WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY.... WHY PREVENTION AT PRIMARY LEVEL
IS OUR BEST BEHAVIOUR STRATEGY Comment by SOPHIE MURFIN, Chief Executive at Wise Owl Trust
F
rom poor behaviour and rising mental health challenges, to persistent absence and online harm, we are acutely aware of the issues children face as they move through the education system. NHS data shows referrals to children and young people’s mental health services increased by 152% between June 2019 and June 2025. The NASUWT’s 2025 Behaviour in Schools report found most teachers believe violent behaviour has increased in the past year. Department for Education figures for Autumn 2025 reveal almost one in five pupils were persistently absent, missing at least 10% of their schooling.
And we know the knock-on impact on young people’s engagement, with research highlighting the long-term consequences of disengagement and the challenges with re-engaging pupils; all of which begins at primary school. If we are serious about tackling these issues and supporting children to thrive, we must stop treating adolescence as the starting point and ask ourselves: are we intervening too late? Many challenges faced at secondary level are not fundamentally ;secondary problems’ but rather the result of missed opportunities earlier in a child’s education.
Self-regulation and emotional literacy do not suddenly appear in Year 7. They develop gradually as children learn to resist peer pressure, navigate online spaces safely and manage setbacks. By secondary school, many habits are already embedded – which is why primary matters so much. In 2016, Wise Owl Trust shifted away from relying solely on traditional behaviour systems. Instead, we embedded a structured character education curriculum from Early Years to Year 6, built around seven core values: Resilience, Empathy, Self-Awareness, Positivity, Excellence, Communication and Teamwork. Every week, pupils are taught to recognise and name emotions, understand how their behaviour affects others and practice
strategies to regulate themselves. Through structured scenarios, they rehearse difficult conversations, resolve conflict and test decision-making in safe environments. Teaching on online safety and peer pressure is also grounded in the realities they face. Rather than waiting for problems to
surface, as a Trust we equip children with the language and tools to prevent escalation.
Family life, online spaces, community pressures all shape children’s experiences, and our curriculum responds directly to those realities. Pupils are taught age-appropriate first aid, learning how to respond calmly in emergencies and seek help. Parents are offered training too, extending that shared sense of responsibility beyond the classroom.
Since joining the Trust, we have seen an incredible transformation in the quality of our schools, with all securing a minimum ‘Good’ judgement from Ofsted, and two recognised as Outstanding in Early Years. In one school where attendance had been in the low 70s and persistent absence exceeded 40%, attendance has risen above 90% alongside a significant reduction in behaviour incidents. Leaders recognise the impact of character education on this improvement. Classrooms are calmer and more purposeful, with pupils increasingly able to pause, name their feelings and choose appropriate coping strategies.
We often talk about ‘secondary readiness’ in academic terms. Yet readiness is equally about identity, resilience and judgement. If we want calmer classrooms, stronger attendance and healthier teenagers, the work does not begin at 13. It begins at 5.
RETHINKING PRIMARY SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH INNOVATION
Comment by SIMON POLLARD, Director of Primary Education at Cornwall Education Learning Trust W
e spend a great deal of time creating environments in which children feel supported to be ambitious in their learning. Increasingly, I believe we must apply that same principle to how we approach school improvement.
Across the sector, there is a shared ambition to secure the best possible outcomes for pupils. The new Ofsted framework reinforces the importance of high- quality, sustained improvement yet the structures designed to drive this can sometimes be a hindrance.
At Cornwall Education Learning Trust (CELT), we recognised that our own approach to school improvement risked stifling innovation as opposed to championing it. School improvement visits could begin to resemble mini- inspections: reviewing teaching practices, identifying gaps in provision and leaving with a checklist. On paper, it looked robust but in practice it wasn’t always meaningful.
Staff across our schools felt tested instead of supported, and opportunities for honest dialogue were lost. We made a conscious, and bold, decision to change this.
As a starting point, instead of “challenge days” we introduced “insight days” which marked a deeper shift in intent. The purpose of these visits is no longer to assess what schools can demonstrate on a given day, but to work alongside staff to understand what is genuinely happening in their schools, including what is not yet working.
Before each visit, we meet with the leadership team to identify what will make the greatest difference at that moment. Priorities are co-created rather than imposed. If Year 5 mathematics is proving difficult, for example, we focus there. If phonics needs refinement or two previously separate schools are merging into one primary setting, that becomes the starting point.
28
www.education-today.co.uk
This approach fundamentally depends on listening. When schools know they will not be judged for naming their weakest areas, conversations change. Leaders and teachers speak more openly about practice that is still developing.
Rather than presenting strengths alone, they are able to ask for support, test ideas and learn from colleagues across the trust. Innovation becomes part of the improvement process, not an additional initiative. Context is also central to this work. Cornwall’s schools serve coastal towns, rural villages and communities facing varied challenges. What works in one setting may not be right in another.
Our role as a Trust is not to impose uniform solutions, but to establish clear principles and then work with schools to apply them in ways that reflect their locality and learners.
This shift has also strengthened leadership development. Through a trust- wide programme delivered in partnership with neighbouring trusts, middle leaders spend time working across different schools, observing practice and contributing to improvement conversations.
Leadership growth is therefore embedded within improvement itself. Staff are not passive recipients of advice; they help shape change. We empower teachers to move between schools to test ideas and bring fresh perspectives back to their own teams. Over time, this has fostered a stronger sense of collective responsibility for all children across the Trust. Accountability remains important, but the route to high standards feels different. It is built on dialogue rather than display, and professional trust rather than performance.
For us at CELT, rethinking school improvement has meant recognising that innovation thrives where people feel safe to speak openly and are empowered to act. When we move from challenge to insight, we move from compliance to collaboration, and that is where lasting improvement begins.
March 2026
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
