“We have a moral duty to act”: county council launches inquiry into effects of school behaviour policies on children’s mental health

Today’s children will not be able to look back on their school years with fondness, warns councillor as Cornwall instigates investigation into strict policies said to include sanctions for looking out of the window, or pupils’ pens running out.

 

A large council yesterday launched an inquiry into the impact of school behaviour policies on pupils’ mental health, as the open section of its meeting was dominated by questions from parents raising concerns about the impact of one academy trust in particular.

Cornwall Council “emphatically” – in the words of the meeting chair – voted through a motion which will see it take testimony from children, parents and schools as it investigates “the matter of mental, emotional health and wellbeing in our schools,” before taking any concerns to the government.

The move comes with two public meetings in recent months having seen emotional concerns raised by parents about strict policies of the Cornwall-based Athena Learning Trust, which has six schools in the county.

James Ball, the Liberal Democrat councillor who tabled the motion and had organised the meetings, said he had been contacted by “hundreds of parents concerned about the experiences of young people in schools” over policies including children with special needs being sanctioned for looking out of the window and girls having to say in public that they need the toilet because of their period.

Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Reform UK and independent councillors all spoke in favour of the motion yesterday, with only one dissenting voice in a discussion featuring contributions from 14 members of the council.  

Yesterday’s vote in Cornwall may be of national significance, coming six months after another council, Hackney in London, presided over the publication of a safeguarding investigation into the impact of strict behaviour policies at an academy there.

The development comes with Athena’s chief executive, Ben Parnell, having announced earlier this month his departure, and with a local paper having reported that he had told Councillor Ball only last month that he was “untouchable” – not subject to any local answerability - in the role.

-You can view a selection of extended extracts, or in some cases entire transcripts, of the councillors' speeches in this separate story here. Or read on for my news story on this debate.