Marple Hall School NUHOPE regime

[I am the Walrus]

Sorry, I forgot to say, Dave, you have nailed the points as I intended them.

[I am the Walrus]

Isolation is given for serious offences BUT if a pupil is not informed of their NUHOPE,or if they dispute the reason for it being given, and they don't go; they are then given a double NUHOPE (1 hour). If they miss that, for whatever reason, then they are given isolation. So, in theory and sometimes in practice a child can end up in isolation for having a broken pencil (classed as an equipment violation).
One pupil was put in isolation for six weeks for having her nose pierced. I don't agree with her having a pierced nose but six weeks out of a proper classroom environment is seriously unhealthy I would have thought.

Isolation involves pupils being put into a room to study. There may be other pupils in there BUT they sit within separate cubicles and are given worksheets. The staff-member supervising them can only help with the work sheets if they happen to know the particular subject. I would be surprised to find that it is a productive punishment. It is more likely to put a pupil behind and breed resentment.

Marple Hall is a good school and like all schools it has always had an unruly element but they have always produced very good results overall. NUHOPE was introduced as a huge over-reaction to one poor Ofsted report - a blip on an otherwise good record.

I agree with JMC'S closing sentiments:

"More discipline for the badly behaved and less for the minor/petty offences would be my preference. I know many parents are fed up of the NOHOPE as they call it. However the school where the idea came from found that results improved and it seems MHS has also had improvements so it is unlikely to be abandoned anytime soon. But overall MHS is a good school and my daughter did well there so I hope my others do too!"

It's all about balance and taking into consideration each students normal pattern of behaviour, good or bad.

[Dave]

My children are well behaved and good achievers and all have had at least 1 NUHOPE for such things as.....glancing out of a window

Blimey! 

[JMC]

I currently have 3 children at the school and an older one who went through the school before the NUHOPE scheme.

My children are well behaved and good achievers and all have had at least 1 NUHOPE for such things as shirt sticking out from under the blazer, glancing out of a window or forgetting a pencil. I do think it is a bit harsh for that kind of thing as do most parents i speak to (and I know a lot!). I personally think that they should target the bad behaviour and bullying/violence for punishment and isolation/expulsion.I also don't think unruly kids should be rewarded with trips etc (this happened at my son's primary and the boy is now at MHS and still very unruly). I am not sure about 'underachievers' as don't know enough about that scheme.

 More discipline for the badly behaved and less for the minor/petty offences would be my preference. I know many parents are fed up of the NOHOPE as they call it. However the school where the idea came from found that results improved and it seems MHS has also had improvements so it is unlikely to be abandoned anytime soon. But overall MHS is a good school and my daughter did well there so I hope my others do too!

[Dave]

Worse still, students are threatened with, and punished with, isolation if they miss NUHOPE detentions!!

Isolation?  How does that work?  I hope MHS doesn't impose 'solitary confinement' on its pupils?

As for this:

Speak for yourself.

I hope you don't work in medicine, aircraft industry, emergency services, nuclear industry, etc.

....I can't speak for 'I am', but surely the point s/he was making was that NUHOPE is being imposed inappropriately and unthinkingly for trivial offences (such as losing a pencil), or even non-offences (such as arriving late for a class when you were let out of the previous class late).  I think Harry will find that although doctors and airline pilots rarely make major mistakes in their work, they are just as capable of losing a pencil as the rest of us! 

[I am the Walrus]

Phil, I do want to know people's views. I have already said I am all for discipline etc but there needs to be a measured approach. It could be that I am very easily way out of line; that's why I am asking.

Harry, you've never made a mistake?

[Harry]

..... well-educated adults make mistakes and forget things and make poor decisions very day; ......

Speak for yourself.

I hope you don't work in medicine, aircraft industry, emergency services, nuclear industry, etc.

[Rudolph Hucker]

Seems to me, "I am", you say you really want to know people's views on NUHOPE but in reality anyone who either agrees with it, or is neutral, or puts an alternative interpretation, will get a multi-paragraph reply ultimately denigrating NUHOPE, albeit politely. So I'll decline the invitation (even if I were to agree with you)...

RH.

[I am the Walrus]

Hello Pink Panther! I am in no way denigrating children who "under-achieve" nor am I suggesting that some don't have genuine difficulties and issues. My problem is with the NUHOPE system itself and the fact that I do know it is causing some students to switch off from school, which can't be a good thing . . .
The sizes of the groups attending NUHOPE detentions every night and the sizes of the groups who went on the trips for "under-achievers" would suggest that something somewhere is going very wrong, especially when you consider that Ofsted reported Marple as having lower than average numbers of students with special educational needs and lower than average numbers coming from disadvantaged back-grounds.
The school is relying on its own statistics which show less time lost in the classroom dealing with minor issues. That is good news BUT the minor issues are not being dealt with; merely shifted into NUHOPE detentions!
Also, strangely, the school is advocating NUHOPE an rating it an overall success but at the same time saying that the numbers of students in detention since NUHOPE are no greater than they were previously . . . they are no less either!!
NUHOPE is under review to try and find out why so many teachers are using it so readily . . . there is no suggestion of it being dropped or toned down.

For those that say kids have to learn their responsibilities for later life and learn to remember the things they need - that is all true BUT well-educated adults make mistakes and forget things and make poor decisions very day; that's part of being human. These students are under more pressure than ever to do well and get good grades, not made easy by the worry of knowing that lurking in every lesson is a potential detention.

[Rachael]

A child who under achieves, does not necessarily mean that it is because they have poor attendance or  a continuous NUHOPE record  , a child may underachieve due to a whole list of possibilities !

[I am the Walrus]

I know this has been discussed previously but some time has passed since then, NUHOPE is now running across all school years and I really want to know people's views on NUHOPE. There  is a page on facebook about it but, unless I am looking in the wrong place, there doesn't seem to be much comment.
I know NUHOPE must be working for some people and I am all for discipline in school but we are finding that our children, who never previously got into any trouble, are picking up regular detentions for the most ridiculous reasons and it is demoralising them. They work hard and do all their homework/schoolwork to a high standard but they can get a nuhope punishment for losing a pencil between lessons or for being late to a lesson after being let out of the previous one late!!
Teachers no longer seem to use their discretion; they don't take pupils usual good character into account; they just dish out punishments and not always fairly either! Some students seem to be let off where others feel targeted!!

Many students have given up trying to avoid the nuhopes because they are so prevalent; they just regard the detentions as a daily after-school club, which, by the way, often has upwards of 30 students in it! How can this be working to improve standards?

Worse still, students are threatened with, and punished with, isolation if they miss NUHOPE detentions!! Bearing in mind these detentions can be for not having a pencil; isolation would seem to be ridiculously severe and demoralising.

To rub salt into the wound the school has recently spent government money on taking the "underacheiving" children on free weekend activity breaks while everyone else has to pay for their son or daughter's educational trips!! Does no-one understand the perception that poor attendance and regular NUHOPE punishment (brought on by the regime itself) is being rewarded?? Surely the school could have chosen to spend the money on extra tuition or one-to-one guidance for some of the "under-acheivers"

Most of the students who are under-acheiving are doing so BECAUSE of NUHOPE and it's negative effects, not because they don't want to work . . .

Is it just me? I'd really like to know please.