Reducing anti-social behaviour in the community
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Context and background to sector-leading practice
Hafod Primary School is located on the outskirts of Swansea in an area which is among the 30% most deprived areas of Wales. Hafod is a Communities First area. There are 242 pupils on roll aged three to eleven. The school manages the on-site Flying Start provision. Around 38% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. 50% of pupils are White-British, 45% are of Asian heritage, predominantly Bangladeshi. Almost half of the pupils speak English as an additional language. Fifteen languages are spoken. 30% of pupils have additional learning needs.
Nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice
“Kids in the Neighbourhood” (KIN) is a multi-agency approach to early identification, prevention and intervention. It began in 2011 when the Chief Superintendent of police approached the school with concerns of increased levels of antisocial behaviour/criminality in the community.
The school had also identified pupils involved in these activities and tracked them through the secondary phase. Many of these pupils were not in education, employment or training (NEET).
The community has been informed that the school, police and other agencies are working together to eradicate antisocial behaviour and crime. Members of the community have accepted and embraced the project and now use the school and its contacts effectively to share information and report incidents.
The project has evolved over three years, and now attempts to assess any potential barriers to learning. The school or its partner agencies identify and assess the pupils and their families and share information appropriately, effectively and confidentially, with the consent of all parents/carers. Staff analyse data from a variety of sources, such as: the ‘vulnerable analysis profile’, teacher assessments, attendance, and national tests. It also takes into account any other information from appropriate sources such as: the police, the antisocial behaviour unit, the local health department, the education welfare officer, the fire service, social services, and the local comprehensive school.
Agencies meet monthly at the school and contribute to the school’s monitoring/tracking systems, offering additional information, providing support or prevention interventions. During the first screening and identification task, the school discovered that:
- 100% of the identified pupils were from deprived family backgrounds;
- 60% had attendance below 89%;
- 100% were not confident in core subjects;
- 100% were not achieving their expected level;
- 60% of pupil interviews did not match parent interviews;
- 100% felt that they did not have anyone to talk to or positive role models;
- 100% had been involved in antisocial behaviour in the community or playground; and
- 100% were known to police or social services.
The school shared the information with its partner agencies along with its research on deprivation being strongly associated with poorer performance in education.
The school’s work has found that that:
- low levels of educational achievement have a negative impact on an individual’s engagement with society and it is highly likely that these individuals will engage in criminal activity;
- FSM pupils are three times as likely to have SEN. Eligibility for FSM is particularly high for three types of SEN – behavioural, emotional and social;
- income and material deprivation influences educational outcomes reducing the number of educational resources and the home environment;
- deprivation is associated with ill health, family stress, low levels of parental education and involvement in their children’s education, low levels of cultural and social capital and low aspirations;
- pupils are at greater risk of low birth rate, which can influence cognitive/physical development;
- low income has adverse affects on parents well-being which affects the quality of their parenting. Family stress can lead to problems with children’s education/emotional development. There is a higher chance of pupils being exposed to multiple risk factors e.g. depression, domestic violence, unemployment, overcrowding, substance misuse;
- knowledge/skills/interests of pupils from different backgrounds (social/cultural) may be limited, possibly resulting in poorer social connections/opportunities; and
- low levels of literacy on entry means pupils are more likely to fall behind and will find it difficult to catch up. This impacts on their levels of attainment, and engagement and ability to access the curriculum.
On completing the assessments and sharing the information and research findings. staff used Boxall profiles, attendance data, PASS data, teacher assessments, family engagement and analysis and analysis from the reading tests to measure individual progress and the success of the project as a whole. Staff devised an effective matrix to share information from/with partner agencies at monthly meetings.
Staff identify each individual’s needs and implement and monitor appropriate intervention programmes to improve outcomes for those individuals.
Interventions include: –
Support for families
Aims:
- Employ a Family support officer and develop a family learning team to;
- Develop a more stable family environment and address the root cause and negative impact of family poverty. Provide Parent and family counselling.
- Enable a flying start in life providing health and parenting support
- Provide English and numeracy classes for parents to focus on improving their own literacy and numeracy skills thus impacting on supporting their children’s learning at home.
Partner agencies include; Family support officer, Communities First Team, School Nurse, TAF team, Flying start team, Eyst.
Improving Literacy and Numeracy
Aims:
- Provide Catch up sessions for pupils who are falling behind
- Introduce a structured phonic approach
- Introduce concrete resources to improve numeracy/reasoning
- Concentration of resources – pupils supported in small groups
- Targeted support for pupils with EAL, SEN and MAT
Partnership agencies include; EMLAS, EYST, ALNco
Improving Attendance
- Appointment of Attendance/well being officer to work with EWO, pupils and families.
Partner agencies involved; School attendance officer, Family support worker, EWO, School clerk
Improving emotional well-being
- Appointment of school Counsellor
- Support staff trained in Play Derbyshire
- Introduction of PATHs programme
Partner agencies: school counsellor, support staff, The Exchange, Barnardo’s
Embed the ‘SO TO DO’ project
Aim:
- Reduce number of first time entrants into youth justice system
- Reduce the number of pupils who become NEET
- Reduce injuries caused by accidents
Partner agencies: Police, antisocial behaviour officer, fire, drugs/safety squad
The aim is to provide role models from the agencies. Pupils engage in sessions, to educate them about the consequences of their actions. This programme has had a powerful influence on our pupils and the number of antisocial incidents reported in the community has decreased significantly.
Impact on provision and learners’ standards
Since introducing the project:
- attendance has improved from 87% to 94.7%;
- all pupils make significant progress from baseline and nearly all attain expected levels for their age. Pupils eligible for free school meals and those with English as an additional language perform as well or better than their peers;
- the school has not excluded any pupil;
- relationships between those involved are excellent, with pupils experiencing seamless transition from pre-school settings to primary school to secondary school.