As headteacher of Bannockburn High, Jim McAlpine has probably earned a view from his office window - of the hills and mountains beyond Stirling Castle that would be hard to beat anywhere. But the occupants of two rooms just along the corridor have exactly the same view, and it’s hard to see what school miscreants and rebels have done to deserve it.
This is not an opinion Jane Geddes, the principal teacher of pupil support (behaviour), would countenance for a moment: “I was quite clear when I took on this job that I didn’t want a sin-bin. This is not about punishing kids. It’s about helping them to access the curriculum.”
She and the rest of the staff at Bannockburn must be doing something right because exclusions there have gone down by more than 60 per cent since the service was started in 1996. Much of the support Ms Geddes and her colleague May Campbell provide takes place in mainstream classes. But some of the children come to the rooms with a view, where they settle down to work overlooked by posters of water-lilies, poems and Dennis the Menace.
While Ms Geddes is talking one of the real-life menaces - eyes wary, hair so short it could scour saucepans - arrives and helps himself to a chocolate mini-roll before settling down amiably enough to take the maths test she has laid out for him. This is his first day back from a two-day exclusion for persistently unacceptable behaviour and he is being eased gradually into his classes. Reducing exclusions is an aim at Bannockburn High, but not at all costs.
There are times, explains Mr McAlpine, when an exclusion can have a beneficial effect, allowing classmates, teachers and the child himself some respite, and a way of breaking the cycle of bad behaviour. Violence or persistent abuse would be the main triggers, and an exclusion would rarely last longer than two days.
A lot of planning is needed to make the support service work, says Ms Geddes, as well as liaison with guidance teachers, learning support and parents. Each day is different, as is every pupil. For a long time one boy would refuse to come to school and was persistently disruptive when he did. In-class support and a reduced timetable slowly led to an improvement, and this year he will be entered for six Standard grades.
Another boy had chronic fatigue syndrome so a much shorter, supported timetable was devised, as well as ways of helping him make progress at home.
As this shows the service is not aimed solely at badly-behaved pupils nor is its remit only to reduce exclusions. Chronic fatigue, an ailment notoriously difficult to diagnose, also illustrates another aspect of the Bannockburn model that helps to make it workable - its pragmatism. “We don’t necessarily wait for a diagnosis,” says Ms Geddes. “We respond to how kids are operating at the time.”
Ms Geddes and Ms Campbell, both experienced teachers, keep their sights firmly focused on learning and teaching. “There are so many opinions about behaviour and what’s good and bad, but a lot of what goes on in classrooms is children trying to divert attention from the fact that they don’t understand. Kids would rather be badly-behaved than stupid.”
This is not to say that the service is a way of sidetracking other professionals, and in fact Ms Geddes would like to see more multi-agency co-operation for children in difficulties. It is simply to make the point that in the right circumstances teachers can get on with teaching without having to wait for all of a child’s social, emotional, medical and behavioural problems to be solved first.
Bannockburn operates several other schemes that improve school ethos and promote inclusion. There is a rewards system based on points allocated each day, with a prize-giving ceremony at the end of term, initially for first and second years, but since extended by popular demand throughout the school.
“Yes it is time-consuming for teachers,” says Mr McAlpine, “but they think it’s worth it.”
There is also a focus on lunchtimes - “a danger point for bad behaviour and exclusions” - which have been enriched by lunchtime clubs and made shorter by reorganising the timetable.
For the future, Ms Geddes would like to be able to liaise more with associated primary schools, getting to know the children and ensuring continuity. And the service would benefit greatly from having another full-time teacher.
“We are not doing anything radical,” she concludes. “The main aim is to help kids to access the curriculum.
“Just because a child is inside the building it doesn’t mean he is included.”
