As part of a three-year package through its Grants for Education Support and Training (GEST) programme, the Government is this year providing 44 local authorities with Pounds 3.7m to help schools improve standards of behaviour and discipline.
The pilot projects, which will begin in September, include: * The secondment of mainstream teachers to pupil referral units, to raise standards, and help the teachers to improve their behaviour management skill (17 LEAs).
* Behaviour support teams, to help teachers develop skills in handling disruptive pupils, and to work with individual pupils (22 LEAs).
* School based centres for pupils at risk of exclusion, to minimise the disruption caused by such pupils (23 LEAs).
* All PRUs will be regularly inspected by OFSTED from September. There will also be checks on the appropriateness of PRUs for statemented children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
