NEWS FOCUS SecEd: On Your Side


Good teachers will earn pupils' respect


Imagine a year 10 student – John let’s say. He lives with his mum and his two young brothers in the inner city estates. There is no father. His mother works two jobs


Pete


Henshaw Editor SecEd


to keep the family afloat – although they still live well below the poverty line. John, as the oldest, helps to look after his brothers, while having to survive teenaged life among the dealers and gangs that populate his area. John is not the perfect student, but is bright. He has


behavioural problems, although he is just knackered half the time. His teachers know that the fact John makes it into school at all is a miracle given his home life. John respects his mother. He respects two or three of his


teachers – a respect that they have earned by being there for John in the past and trying to help him through his education while acknowledging the issues he has to deal with on a daily basis. He does not, however, respect them because they make him stand up when they walk into the classroom. I was not planning on tackling the subject of David


Cameron’s comments on discipline in schools. Until, that is, I heard a BBC radio debate. Mr Cameron, while out campaigning for the local


elections in Scotland, praised the return of “real discipline” in schools. He said this would result in children observing the old-fashioned practice of rising when a parent or teacher walks into the room. At first I dismissed the comments as those of a man who


was educated in private schools from the age of seven and who has no concept of what real-life is like for the majority of the nation’s teenagers or indeed of what real education is like for the majority of the nation’s educators. However, it was after hearing a debate on Radio 5 that


I felt I had to comment. I was left dumb-founded by the comments of one independent school teacher who had been asked onto the show. He explained how his students already stand up when he


enters the classroom and spoke of “this almost hysterical attitude about perceived incursions into children’s rights” and “punishment by negotiation”. He said it resulted in children having “an inflated sense of their own importance”. He continued: “There should be automatic respect.


I demand automatic respect as I am a teacher. I have a degree in my subject. I am an expert in that subject and the children, as far as I am concerned, should shut up and listen to what I have got to say.” I was disgusted by this teacher’s view of his students and


of his own superiority over them. Discipline is important but the days of “speaking when spoken to” or “being seen and not heard” are long gone. His comments sum up the Etonian, 1950s view of education and school discipline that has no place in an education system which is meant to be preparing children for life in the 21st century workplace. Education today faces many, many challenges, a large


number of which are due to a large and growing poverty divide. And into this mix, divisions created by the class system that still haunts this country have left us with privately educated governments who think that the rules which “stood them in good stead” during their education are what is needed to solve complex, poverty and disadvantage- driven problems in the inner cities. Students who have grown up in severe poverty and who


face hardship on a daily basis will sometimes enter our school system with behaviour issues. Good schools and good teachers will deal with these problems as appropriate. Making children stand when they enter a classroom


has nothing to do with anything and shows that our prime minister is stuck in the past in the dormitories of his private education. Thankfully, a state school teacher chipped into the radio


debate to suggest that his counterpart had things “around the wrong way”. He explained: “The kids respect good teachers. They will stand if they respect you. They won’t respect you because they stand.”


• Pete Henshaw is the editor of SecEd and primary leadership magazine Headteacher Update. You can contact him by emailing editor@sec-ed.co.uk


SecEd


AS MANY as 1.2 million school children who live in poverty are missing out on free school meals (FSM), research by the Children’s Society has revealed. A policy study released by the


charity claims that 700,000 school children are not actually entitled to FSM under the current system even though they are living in poverty. And a further 500,000 children


are not claiming their FSM entitlement for reasons including fear of being stigmatised. The Children’s Society has now


launched a campaign – Fair and Square – calling for the government to ensure that every one of the 2.2 million school children who are living in poverty in the country get a free school meal. The campaign says that


eligibility for FSM has serious ramifications for families in low- paid work and those looking to move back into work. The current criteria mean that single parents working 16 or more hours per week lose their entitlement to FSM, no matter how little they earn. The cut-off for couples is 24 hours a week. The Children’s Society found


that nearly half (45 per cent) of parents are worried about the financial implications of moving back into work or taking additional hours. Six out of 10 said that FSM eligibility has a direct impact on their decision to move back into work, or work more hours (see box, right). The campaign claims that the


planned introduction of Universal Credit, which brings together different forms of income-related support for people in or out of work, means that many of the current benefits used to assess who is entitled to FSM will be scrapped – including Income Support, Job


More than half of all school children living in poverty are not receiving free school meals, a hard-hitting report has found.


Pete Henshaw takes a look


Seekers’ Allowance, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. A new system of entitlement is to be put in place in the next year. The Children’s Society, backed


by several organisations including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and 4Children, wants FSM entitlement to be extended to all children living in poverty, including low-income working families, by October. It wants the government to promote work incentives by extending the entitlement to school children in families in receipt of the new Universal Credit. The policy report comes


alongside the launch of a petition asking the government to make sure that all children living in poverty can get FSM. Elsewhere, the charity also calls


for action on the 500,000 children who do not claim their entitlement to FSM. The report found that there is still stigma attached to claiming FSM with some parents reporting that their children have been bullied because of their FSM status while others said that they had registered but their children had not been taking the meals. The report also added: “Some


parents surveyed suggested that in some cases the amount provided for FSM is not sufficient to buy full meals for their children, or that there is very limited choice for those in receipt of FSM.” One parent said: “In secondary


IN RESPONSE…


Last week SecEd reported on the impending closure of The Ace Centre in Oxford – a pioneering facility that offers specialist help for young people and adults who struggle to communicate (Pioneering SEN centre to close as funding is cut, SecEd 314, April 19, 2012). Trustees blame government


funding cuts, both directly and through local councils which can no longer afford to make referrals to the centre. The Oxford centre is one


of many special needs provid- ers to have been affected by spending cuts to special needs budgets. All over the country,


services are being cut as local authorities are being forced to make drastic savings. Last week, Andrew Smith, a


Labour MP, challenged David Cameron on the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions.


Andrew Smith MP “Does the prime minister agree that the specialist ACE Centre in Oxford currently facing closure does outstanding work unlocking the isolation of children with acute communication difficulties. Given the pressure that charities


are under would the prime minister step in and pull together some bridging finance so that this


outstanding centre can continue helping the children and young people who need it so much.”


David Cameron, prime minister “I do know this centre, I have visited this centre in the past. I am very happy to look with him as a fellow Oxfordshire MP about what can be done to help this centre and the very good work that it does particularly for disabled children.”


Bill Nimmo, trustees chairman at The Ace Centre “Vital services like ours that provide so much support through high levels of expert knowledge and understanding of people’s


needs cannot be allowed to close and we ask the government to urgently review the sustainability of these essential services. The ACE Centre advisory


trust staff and trustees are deeply saddened that the centre is scheduled to close at the end of June 2012. Despite significant efforts


to ensure the sustainability and future of our centre, we are unable to continue to operate in the current financial climate. The ACE Centre leaves a considerable legacy for children, young people and adults with complex communication needs, of which we are immensely proud.”


schools there is often a large choice of meals available – but only one choice for FSM (the ‘meal-deal’). Not very fair for the child.” The charity is asking the


government to increase the number of local authorities and schools committed to introducing cashless or other “non-stigmatising” systems by March 2013. Elaine Hindal, the charity’s


campaign for childhood director, said: “We have shown that there are literally hundreds of thousands of children living below the poverty line who aren’t getting a free school meal. There is no reasonable defence for this policy failure. “The government has an unique opportunity to extend FSM to all


The impact of losing FSM


The average cost of a school meal is £1.88 in a state primary and £1.98 in a state secondary, coming to almost £10 a week or £370 a year. A parent who begins to work 16 hours or more a week (24 hours for couples) loses their entitlement to register their children for FSM. A lone parent with three children would get £272 benefit


income after housing costs when out of work. If working 16 hours a week on the minimum wage (£6.08 an hour) their income would be around £363 a week (a gain of £91). They would spend £29 a week on school meals for their children, reducing this gain to £62. However, the report adds: “FSM can also lead to children being


entitled to a number of other benefits – such as school clothing allowances, support with school trips, music lessons, and access to leisure centres. Families in low-paid work may therefore also not receive these other forms of support.”


low-income working families, so that no child living in poverty misses out. This would be in line with the government’s aim to make work pay by paving the way for many families to return to employment and help lift them out of poverty.” Children’s minister Sarah


Teather said: “We remain totally committed to continuing to provide FSM to children from the poorest families. We are reforming welfare to get more people into jobs as that is the surest way of cutting poverty. “The reforms mean we will


have to think hard about the best way to decide who is eligible for FSM so they continue to be targeted at those who need them the most. No plans have yet been set and we will be consulting later this year about the best way forward.”


SecEd


• You can sign the Children Society’s petition online at http://action.childrenssociety.org. uk/fair-and-square and for more on the Fair and Square campaign, visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk/ fairandsquare


Missing meals


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SecEd • April 26 2012


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