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Part Two: Behaviour Around the School and within the Local Community

Chapter Five Positive Behaviour Around the School

Introduction

5.1 This chapter focuses on the extent and type of positive behaviour around the school, including how well behaved pupils are and the sorts of positive behaviour that are evident around the school. The findings are drawn from the school staff and pupil surveys.

How well-behaved are pupils around the school?

5.2 In the school staff survey, headteachers, teachers and additional support staff were asked to identify, on a 5-point scale, how many pupils they found to be generally well behaved around the school. Table 5.1 shows that, for all members of staff, the vast majority indicated that 'most or 'all/almost all' of the pupils they encountered around the school were generally well behaved. In total, 99 per cent of headteachers stated that 'most' or 'all/almost all' pupils generally behaved well around school, followed by teachers (91 per cent) and then additional support staff (84 per cent).

5.3 This pattern of responses - headteachers being most positive in their appraisals of pupils' behaviour around school followed by teachers, then support staff - matches that found as regards their perceptions of positive and negative behaviour in the classroom (see Chapters Three and Four). Once again, this underlines the difference in the 'world views' of the respondent types. What is noteworthy about positive behaviour around the school, however, is that the difference between the opinions of the 3 groups of school staff is less pronounced than, say, it was as regards their perceptions of positive behaviour in the classroom.

Table 5.1 The proportion of pupils considered by headteachers, teachers and additional support staff to be generally well behaved around the school

Notes to table Percentages do not all add up to 100 due to rounding. Source: NFER survey of school staff, 2006

5.4 Analysis by school sector, displayed in Table 5.2, shows that the primary school staff who were surveyed considered more pupils to be generally well behaved around the school than their secondary colleagues. Specifically, higher proportions of primary school respondents stated that 'all/almost all' pupils were generally well behaved around the school, with higher proportions of secondary staff recording that 'most' were generally well behaved in this context.

Table 5.2 The proportion of pupils considered by headteachers, teachers and additional support staff (primary and secondary) to be generally well behaved around the school

Notes to table Percentages do not all add up to 100 due to rounding. Source: NFER survey of school staff, 2006

5.5 In the pupil survey involving 7 schools, respondents were also asked to indicate, on a 5-point scale, how many pupils they thought were generally well behaved around the school building. Table 5.3 shows that just under two-thirds of pupils (63 per cent) thought that 'most' or 'all' generally behaved well around the school. A further quarter (26 per cent) recorded that 'some' pupils were generally well behaved in this context. Of note is that nearly one-tenth (9 per cent) stated that only a 'few' pupils or 'none' were generally well behaved around school; a much higher proportion than that found in the responses of school staff. Of all the groups surveyed, pupils were most negative in their appraisals of positive pupil behaviour around the school, just as they were regarding classroom behaviour (see, for example, Chapter Three). Thus, this is again in line with earlier findings (paragraph 5.3 above, as well as Chapters Three and Four) whereby perceptions of positive behaviour differed depending on respondents' 'world view'.

Table 5.3 The proportion of pupils considered by pupils (overall, primary and secondary) to be generally well behaved around the school

Notes to table Non-responses were included in the figures for the sample overall. The figures for primary and secondary respondents were calculated from those who responded to the question only. Percentages do not all add up to 100 due to rounding. Source: NFER survey of pupils, 2006

5.6 Analysis of pupil responses by school sector revealed that, as was the case with the staff data, those from primary schools were more likely to respond positively about behaviour around the school. As Table 5.3 illustrates, three-quarters (75 per cent) of the surveyed primary pupils compared with nearer three-fifths (62 per cent) of their secondary peers registered that the majority of pupils ('most' or 'all/almost all') were generally well behaved around the school.

What sort of positive behaviour is in evidence around the school?

5.7 In the school staff survey, headteachers and teachers were presented with a list of 9 different types of positive behaviour that staff might encounter in the course of their duties around the school, and were asked to indicate on a 5-point scale how frequently, in the last full teaching week, they had come across each behaviour type. Tables 5.4 to 5.5 relay the responses of headteachers and teachers to this inquiry.

5.8 When examining Tables 5.4 and 5.5, it is immediately noticeable that headteachers were consistently more positive than teachers in their assessment of the frequency with which the positive pupil behaviours were evident over the last full teaching week. Thus, the difference in perception depending on the 'world view' of the respondent type is once more apparent.

5.9 For both the surveyed headteachers and teachers, 'pupils greeting staff pleasantly' was the most frequently cited positive behaviour around the school, with over four-fifths (84 per cent) of headteachers and two-thirds (66 per cent) of the teachers observing this several times daily. Next most often encountered by both respondent types was 'pupils actively helping their peers'. There was some difference of opinion regarding the third most frequently encountered behaviour: for teachers, it was 'pupils taking turns', whilst for headteachers, it was 'pupils queuing in an orderly manner' (a behaviour observed far less often by teachers).

5.10 Among the lesser observed behaviours were 'pupils making positive use of school facilities during breaks' and 'pupils respecting toilet / break / cloakroom areas'. However, of all the positive behaviours studied, 'pupils challenging others' negative behaviour' was by far the least frequently occurring, with 15 per cent of headteachers and 28 per cent of teachers stating that they had not encountered this behaviour at all in the last full teaching week.

5.11 Analysis by school sector revealed that primary school staff reported encountering the positive behaviours around the school more frequently than their secondary counterparts. In particular, 'pupils taking turns', 'pupils using litter bins' and 'pupils actively helping their peers' emerged as much more common in primary schools. 'Pupils making positive use of school facilities during breaks' was the only positive behaviour that, according to the staff's questionnaire responses, occurred more frequently at secondary than at primary level. This may be attributable to the fact that a number of respondents, especially those from primary schools, stated that pupils were not allowed to use facilities during break times.

5.12 Earlier chapters in this report have established correlations between the extent of teachers' confidence in responding to indiscipline and their perceptions of pupils' behaviour. For example, the more confident teachers felt, the more likely they were to observe incidences of positive behaviour in the classroom (see Chapter Three). Such an association was also apparent in terms of positive behaviour around the school. Again, the more confidence that teachers felt they possessed with regard to dealing with indiscipline in their classrooms, the more inclined they were to report experience of positive behaviours around the school. This was true of all types of positive behaviour around the school included in the questionnaire, with the exception of 'pupils making positive use of school facilities during breaks'.

5.13 Likewise, an association was established between the levels of support teachers identified as being available to them and perceptions of positive behaviour around the school. Specifically, the more supported teachers felt, the more likely they were to report encountering positive behaviour around the school. This was true of all types of positive behaviour under consideration, and also corresponds with findings presented in Chapters Three and Four whereby school support was linked with perceptions of positive classroom behaviours ⁶.

Table 5.4 Frequency of types of positive pupil behaviour around the school from the perspective of headteachers

Notes to table Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Source: NFER survey of school staff, 2006

Table 5.5 Frequency of types of positive pupil behaviour around the school from the perspective of teachers

Notes to table Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Source: NFER survey of school staff, 2006

Summary

• The vast majority of the school staff surveyed indicated that 'all/almost all' or 'most' of the pupils they encountered around the school were generally well behaved. Headteachers were the most positive followed by teachers and then support staff. Pupils were most negative in their assessment of their peers' behaviour around the school. Thus, differences in perceptions of behaviour depending on the 'world view' of the respondent type were again apparent (though it was of note that the difference in the opinions of the 3 groups of school staff regarding positive behaviour around school was less pronounced than, say, it was in relation to positive behaviour in the classroom).
• When headteachers and teachers were asked to rate the frequency with which they had encountered a list of 9 positive behaviours around the school over the last full teaching week, 'pupils greeting staff pleasantly' and 'pupils actively helping their peers' were the most frequently cited. In contrast, 'pupils challenging others' negative behaviour' emerged as the least observed behaviour.
• Headteachers were consistently more positive than teachers in their appraisals of the frequency with which the 9 positive behaviours were evident around the school. Primary school staff reported seeing the positive behaviours more often than their secondary colleagues.
• The more confident teachers felt themselves to be with regard to responding to indiscipline in their classrooms, the more likely they were to report observing positive behaviours around the school. Similarly, the more supported teachers felt by their schools, the more likely they were to register encountering positive behaviours around the school.

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