Education, education, education...

I watched a really interesting documentary about behaviour management in UK primary schools last night. The Dispatches programme on Channel 4 dealt primarily with the issue of individual pupils who, for a variety of reasons, disrupt lessons to such an extent that it is no longer practical to have them in the classroom. It described a government-funded trial of 'nurture rooms' in schools across the country. These rooms double up as both a classroom and a safe environment for the children to explore some of the difficulties they face both in school and at home. The work that is carried out in these rooms focuses on their ability to function in social situations, as well as improving their general behaviour in the classroom to enable them to develop academically. It was a fascinating experiment: unlike many, the schools involved refused to see these pupils as 'just inherently bad' (as some of their parents seemed to think) and were determined to do what they could to get to the root of the problem. As far as the individuals followed were concerned, the trial was a total success; although many of the children still need to step out of the classroom and into the nurture room from time to time, all of them are coping better with both their class teachers and their classmates. Perhaps most interesting of all was the fact that this scheme also involved an element of educating the children's parents - from general parenting skills to more specific methods of coping with their child's particular struggles. None of the parents interviewed seemed to see this as a patronising intrusion on the part of the school; in fact, all seemed extremely relieved that they were receiving much needed advice and support. Of course, it all comes down to money in the end. Despite the success of this scheme, very few schools that currently run it are being given funding to continue, and those that need it are not given access to the funds that are required to set it up. The economics of the situation were clearly outlined, stating that for an initial investment of approximately £40,000 to set up the room and the staff to run it, and a cost of several hundred pounds per year per pupil, many pupils who would go on to have poor attendence and academic development in secondary school remain within the education system. Despite the fact that local government pays out thousands upon thousands of pounds every year to nurture just such children in secondary school, as well as paying the costs of the consequences of leaving bad behaviour unchecked (court costs, criminal damage costs, and so forth), it appears unlikely that nurture rooms in primary schools have much of a future. It is very frustrating to watch education policies being developed which have the potential to positively affect hundreds of children - if not more (a survey suggests that 97% of primary school teachers believe they have children in their class who are regularly disruptive) - subsequently being abandoned because Government thinks in the short-term - more specifically, the four years of their initial tenure.

On a slightly lighter note, here is a very funny review of the new ITV 1 drama series, Demons. I couldn't decide whether to watch this - I think I knew that if I had, it would primarily have been for comedy value, rather than its hard-hitting dramatic commentary!