Teachers to get more powers in bid to improve school discipline

The Department for Education said today the new guidance also clarified powers of teachers to search students and use force.

Nearly 1,000 children are suspended from school for abuse and assault every day.

But Ministers claimed previous advice left teachers confused about their powers under the law and made it much harder for schools to have clear and effective discipline.

The guidance set out roles and responsibilities for governors, headteachers and teachers which the Government claimed “unequivocally restores adult authority to the classroom”.

Key issues it clarifies included:

n Schools should not have a “no touch” policy, allowing teachers to touch a child if they were dealing with accidents or teaching musical instruments;

n Teachers had a legal power to use reasonable force to remove a pupil who was disrupting a lesson or to prevent a child leaving a classroom;

n Headteachers could search for an extended list of items including alcohol, illegal drugs and stolen property;

n Headteachers also had powers to discipline pupils who misbehaved outside school premises and outside school hours.

The guidance also aimed to protect teachers from malicious allegations and strengthened their authority in the classroom.

It made clear that headteachers could temporarily or permanently exclude pupils who made false allegations and that schools should not automatically suspend teachers accused of using force unreasonably.

Ministers said bad behaviour in schools was not a serious problem but it remained a big concern for parents.

Persistent disruptive behaviour accounted for nearly a third of all cases of permanent exclusions, while major assaults on staff had reached a five-year high, with 44 requiring hospital treatment last year.

False allegations have been made against one-in-four school staff by a pupil and one-in-six have had an allegation made by a member of a pupil’s family.

Officials said the guidance had been cut from more than 600 pages to 50.

One of the country’s leading headteachers Charlie Taylor was also being appointed as an expert advisor on behaviour to help schools training bodies and work with the authorities to better deal with cases when allegations are made against teachers.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “Improving discipline is a big priority. Teachers can’t teach effectively and pupils can’t learn if schools can’t keep order.

“These changes will give teachers confidence that they can remove disruptive pupils and search children where necessary.”

Mr Taylor, said: “For far too long, teachers have been buried under guidance and reports on how to tackle bad behaviour. I am determined to make sure I help schools put policy into practice.

“I want teachers to be able to do their job without lessons being disrupted and schools to feel confident when they address behaviour issues.”

Ministers said the new Education Bill would also extend powers to search pupils for any items banned by school rules such as mobile phones, stop appeals panels sending excluded children back to the school from which they were excluded and give teachers anonymity when facing allegations.

It also removed the requirement on schools to give parents 24 hours notice of detention for unruly youngsters.