The National Behaviour and Attendance Review-What the Teachers Said:
Posted on: Friday, 16 May 2008, 18:00 CDT
David Evans, Wales Secretary of teaching union the NUT: "We welcome any issue of funding and strategy that helps address behavioural issues. Behavioural issues go beyond the school.
Schools do make sure they have appropriate policies to deal with these and teachers work to them.
Individual issues with pupils however go beyond this remit and there are other outside issues which need to be addressed. Reports such as these are always interesting for the Government to consider."
Mr Evans also stressed that behavioural and attendance problems and poor three Rs skills were something that affected the minority rather than the majority of pupils in schools.
Elaine Edwards, of Welsh teaching union UCAC: "We support the view that some of the curriculum developed - for example the Foundation Phase - and the more skills-based curricula will go some way to dealing with issues regarding literacy, numeracy, arithmetic and behaviour problems, but we have serious concerns that insufficient funding will undermine these developments.
"I agree there is certainly less respect for authority figures. and parents need to see themselves as part of a partnership with schools to ensure the best education and attitudes are instilled in their children.
"We also welcome the recommendations for more training in dealing with bad behaviour, but again this will need to be properly funded, and it is a time when lots of different initiatives are competing for money."
Chris Howard, UK vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers.
"Generally we would welcome the report as Professor Ken Reid is a respected expert in his field and deserves to be listened to.
"We fully agree it is essential to develop children's basic and personal skills and to have these fixed as early as possible. That is exactly why the WAG should fully fund the Foundation Phase. We think there is a link between the two and we will be pushing for that on the back of this report. Get the Foundation Phase right and we will begin to address many of the problems referred to by Professor Reid."
The NAHT was concerned about the NBAR recommendations' impact if implemented in schools.
Mr Howard, also a head teacher at Lewis School in Pengam, said: "We are worried some of the suggestions put forward to do with exclusions are not workable as they are currently read - for example the recommendation that after 10 days of exclusion, contacting multi- agencies would be obligatory.
These meetings would be difficult to arrange because we have to involve a number of people - particularly difficult when their diaries are full."
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Source: Western Mail
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