Dealing with a new difficult pupil

Your perfect class is about to be torpedoed by a disruptive pupil from another school. What can you do to stop the HMS 4C from sinking, asks Paul Dix...

There is a rumour in the staffroom. There is a new child arriving: a wayward scholar who, after some ‘local difficulties’, was removed from a school nearby. He sounds like trouble, he looks it too. Apparently Henry has a history of violence against animate and inanimate objects, refuses to read, and has parents who are flattered to be called feckless.
  The staffroom atmosphere is friendly and convivial until you find out that Henry is coming to your classroom. Tomorrow. No, no, no. No. Your lovely year 4 class,  who you have moulded and manipulated into a magical learning co-operative, is being sent a torpedo of trouble.
  After spending the requisite 20 minutes talking / arguing / pleading / being helped up from your knees, you resign yourself to the fact that Henry is coming. And he is coming your way.

How do you respond?

A: Ignore everything and teach
Keep your expectations high and refuse to judge him on his previous record. Let Henry find his own way in.

B: Head Henry off at the pass
Don’t let him walk straight in. Create an induction programme for Henry and ease him into your classroom culture

C: Prepare the ground
Ready the children and the environment. Talk to the children about the new arrival and make sure they are prepared.

If you chose…

A: Ignore everything and teach
  You have heard the stories, read the report and seen the data, but you want to give Henry a chance to be treated fairly. Leading him in the classroom, he seems calm. He wants to sit with a couple of boys he already knows from outside school and it seems reasonable enough to let him. After all,  you want him to feel at home. Indeed, by breaktime, Henry feels completely at home – feet under the table, confident as you like.
  The disruption starts in earnest after lunch. There has been trouble with football and Henry is at the centre. There is an explosion in the lesson, tables flying,  fists being used towards the face, and terrified children catapulted in all directions.          
Henry is removed (almost carried), still kicking, by the head and co-opted strongmen.  The class sit in stunned silence, looking at you with fear and anxiety in their eyes. You realise your cavalier attitude has backfired. By not differentiating for Henry you have abdicated responsibility and the consequences can be seen all around you. Henry sits on the sofa of shame outside the head’s office and you wonder how you can repair the damage caused and reset the expectations.

Talking behaviour

• Is it ever right to ignore the information that comes from other schools when accepting a new child?
• What do you say to the rest of the class about the incident?
• How could you differentiate your behaviour management to meet Henry’s needs?

B:  Head Henry off at the pass
  You spend the evening in a fit of panic that matches your fitful sleep. The plan is simple. Divert Henry before he gets to the door of the classroom and let him spend the first two lessons with Quennie (the LSA)  who show him the ropes and give him the best chance of settling in well.
  You welcome Henry in reception. He is thick set, strong and square – but clean, polite and keen for Mum to go. You introduce Henry to Queenie, who ushers him away to be taken through your hastily agreed induction. 
  You re-jig the seating plan - “Being able to work productively with anyone is an important skill.” Henry is cunningly positioned between Cassidy, who takes no nonsense from anybody, and Kelvin, who manages to balance being cool with working extremely hard.
  Henry emerges from his time with Queenie keen to join in with the class. Three simple expectations have been heavily emphasised. As he takes his place you can see that he is going to be a handful, yet he has started well and you can set about reinforcing his good behaviour. You begin repositioning him as a valuable and important member of the group, you send home a positive note to Mum at the end of the week and begin to learn when to divert Henry away from potentially difficult situations. You call on his gentler side and begin to introduce the idea that he can be someone different in this new class.
 
  Talking behaviour

• What would an induction programme to your classroom involve?
• What should the other children be told about a new pupil coming in, especially if you can see there will be difficulties?
• Why shouldn’t Henry just be allowed to come in and start work with the other children?

C: Prepare the ground
  You read the children a story about a boy called Harry who finds it difficult to fit in. In the story Harry is angry and loses his temper.  The children love the story and enjoy thinking about the issues that arise from it.
  The first difficulty arises when the children rename Henry as Harry. Some of the girls come to ask you if it is the real child from the story. Henry overhears and gets the idea that everyone has been told about him before he arrived. In a fit of tears and anger, he storms out of the room before he has even had a chance to find his seat. He shouts loudly enough so that Mum, who has been lingering far too long at reception, comes running and makes a bad situation much,  much worse. As the head arrives to find out what the commotion is, Henry’s mum starts dragging her son out of the school claiming that “You are all the same.  You promised that things would be different,” etc, etc. As the last echoes of Henry’s mum fade and he is pulled out of sight, the head turns to you for an explanation.
Back in the classroom, the children want to know how the story really ends.

Talking behaviour

• How can you prepare the class properly for a new arrival when you know that things might be rough for a while?
• How do you deal with angry parents in reception?
• How can you reintroduce Henry into the class now?

Which approach did you use?

A: Wing and a prayer
Of course you need to keep your expectations high and give Henry a chance, but you also have a professional duty to the other children.  There will be information passed on by other teachers that could be extremely useful, even critical. You cannot expect a child who has clearly struggled to stay within the rules in one school to simply transform in another. This takes time, hard work and a more intelligent strategy than simply sink or swim.

B: Easy does it
Giving Henry an induction to the classroom (however hastily arranged) is an important first step. Keeping it simple and short is a must.  Henry can deal with being withdrawn for the first session, maybe even the first day but soon he will need to join the general population. Easing Henry into simple routines, moulding his behaviour with positive reinforcement and thinking really hard about where he sits are essential steps for the first week.

C: Passing the buck
The children do not need to be prepared for Henry’s arrival by being told that he is trouble. They can make up their own minds and ought to be allowed to do so without interference. Henry’s behaviour is your responsibility. Involving the children is only going to lower expectations and make them feel anxious. Deferring responsibility to year 4 can never be a great plan. Particularly when you are dealing with a child with more challenges than just changing schools.