Common sense on education: Scottish Conservatives want Second Chance Centres pilot

Scottish Conservatives want to pilot second chance centres for unruly pupils in our schools.

Speaking from Hamilton where she was joined by local candidate Margaret Mitchell, Annabel Goldie, Scottish Conservative Leader, said:

"Successive Scottish Governments have not delivered for Scotland's parents, pupils and teachers. We need radical measures to improve discipline in our schools.

"Currently, there are almost 160 pupils excluded every single day in our schools. That works out at more than one pupil every two minutes.

"When it comes to persistently unruly pupils, we want to pilot Second Chance Centres. This would involve unruly pupils being taken out of mainstream education and taught in separate Second Chance Centres until they learn to refocus their lives.

"Well-behaved pupils must be able get on with learning, and teachers to get on with teaching, without the distraction of a few badly behaved pupils.

"To be moved out of mainstream education into a Second Chance Centre would send a real message to the pupils concerned. They would be removed completely from the mainstream environment and taught by specialist teachers.

"The Scottish Government should also publish violence against school staff statistics on an annual basis, not a three-yearly survey as we currently have.

"It is common sense for school discipline to be at the forefront of the education debate. Until we get to grips with it, Scotland's schools will continue to get a raw deal."

1) There were 30,211 exclusions in Scotland in 2009/10. That is 159 pupils excluded every single day or one pupil every 110 seconds.

In the same year, 38.5% of schools pupils who were temporarily excluded had previously been excluded.

Please click on the link below for more information.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/exclusiondataset2010

2) Scottish Conservatives commissioned a YouGov poll in 2009 which showed that 70% of Scots support the view that persistently unruly pupils should be taken out of mainstream education and taught in Second Chance Centres until they can prove that they can behave. 84% of Scots stated that they wanted to see Government statistics relating to attacks on school staff being published more often.

The YouGov poll asked the following questions:

1. Would you prefer continually disruptive pupils to be...

a) Removed from mainstream classrooms and placed in separate classrooms with separate members of staff until they show that they can behave (70%)

b) Kept in the same classroom as well-behaved children but with an extra member of staff (10%)

c) Sent home (11%)

d) Other (7%)

e) Don't know (3%)

2. According to reports, every 17 minutes a member of staff is attacked in Scotland's schools. At the moment, the level of physical assault in schools is published every three years. Broadly speaking do you think this is...

a) Right – these figures published should remain being published (9%)

b) Wrong – these figures should be published more frequently (e.g. annually) (84%)

c) Wrong – these figures should not be published at all (3%)

d) Don't know (4%)

Sample Size: 1183 Scottish Adults

Fieldwork carried out in 2009

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