Persistence with Behaviour

I have a Year 10 class who I'm really struggling with. They are a very weak class, but, of course, their target grades are all Cs or above for GCSE. Their confidence in English is very low. Their behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.

Every week, I have this class 4 times - twice on Monday, then once on Tuesday and Wednesday. At least one of those lessons will descend into total chaos, and I will end up feeling like I have never achieved anything with them, and that I am a terrible teacher.

I know I'm not a terrible teacher: my results and relationships with pupils and staff are testament to it. I'm not a super-teacher. But, as I keep telling this Year 10 class, I care about them hugely.

Yesterday afternoon, the behaviour in the lesson was terrible. Granted, we had to cope with a fire alarm going off when we had just started our controlled assessment. But from the moment the pupils came into the room, they were as high as kites, shouting across the room at each other, refusing to start their work and so on. Yes, I teach in a challenging school in a very deprived area. But each of those pupils know what is expected of them!

I stuck to the school guidelines - Choice, Warning, Detention, Removal. Fortunately, no-one got to the removal stage, and eventually they settled down. But this consistency has taken a long time to achieve. Here are my pointers:

• Meet the kids at the door and get them to sort out their uniform before they come into the room.
• Have something for them to be getting on with as soon as they come in - at least for the first few weeks. It's a pain but it does get them settled.
• Be strict - have high standards, and they will respect you for it.
• Make sure every detention is followed up and completed, even if you have to escort the child from their class to your detention.
• For any detention longer than 10 minutes, ring home. At the start of term, ring home as soon as anyone puts a foot out of line.
• Reward all the good pupils.
• Ring home to praise good pupils/good work etc. It makes you feel so much better!
• Follow up everything. If you have to have a pupil removed from your room, make sure they complete the sanction with you at the first available opportunity.
• Remember you catch more flies with honey than vinegar - be generous with your time and energy and you will reap the rewards.
• Think long term - if you keep going with your detentions and sanctions, you will reap the rewards. As soon as you let them get away with it, all your good work is gone!
• Get pupils to catch up on work they have missed - they will soon realise the benefit of doing it in the lesson.

Keep going, it gets better after Christmas!