Mum's the word in class

Schools adopt a variety of techniques to promote good behaviour in the classroom

A secondary school in Cardiff has enlisted the help of Mum to improve behaviour in the classroom.

Unruly children face being hauled out of the classroom by the head or deputy head to telephone their mums for a ticking off.

And if they keep playing up, their mums could be asked to come and sit next to them in the class.

The scheme has been brought in by Ysgol Plasmawr, a Welsh-medium school which opened two and a half years ago.

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The head teacher Geraint Rees said the policy had improved behaviour, especially among boys and results had improved too.

"Boys don't like to be seen to be taken away. And they don't like having to explain it to their mothers."

He believes the approach is working because he or his deputies are being called into classrooms less often than they used to be.

So far, no mum has yet been asked to sit in the classroom, but the threat remains.

Before that final humiliation, an unruly pupil might be asked to do some work in the staff work-room or his parents might be asked to take him home.

Good performance

Mr Rees said the school's approach to discipline might partly explain why boys at Key Stage 3 in the school are out-performing girls, the reverse of the national trend.

"We have ended up with a pretty well-ordered community, where teachers do not feel vulnerable because they have support. Teachers don't feel they just have to shut the door and get on with it, hiding problems.

"Children who keep misbehaving know that they are fighting a system not just ragging one teacher."

We have a well-ordered community where teachers do not feel vulnerable

Geraint Rees, head teacher

"It's a much broader approach than just calling Mum. We have a range of strategies but this can be useful," Mr Rees told BBC News Online.

"Rather than ending in a confrontational situation between kids and teachers, the child is removed from the situation."

Educational psychologist Jeremy Swinton says the system of informing parents about bad behaviour can produce results.

"The most effective punishment - or consequence as I prefer to call it - is to tell parents about their behaviour.

'Assertive discipline'

Mr Swinton, who is the senior educational psychologist for Liverpool local education authority, says the techniques being used are the final sanctions in an approach called Assertive Discipline.

"The sanctions begin with things like being kept behind after a lesson for a couple of minutes, or losing five minutes from break-time and build up if the child keeps misbehaving."

But Mr Swinton says it is encouragement and praise which can make the biggest improvements in behaviour.

Generally, punishments or consequences can have a very negative effect on behaviour

Jeremy Swinton, educational psychologist

"Generally, punishments or consequences can have a very negative effect on behaviour," he said.

"This is the worst end of the discipline programme and it will only work if it is carried out logically and isn't over-used and if it is combined with rewards.

"Teachers who are more positive with their kids have better-run classrooms."

Ysgol Plasmawr's head teacher Geraint Rees believes his school's approach to discipline is balanced and works well.

At Key Stage 3, 67% of boys reach the expected level in all core subjects, compared with 61% of girls.