Before I settled on a career in the education sector, I strongly considered going into the police force. Growing up, my favourite TV show was ‘Taggart’, and the character in the title role - DCI Jim Taggart, a grumpy old Glaswegian detective, hardened by many years of struggle against Scottish low-life criminals - was exactly the sort of policeman which I aspired to be:

“A tough, no-nonsense policeman of the old school, Taggart has little time for subtlety, sensitivity or many of the more modern aspects of police work that his junior colleagues place faith in. His focus is always on solving the crime, using traditional police methods of evidence and proof. He had worked his way up from being a policeman on the beat, and had a wide experience of people, crimes, and the infinite variety of both. Pragmatic rather than idealistic, he does not trust easily, but is completely loyal to those who work for him.”

Taggart was often branded ‘dour and serious’, character traits which I felt came with the territory of being a successful inspector (much like Rebus or Luther), and his being informed that ‘there’s been a murrrrrderrrrr’ would often kick off the show, heralding the opening music ‘No Mean City’ and the advent of my favourite hour of the week.

There are many facets to the role of Principal, in fact, far too many to list in one article. 

The past week allowed me to immerse myself in the role of Taggart, and I’m pleased to say that I brought the situation at hand to a fitting conclusion. 

Discipline is one of my least favourite aspects of my job. It takes a great deal of time away from the serious business of teaching and learning, and also away from the thought process of strategic planning. Nonetheless, when something does come up, I am happy to throw myself into it, keeping in mind that the more speedily I solve the particular problem, the quicker everyone can get back to College business.

My job is made an awful lot easier by the fact that we have a clear set of rules to follow at the College in the form of the Student Contract, which every member of every year group has to sign at the start of an academic year. It makes the whole process completely unambiguous, and the students make a commitment to comply with it because they understand that if they follow it, they will become better students. It acts, in a sense, like an employment contract which one would have at work, and so, it prepares them for life after College.

There are uncomplicated guidelines on the standards of attendance and punctuality expected, instructions on what constitutes unacceptable behaviour and gross misconduct, and the repercussions for failing to come up to the expected levels of work ethic.

These four key tenets of performance are how we base our judgement of discipline at the College. Where attendance is poor, it is challenged directly with parents - though we have had to be more understanding due to Covid-19 this year. Where a student is late three times in a week, they are placed in a late detention, losing their lunchtime on a Friday. Students are generally very accepting of this - some actually left their detention last week with a strangely jolly ‘Thank you, sir.’ 

Under-performance in subjects, with consistently poor output or effort with regards to homework, results in a report, and, with the advent of Google Docs, this can easily be shared with parents who can check in on student performance on a day-by-day or even lesson-by-lesson basis. Of the four students who have found their way onto a ‘global report’, two of them have responded in the right manner, while two more have only just begun to be monitored in this way.

The charges of ‘gross misconduct’ are the instances which demand investigation from time to time. When such events occur, my inner Taggart comes to the fore, using many of the techniques I would when investigating a problem in my specialist subject, History. I enact interviews, collate witness statements and take any key evidence into account in order to reach a reasoned conclusion. I never act without clear and incontrovertible proof - and this ensures that a sense of fairness pervades everything we do.

Discipline, largely, is not an issue at the College. We have a harmonious community where there are seldom major disagreements which turn into instances of gross misconduct. When these do happen, I’ve never encountered a time when the truth didn’t emerge after questioning. Students, almost to a fault, tell the truth; and parents are sympathetic to the job we are trying to do in teaching their sons and daughters right from wrong. 

I spoke in assemblies last week, and indeed in my blog, about the importance of trust within education. My dealings of the past week have only cemented this further in my mind, across every aspect of every decision which we make.