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Children, Schools and Families

My Lords, as ever, my noble friend makes a very good point. Having trained practitioners in this area can make a big difference to the way that behaviour is managed in schools. Increasingly, schools have trained practitioners in the way that he suggested. The additional resources available to schools will enable us to have trained professionals in a way that would not have been possible in the past because there was simply not a large enough budget. However, serious behavioural problems are rare in schools. Indeed, Ofsted's own data show that, at 3 per cent, the proportion of secondary schools judged unsatisfactory on behaviour is at an historic low and half what it was in 1997, so we must keep this issue in proportion. A good deal of the challenge lies in helping families at the earliest stage of their children's lives. The big expansion of children’s centres, Sure Start and support for families in the earliest years of their children's lives will make a big difference to behaviour over time. In particular, it will equip parents to become better parents and support their children better through school. I hope, therefore, to see that proportion of bad behaviour decline still further.