Petition calls for behaviour improvement money to be spent on counsellors

A petition has been launched by teacher trainer Lucy Harding, calling for the £10 million 'behaviour hub' programme to be spent on mental health support instead.

The DfE’s £10 million programme to improve pupil behaviour involves 22 high-performing schools working with schools which are struggling with poor discipline.

But campaigners who signed the petition, which is now up to 3337 signatories, say that the pandemic is not the right time for such a programme.

The petition on change.org says: "Gavin Williamson has charged Tom Bennett with the job of improving poor behaviour in schools. As teachers and teacher educators we are asking where he got his information from to undertake this initiative. Why he thinks, in a pandemic, children need consequences for poor behaviour rather than support, care and love. How he thinks banning mobile phones will solve problems, when access to education and communities of support are largely based on access to internet at the moment.

"In line with the NEU we believe the links between mental health and a high-pressure curriculum are the biggest factors when it comes to behaviour, and that the government should address these issues first. Stop £10 million being given to an outsourced company to tell schools strategies they already know and use that money to put dedicated counsellors in schools instead."