Education and Skills Bill

moved Amendment No. 61: 61: After Clause 10, insert the following new Clause— ““Listening to the views of children After section 175 of Education Act 2002 (c. 32) insert— ““175A Listening to the views of children (1) It shall be the duty of the governing body of a maintained school, in the exercise of any function relating to the conduct of the school, to have due regard to the ascertainable views of the pupil on matters that affect him or her, taking account of his or her age and maturity. (2) A governing body of a maintained school must establish a democratically formed school council or other collective mechanism, the purpose of which is to enable pupils to discuss matters relating to their school and their education and to make representations on these to the government body and the head teacher. (3) The Secretary of State may issue guidelines in relation to such school councils and other collective mechanisms. (4) In this section ““maintained school”” has the same meaning as in section 39 of this Act.”””” The noble Lord said: I gather that there is a scintilla of time in which to examine my humble offering. The amendment is a kite with a long string. It is within the terms of the Long Title of the Bill but it does not address the young people in the age group with which the Bill is concerned; it considers the condition of young people as they arrive in that age group. That condition is determined by the state of the compulsory education system as it now is. I think we all agree that there is in it a deep malaise, which is reflected in what is happening on our streets and in our society. In seeking to consider this in the context of the Bill, with the indulgence of the House, because I think it is important and relevant, I sought to find one aspect of the legislation which could be used to address a central issue. What is too often wrong with the schools preparing these people for this stage in their education is that they are disorderly. There is bad behaviour in classes, which disrupts the teaching. There is disregard for authority, which leads to rebellion. I regret to say that in a number of schools a number of children feel safer on the street in a gang than they do either at home or in school. I have heard that said in some parts of south London. What can be done to stabilise this circumstance and how can central government do anything to achieve that? I regard legislation as the last resort. As I say, this amendment is a kite rather than a substantive proposal. In inquiries that I helped to conduct many years ago, under circumstances which were quite appropriate to make them relevant to this day, in visits to a large number of schools this country and a number in other countries we found that one of the best ways to secure a policy of behaviour among school children conducive to their learning in the classroom as well as their good conduct outside the school was to involve them in the management of the school discipline policy. We advised head teachers in particular and staff generally to involve the children in questions of discipline. One of the most convenient forums for this is a school council where matters of discipline naturally come up quite quickly for discussion between the pupils and staff. They must recognise that as effective and not merely a bit of window-dressing—nothing is more damaging than a token school council where the teachers appear to pay attention and do the opposite. A school council in which teachers and children together work out what minimal rules of behaviour will effectively enable the security of the children, the stability of the environment and the process of learning. Different schools, localities and cultures require different approaches. That is why any legislation should be as general and permissive as possible. I have intentionally said the Secretary of State ““may”” rather than ““shall”” issue guidelines in relation to this. To what extent is the Minister’s department aware of the way maintained schools generally deal with the whole school discipline policy? Where do they think it is going wrong and why? I beg to move.