Main findings

The quality of behaviour and relationships in schools 

In most schools (see glossary of quantatitive terms), children and young people experience positive relationships with staff and their peers. In these schools, relationships between pupils and teachers are friendly, purposeful and characterised by mutual respect. These relationships help to create a positive environment for learning and wellbeing. 

These positive relationships also help to create inclusive learning environments in which most children and young people feel they are treated fairly and respectfully. However, a significant minority report that they do not always experience fair and respectful treatment from their peers and do not always feel safe.

In a few schools, children and young people have ongoing concerns about how the school deals with bullying. In a few secondary schools, staff and young people also express concerns about misogyny and racism. In these schools, racist and misogynistic comments are reported to be increasing.

Disruptive behaviour

In over half of schools, a small number of learners display low-level disruptive behaviours, such as calling out, distracting others or moving around the learning environment when asked to focus. Although this behaviour involves a limited number of learners, it has a noticeable cumulative impact. 

Inspectors identify these behaviours more often where learning is not well matched to learners’ needs or where the pace of learning is too slow. Learners persistently leaving classrooms without permission, particularly in secondary schools but increasingly in primary and special schools, further disrupts learning and diverts staff time towards safeguarding and supervision.

In a minority of schools, inspectors identified a small number of learners presenting with seriously disruptive or violent behaviour, including physical aggression, damage to property and injury to staff. While these incidents are not widespread, they have a disproportionate impact on learning, wellbeing and perceptions of safety among both learners and staff. In special schools and specialist provisions, these behaviours are often linked to learners’ developmental stage or complex additional support needs. 

Effectiveness of arrangements and interventions for promoting positive relationships and managing disruptive behaviours

A positive climate and positive relationships, particularly in relation to pupil behaviour, are strongly associated with high-quality leadership at all levels in the school. 

Senior leaders in the majority of schools demonstrate strong, effective leadership for the promotion of positive relationships and behaviour. Staff focus on children and young people’s wellbeing. Most staff set high expectations relating to learning and behaviour and senior leaders foster a culture of respect through well-understood and embedded values. 

In the strongest practice, children’s rights are at the heart of the school’s work in delivering respectful, nurturing, and inclusive approaches. Senior leaders ensure that these approaches are applied consistently to promote positive relationships and manage behaviour. 

However, this is not the case in all schools and settings. In a minority of schools across all sectors, senior leaders do not consult with children and young people, families, and stakeholders well enough to ensure that school values accurately reflect the ambitions of the whole school community. 

In the majority of schools, senior leaders and staff have established clear policies and guidance for the promotion of positive relationships. In the strongest examples, these policies are developed in consultation with children and young people and parents, which helps to build a shared understanding and consistency in practice. This collaborative approach strengthens implementation and reinforces the impact of coherent, well-supported arrangements for positive behaviour management. Where variability in practice occurs, this is because policies and guidance relating to positive behaviour are not fully developed or consistently applied across the school. 

The environment for learning 

Creating supportive and nurturing learning environments is important in managing and improving behaviour. Senior leaders and teachers regularly assess and adapt learning environments to ensure that resources are readily available to help children and young people calm and regulate their emotions.

The majority of schools provide calm, safe spaces with access to sensory resources. These spaces give children and young people the opportunity to self-regulate or co-regulate with a trusted adult before re-engaging with learning. However, schools need to monitor the use and impact of these spaces carefully to ensure that they do not negatively affect children and young people’s progress.

Overall, children and young people engage well in regular emotional check-ins, which allow staff to support anyone who may be upset. Children and young people report that they have a trusted adult to speak to if they need support. This practice helps most children and young people to feel safe at school, but it is more common in the primary sector. Overall, the quality of emotional check-ins needs to be strengthened to ensure consistency across all schools and settings.

In the strongest practice, teachers and practitioners create learning environments that are stimulating, well-organised and well-resourced. They use routine well to structure the day. Visual prompts are used effectively to enhance communication approaches and guide children and young people to make appropriate choices relating to their behaviour. These approaches support children and young people very well to regulate their behaviour and re-engage with learning.

The curriculum 

Inspectors identified strong curricular practice across all sectors in supporting learners to understand emotions, develop positive relationships and manage conflict. Through well-planned learning experiences, children and young people learn how to understand their emotions and the strategies that they can use to help them to manage their feelings better. 

In some secondary schools, targeted programmes such as Mentors in Violence Prevention support learners to explore and challenge attitudes related to gender-based violence, bullying and other forms of abuse. 

Use of interventions and support arrangements

Physical intervention is reported in only a few schools and generally in response to immediate risk. In these cases, schools follow local authority and national guidance. However, support plans and risk assessments do not always provide sufficient clarity or evidence of shared understanding among staff, parents and partners.

Part-time timetables and exclusion are used in schools to support learners who present with serious behavioural challenges. Stronger practice is evident where these arrangements are carefully considered, regularly reviewed and time-limited. However, HMI identified weaknesses in monitoring and oversight in some schools, where reduced attendance arrangements are not always reviewed regularly or coordinated robustly with local authorities.

Partnership working

Overall, staff work effectively with local authorities and partner agencies to apply strategies and interventions that support children and young people to regulate their behaviour and wellbeing. For example, educational psychologists, health professionals, specialised therapists, counsellors and local authority intervention teams offer advice, strategies and targeted interventions to support children and young people’s wellbeing. Through this partnership working, staff develop a stronger understanding of how to respond appropriately to disruptive and dysregulated behaviour. 

However, although multi-agency working is evident in schools and settings, its impact on children and young people is not consistently monitored or evaluated well enough. Challenges in the availability of specialist resources continue to impact, at times, on the promptness of support and intervention.

Overall, the accuracy of the recording of behavioural incidents in schools and settings is an area of concern. Serious incidents, including racism and other forms of discriminatory behaviour, are not yet systematically recorded and monitored in all schools. The lack of consistency in recording this information limits staff’s ability to identify emerging trends and use this information to inform preventative action. 

In the majority of schools, senior leaders and staff do not always work sufficiently well to develop support plans and risk assessments that keep children and young people safe. These plans often lack clarity and measurable targets or strategies to meet the needs of children and young people who struggle to regulate their emotions and who display seriously disruptive behaviours. Plans are not always reviewed regularly enough with stakeholders or adapted when necessary. Senior leaders do not always ensure that all staff are aware of and understand children and young people’s individual additional support needs. As a result, staff do not use consistent approaches to support children and young people to manage their emotions.

Overall, staff make effective use of available professional learning to strengthen their practice in supporting children and young people’s relationships, learning and behaviour. They engage in a range of activities, including professional reading, establishment-led training and externally provided courses. This helps staff to develop the understanding and skills they need to support children and young people to regulate their emotions and engage effectively in learning. Where senior leaders prioritise professional learning for all staff, not just teachers, outcomes are more positive. Where senior leaders ensure consistency of approach across all staff, levels of disruption and dysregulation reduce significantly.

In only a minority of schools, local authority and external partners are involved in planning and delivering professional learning to improve the quality and consistency of staff practice. Most frequently, this professional learning relates to: 

• trauma and attachment-informed practice
• nurturing approaches
• de-escalation strategies
• promoting positive behaviour and relationships
• and restorative approaches

In these schools, local authority officers and partners also provide ongoing input for staff, supporting them to improve their skills in managing a wide range of needs within classes. However, this is not widespread.