Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what graded interventions are available to treat children with disruptive behaviour.

The Government believes that all pupils will benefit from being taught in a well ordered school environment free from disruption. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which sets out the behaviour expected of pupils and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour. The Government does not prescribe specific behaviour intervention strategies; schools are free to develop their own behaviour strategies based on their particular circumstances, but are held to account by Ofsted for their effectiveness.

To help schools develop effective behaviour strategies the Government has produced guidance which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools. This was updated in 2014 with a range of sanctions that teachers can use to punish poor behaviour and maintain discipline.

Our advice on behaviour and discipline also says that schools should consider whether continuing disruptive behaviour might be the result of unmet educational or other needs, including mental health problems. In June 2014, we issued advice on behaviour and mental health to help teachers differentiate between pupils that are simply behaving badly, and behaviour – whether it is disruptive, withdrawn, anxious, depressed or otherwise – that may be related to an unmet mental health or special educational need. This advice identifies a range of ways that these children can be supported in school and, where necessary referred, to specialist agencies such as the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for professional support. It can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2

In addition, the new ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years’ published in July 2014, makes clear that schools should seek to identify whether there are any factors such as undiagnosed special educational needs which might underlie disruptive behaviour and this links to the Behaviour and Mental Health Advice for schools.