incidents in Highland is Primary One (28% of incidents are recorded in relation to 3-5 year olds). Our understanding of this is that very young children haven’t yet developed their language skills or understanding of social situations to enable them to communicate their needs well. After Primary One the number of reported incidents significantly reduce, indicating the developmental nature of this issue in primary schools.
“Ongoing training and staff support is regularly offered by the Council’s Psychological Service to help support the wellbeing of teaching and support staff at all levels and to aid them in understanding and intervening in relation to dysregulated and distressed behaviour.
“In the recent staff survey, staff were asked what successes they had in supporting dysregulated and distressed children. The greatest number of responses related to providing safe, quiet spaces where children regulate and find calm, often helped by a knowledgeable member of staff with whom they already have a relationship.
“Work continues to improve pre-school and infant school pupils’ development skills, to enable young children to effectively communicate with peers and staff and over time reduce dysregulation and low level disruptive behavioural patterns forming in school settings.”
To support staff, Highland Council has a Positive Relationships Framework and Guidance that is in line with the requirements of the Scottish Government policy landscape. Our Framework has drawn together relevant research and educational thinking. It promotes a more relationship-based approach, with a focus on self-regulation and co-regulation, which we know is effective in creating calm and respectful early years settings, classrooms and schools.
To read the report, click the link here (Item 10).