Gangs and schools

31 March 2010

The NASUWT recently commissioned research into Gangs and Schools. The full report can be found at:

http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/consum/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=NASUWT_002923&RevisionSelectionMethod=latest&allowInterrupt=1

NASUWT was represented at a DCSF conference on guns and gangs. Dr Patrick Roach, Assistant General Secretary of the Union gave a speech of which the full text can be found below.

Speech by Dr Patrick Roach

Let me begin with the words of a female pupil attending a school in Manchester:

‘I know of one boy who carries a knife. He is 11 nearly 12…he’s afraid of what’s going to happen even though he’s not part of any gangs or anything’.

Accurate statistics on weapon carrying by young people are difficult to come by. However, some studies suggest that as many as 24% of all 16 year olds have at some point carried a knife. Most young people say they do so for protection. Yet, the stark truth is that weapon carrying is likely to carry greater risks for the individual as well as greater danger for others.

I believe that all schools have an important role to play in educating young people about the consequences of knife carrying, how to stay safe, the ability to weigh up the options and the confidence to make choices that minimise the risks.

The fact is that schools are an important focal part of the lives of children and young people. Whilst schools represent a safe haven for their pupils, what affects young people at home, in their neighbourhoods and in their communities will have a bearing on:

how young people learn
how young people view schools
how frequently they attend school
their behaviour on and off school premises, and on
young people’s educational progress and achievement.

A recent report by the OECD - Teachers Matter – reviewed the experiences in education systems in 25 countries around the world. All countries, the UK included, were committed to improving their schools, improving outcomes for children, and ensuring that they are better equipped to respond to changing social and economic conditions. We shouldn’t be surprised that the OECD evidence confirmed that it is the workforce in schools – teachers, headteachers and support staff – who are central to delivering these positive outcomes - because teaching matters; what takes place in classrooms around the country and around the world is critically important in helping to improve life chances for all young people.

But, what is also clear is that in order to unlock talent, to equip all young people to progress and to achieve and to reach their potential, we must attend as much to what goes on outside the school gates as to what takes place within the school.

Student learning is influenced by many factors - including:

students’ skills, expectations, motivation and behaviour;
family resources, attitudes and support;
the environment outside the school ;
peer group behaviours, attitudes, values and skills;
school organisation and resources;
curriculum structure and content; and
teacher skills, knowledge, attitudes and practices.

Schools and classrooms are complex, dynamic environments which we need to continue to understand better as a means to supporting effective teacher practice and delivering the best outcomes for every child.

It is also true that the largest source of variation in student learning is attributable to what young people bring to school – their attitudes, abilities, likes and dislikes, assumptions, backgrounds and biographies. So, if we are to engage young people better in the learning process, we need:

to see young people in the round,
to understand the nature of their changing lives and life styles,
to acknowledge the neighbourhoods and communities in which they live,
to reach out to and engage with their parents, carers and families,
to work to inform other significant influencers, and
to find ways in which to make teaching and learning relevant to young people’s lives – by relating what we do – our systems, our pedagogy and our curricula – to the everyday lives of young people.

It is the case that the demands on schools and teachers are becoming more challenging and complex. I don’t need to tell you that these challenges are not about to diminish any time soon. So, what do schools need to be thinking about, how should they respond – particularly in a context where their own resources may already seem stretched?

Whatever the answer to this question, it is certainly not about asking teachers to do more, but rather developing new forms of practice, new ways of doing things.

The concept of building the team around the child - which has been a central tenet of the work of the school workforce social partnership (established in 2003 to champion the remodelling of the school workforce) – recognises that teachers working alone are simply not able to meet the diverse, complex and challenging needs of every pupil.

Over the last decade, we have seen not only an increase in the number of teachers working in schools, but also an increase of over 140% in the number of support staff working alongside teachers and headteachers as part of the education team around the child. Building capacity by remodelling the workforce is enabling schools to deliver more and better support for pupils, removing barriers to learning and supporting behaviour and learning in the classroom.

This view is confirmed by a five-year research study by the University of London Institute for Education . Where support staff are deployed to work alongside teachers, there are measurable improvements in pupils’ attitudes and motivation to work and in their learning and behaviour. Pupils are:

less easily distracted;
more confident about tasks they are set;
motivated to learn and attend school;
less disruptive;
able to work independently;
able to form good relationships with other pupils;
more likely to complete assigned work; and
more willing to follow instructions from adults.

I say all of this because in order that schools engage effectively in tackling gangs and youth violence means that they have to start by addressing workforce issues – ensuring that the workforce is deployed appropriately and taking account of workforce skills and capacity.

Classroom practice is important, but so too is how schools work with the range of other agencies that impact on young people’s lives. Effective practice in schools confirms the importance of remodelling not only the systems, practices and processes within schools, but also between schools and other agencies.

This is at the heart of the vision for building 21st century schools – outward facing institutions which work within a culture which places a high value on collaboration, partnership and sharing of resources. Such partnerships are increasingly evident in schools’ engagement in providing access to extended services for children and families, Safer Schools Partnerships, the development of Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships, and through the duty to collaborate with Children’s Trusts.

Extended services, family intervention programmes, community cohesion, neighbourhood renewal, and inter-agency work to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour mean that it is increasingly the case that schools are asked to bring their perspectives to the table.

Good schooling should be the product of good community relations and the positive engagement by schools with all parts of the communities they serve.

Role of schools in addressing guns, gangs, knives and youth violence

It is important to remind ourselves that schools are havens of safety and security for young people. However, where there is violence, disruptive behaviour and bullying, pupils cannot learn effectively.

The publication of today’s Government guidance for schools to help prevent young people being drawn into gangs and violent activity is important and welcome. This latest guidance builds on a raft of measures that the Government has introduced in the last few years, including new powers to support schools in tackling violence, bullying and assault and the carrying of offensive weapons. It is important that all schools use the powers they have and access the range of support that is now available.

The fact is that schools now have more legal powers than ever before. These include:

specific powers for teachers to discipline pupils for breaking school rules, failure to follow instructions or other unacceptable behaviour;
powers to encourage good and to deal with poor behaviour – including withdrawal of school privileges;
powers of detention;
powers to confiscate inappropriate items from pupils;
the power to exclude pupils for a fixed period or permanently;
the power to search pupils or their possessions without their consent if there are reasonable grounds for doing so;
the power to screen pupils for weapons; and
the power to use reasonable force to control or restrain pupils where it is necessary to stop a pupil committing a criminal offence, causing injury or damage to property, or prejudicing good order and discipline.
I am sure that with this Conference today, the latest DCSF guidance for schools, and material which the NASUWT will be launching in next few weeks, will contribute to giving more schools the confidence they need to act on these issues. We also need to regularly repeat and reinforce these messages in order to ensure that the changes in practice we are seeking to bring about are realised.

Creating the right conditions to support schools
Gangs and gang cultures have a profound impact on the minority of young people and schools who are affected.

Whilst the majority of schools are not directly affected by gang cultures, the reality for a small number of young people is that they may be leading lives blighted by criminality, violence and bullying. It is important that all schools are confident and feel properly supported and equipped to deal with these problems when they arise and in building the resilience of pupils to challenge and to say “no” to gangs, violence and crime.

Yet, according to independent research conducted by the crime and security experts Perpetuity Research in 2008 , many schools are reluctant to talk about gang cultures and deny that there are any problems associated with gangs in their areas.

The research also found that:

most schools do not have a problem with gangs and problems are usually confined to a very small number of young people;
if unchecked, gang cultures and activity can increase; and
gangs are becoming more dangerous and violent.
The research by Perpetuity also identified young people engaging in gang activities at a very young age and that girls were also involved directly in or in other ways affiliated to gangs.

It would be inappropriate to assume that the “no problem here” response by some schools is always misguided. It is clear that a stark effect of the accountability regime in schools and of parental choice is that many schools are simply unwilling to talk about gangs and youth violence for fear that this could undermine the school’s image and reputation.

So, whilst guidance must be welcomed, we must also work to create the conditions in which all schools are willing to engage in measures to tackle gangs and other forms of youth violence. I believe that the School Report Card if it looks at schools in the round, could help to incentivise the kinds of practice we want to see in schools in this area.

The reality is that gang cultures have their roots outside the school gates and it is important that schools are alive to rivalries that might exist between young people based on such factors as postcodes, ethnic or religious identities. Schools need to work with other local agencies to monitor and tackle these problems, recognising that the job of tackling gang cultures and youth violence cannot be left to schools alone. The whole community needs to face up to the realities of gangs and youth violence and work together to address the impact of these behaviours on the lives of young people. Schools cannot hope to tackle the complexity of problems associated with gangs and gang cultures alone, and a partnership approach is key developing appropriate solutions to problems.

The NASUWT, with support from the DCSF and the Home Office, is developing further materials, which will be complementary to the guidance published today, which will enable schools to identify and take action on gangs.

Our online resources will be available free to all schools and will support their practice in:

understanding how gangs can impact on the work of schools;
identifying and establishing whether there is a problem with gangs in and around the school;
devising practical strategies to protect and support pupils who might be at risk;
working effectively with other agencies.
Concluding remarks
I opened with the words of one pupil about another who she knew to be carrying a knife.

We need to remember that this is an agenda which is as much about prevention and safeguarding vulnerable children as it is about anything else.

And, we need to have systems and strategies for intervention that are appropriate, sensitive and responsive to the issues and the context. As one teacher said:

“It worries me that if nice kids are carrying weapons and they are carrying them for fear, they risk a permanent exclusion from school or jail because of the fear of gangs. Protection against the gangs is more important than being caught in school or by the police.”

Our strategies and solutions need to take account of the experiences and perspectives of young people and the workforce in schools.

Our work must be about protecting all young people, listening to them and fostering in them a greater sense of resilience in order to resist and challenge gangs and violence.