bad behaviour & Punishments in UK schools

What is bad behaviour?


UK schools are allowed to discipline pupils who behave badly in
various ways. But what exactly is bad behaviour? The following is a
list of serious and not-so-serious types of bad behaviour seen by a
teacher in a London secondary school.
• Playing truant (not coming to school without permission from parents)
• Smoking, swearing, hitting, kissing, running, stealing
• Not doing homework
• Cheating in exams (copying from secret notes or another pupil)
• Calling a teacher or another pupil bad names (bullying)
• Not listening or not paying attention in lessons
• Wearing unsuitable clothes for school

Punishments in UK schools


Here are some of the ways that UK school children can be punished.
• Exclusion: a pupil is excluded from the school and cannot come back.
The pupil has to find a new school or a different method of education
(home tutor, special centre for difficult pupils).
• Suspension: when a pupil is suspended they cannot enter the building
or attend lessons until the school has a meeting about their case.
Suspension can last from 1 to 45 days in a school term. The school
usually gives work to do at home with a tutor (special teacher).
• Detention: a pupil is detained. This means he or she is asked to stay
at school at the end of the school day. The pupil must work for 30
minutes or an hour more before they are allowed to leave the school.
• Lines: a pupil has to write a sentence many times (100 times) on a
sheet of paper: An example sentence: I must not shout in class. This
punishment is sometimes given during detention too.