Phones to go in drive for stricter schools

THE GOVERNMENT is to launch a £10m programme to improve discipline in schools, with those with the worst behaviour to learn from those with best, Gavin Williamson has said.

Banning phones from classrooms and making students line up in silence are two measures put forward by the Education Secretary as he flagged the discipline drive in a column in The Daily Telegraph.

“Visit some of the country’s best-performing schools and you’ll notice many of them have one thing in common – discipline,” he writes.

Mr Williamson said headteachers at some of Britain’s most successful schools had been trying “commonsense solutions” to curb unruly behaviour and disruptions – the key reasons teachers say they would consider quitting their jobs.

“Some schools have banned mobile phones, asking students to place them in lockers at the start of the day,” the Education Secretary wrote.

“Others have implemented lining up, with teachers quietly escorting pupils in some years to class after break and lunch.

“This ensures the class stays together, lessons start on time and the corridors are silent, allowing classes to continue without disruption.”

Mr Williamson said the Government planned to build partnerships “between schools that are leading on this issue with those who want to turn their own cultures around”, allowing institutions with poor behaviour to learn from those with the best.

Behaviour expert and former teacher Tom Bennett would lead the programme, Mr Williamson said, with help from a team of current and former headteachers with strong records of creating disciplined environments in their own schools.