Teachers to police students' lifestyles

13 April 2012

Teachers face being saddled with tough new targets to stop pupils drinking, smoking and taking drugs.

They fear being ordered to police the lifestyles of their students in unprecedented detail or risk black marks from Ofsted inspectors.

Schools would be required to ensure pupils maintain healthy weights and eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

They would also be held accountable for bringing down under-18 pregnancy rates and the incidence of sexually-transmitted diseases.

Heads fear they could even be taken to court for negligence if they fail to curb children's unhealthy habits.

The 20 proposed targets emerged in a report published yesterday by the Association of School and College Leaders.

Government departments are in the process of drawing up precise details of a raft of targets under reforms designed to improve children's welfare.

Some of the performance goals may be imposed on local authorities rather than schools. But heads fear it is inevitable town halls will pass responsibility for meeting them on to schools.

They are also worried the education watchdog Ofsted will frown on schools not considered to be making enough effort to meet them. Schools could even fail their inspections.

Any move to hold schools responsible for controlling teenagers' lifestyles is certain to invite accusations of "nanny state" meddling. Heads said such target-setting would be "dangerous" and undermine schools' mission to educate pupils.

ASCL, which represents heads and deputies in schools and colleges, warned litigious parents could use the targets in lawsuits against schools whose pupils drink or take drugs excessively.

Dr John Dunford, ASCL general secretary, said: "We really think it's going to be very dangerous and difficult if schools are held to account for all of these things.

"Schools cannot control average alcohol consumption, for example, among young people. "We can influence some of these things through education.

"But from that to be held to account with what could be a huge new range of targets could be yet more micromanagement."

Dr Dunford said many heads feared the targets could be used as ammunition by parents who want to sue schools.

He added: "We would fear a situation in which Ofsted might report a school in falling short of these obligations and that might lead to a litigious parent suing a school for negligence."

In its report, ASCL said: "Schools and colleges...should not be held accountable for matters over which they have no control.

"If the targets being considered are imposed in a rigid or hasty way, with schools and colleges expected to deliver the bulk of them, it will undermine institutional autonomy and divert resources away from teaching and learning."

The 20 proposed targets cover everything from drinking, drug-taking and smoking to healthy eating and truancy.

They also attempt to reduce the number of children involved in road traffic accidents and those reporting being victims of bullying.

But one unnamed head said: "Would heads be responsible for things out of their direct control? The legal answer would be no but Ofsted would be looking for responsibility within schools. Litigation could also follow."

Elsewhere in the report, the union called for the role of education watchdog Ofsted to be dramatically curtailed.

Good schools should be "trusted with maintaining and monitoring their own performance" instead of facing regular three-yearly visits from inspectors.

Ofsted's role would be merely to carry out a check every five years that a school had "self-validated" itself properly.

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