Schools: Discipline

(asked on 29th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to provide statutory guidance to schools on the use of isolation rooms for students.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 2nd May 2019

All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for poor behaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. Schools have to make these policies publicly available on their websites. To help schools develop effective strategies, the Department has produced advice for schools which covers what should be included in the behaviour policy. This advice can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools.

Schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in isolation away from other pupils for a limited period. If a school uses isolation rooms as a disciplinary penalty, this should be made clear in their behaviour policy. As with other disciplinary penalties, schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately in all cases. The school must also ensure the health and safety of pupils.

The Department regularly reviews the guidance issued to schools and updates it as appropriate. The Department has no current plans to make the guidance statutory.

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