AN EAST Lancashire head teacher has spoken out over the ‘unfair’ and ‘misconstrued’ coverage of an alternative disciplinary policy at her school.

Barrowford Primary School hit national headlines last week after several newspapers picked up on the school’s sanction-free rules which have been in place for the past five years.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Head teacher Rachel Tomlinson has defended the policy, which she says has been a success.

The school, which is to convert into an academy on August 1, refuses to ‘judge’ pupils and bans teachers from raising their voices.

Children are urged to sort out disputes between themselves by talking through their feelings.

The school treats the children with ‘unconditional positive regard’ – a term coined by American psychologist Carl Rogers.

Mrs Tomlinson said: “I’m disappointed with the negative coverage that the school has received.

“We have had this policy for five years and we would not still have it if it did not work.

“We have had a few parents who have withdrawn their children over the years but it is negligible.

“In fact we have had an overwhelming avalanche of parents wanting to get their children into this school.

“We are not saying that we are better than other schools, just that this is an alternative.

“When we introduced the policy it was after an awful lot of research and deliberation and I think that it has been a success.

“All we are trying to do is do the best thing for the children’s education .”

The school will become an academy under a new trust which it is forming itself.

It will keep its name but the new trust has yet to be named.

Simon Jones, the Lancashire representative for the National Union of Teachers, said: “This shows that there is no one size fits all solution for behaviour management.

“Any system that encourages children to take responsibility for their behaviour has to be seen as a positive step.”