From the Teacher Support Network, www.teachersupport.info.

TEACHER SUPPORT NETWORK WELCOMES FOCUS ON PUPIL DISCIPLINE

“A survey carried out by Teacher Support Network last year revealed 84 per cent of respondents had been verbally abused in or out of school by pupils and 63 per cent had considered quitting because of pupil aggression and unruliness.

“Therefore we welcome the requirement in the Education and Inspections Act for all schools to implement codes of conduct relating to behaviour and strongly believe that all pupils, plus members of the entire school community, should be involved in a consultation process to establish these codes.

“We believe that schools should aim to develop a culture of mutual respect between pupils, parents, teachers and other school staff, by ensuring that codes of conduct cover bullying, harassment and discrimination amongst staff as well as pupils.

“Teacher Support Network backs the legal right of teachers to authorise clear, appropriate and consistent disciplinary measures.

“Further clarification is needed on plans to introduce weekend detentions. It is well known that teachers still work over and above their core hours and while measures have been put in place to combat this, there is still a long way to go. Teachers should not be required to give up their personal time or professional development time for supervising detentions.”