Updated guidance on pupil behaviour, searches, and suspensions and exclusions will come into effect on 1 September. Be alert to the upcoming changes now.
The DfE has updated the following guidance documents with changes that will come into effect for maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units on 1 September 2022:
- Behaviour in schools: advice for headteachers and school staff
- Searching, screening and confiscation: advice for schools
- School suspensions and permanent exclusions
These updates follow on from the Timpson review of school exclusion and the case of Child Q, where a pupil was strip-searched without parental consent at school.
Pupil behaviour
The DfE provides more detailed guidance on what effective behaviour management looks like, including:
- The role of staff in supporting good behaviour
- How to support pupils after a sanction
- Managing behaviour for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- Responding to specific behaviour issues (including misbehaviour online and suspected criminal behaviour)
There’s also more guidance on:
- What you should include in your behaviour policy
- Removing pupils from classrooms and steps you should take if your school uses this sanction
- Detentions and what you should consider before using this sanction
Suspensions (previously known as ‘fixed-period exclusions’) and permanent exclusions
- There are new rules on who the headteacher must notify if a pupil is suspended or permanently excluded. In addition to notifying parents, they must now, in both cases, also notify the governing board and (as appropriate) the pupil’s social worker, the virtual school head and the local authority (LA)
- If the headteacher cancels/rescinds a suspension or permanent exclusion that has not been reviewed by the governing board, they should now notify the parents, governing board and LA and, if relevant, the social worker and the virtual school head
There’s also more detail in the guidance on:
- Managed moves and how to use them
- The role of social workers and virtual school heads
- Using off-site direction as part of your school’s behaviour management strategy
- Involving pupils in the exclusion or suspension process
- How governing boards should review data on pupil movement
Searching pupils and confiscation
Changes to guidance include:
- Only headteachers and specifically authorised staff can carry out searches (before, any staff member could search a pupil with their consent)
- A new recommended procedure for what you should do before, during and after a search
- The member of staff conducting a search must be the same sex as the pupil, and there must be another member of staff present to witness, unless:
- The person doing the search believes there’s a risk that serious harm will be caused if the search isn’t urgently carried out, and
- In the time available, it’s not reasonably practicable to use a staff member who is the same sex as the pupil or for a witness to be present
- If the above is the case, the person doing the search should report it immediately
- You should record any searches for prohibited items in your school’s safeguarding reporting system
There’s also updated guidance on conducting strip searches and what to do if you suspect a confiscated device has nude or semi-nude images on it.
