The corridors have fallen silent at a school in Hornchurch after old fashioned rules were brought back in a bid to combat bad behaviour.
Pupils at The Albany School have been banned from speaking as they move in ‘orderly lines’ between lessons.
The playground also falls silent at the end of break as children line up on the playground to head to class.
But teachers, who have to thank the students for obeying the rules, have said it has already sparked improvements.
Headteacher Val Masson spent 11 years as a humanities teacher at the school in Havering, east London, before becoming head in September 2016.
Three new rules have been brought in to improve behaviour at The Albany School in Hornchurch
In 2015 the school was graded as ‘requiring improvements’ by schools watchdog Ofsted.
The head decided to revive stricter methods of teaching and said that after introducing her silent rules, the number of pupils in isolation for poor behaviour halved in just a month.
She said: ‘There are several reasons why we did it.
‘We wanted a calm and academic atmosphere like a high-end institution.
‘The second reason is that we believe in equality for all so even your meekest, most under confident child should be given the space to grow.
Students at the Albany School in east London are being made to walk silently between classes – because the headteacher says is calms them down
‘And the third thing is that silence creates a very mutually respectful relationship between students and staff.
‘It encourages a no raised voices environment. I don’t agree with raising voices to children and usually staff only need to do that if there is a lot of noise.’
As part of the new regime at the school students from years seven, eight and nine are made to queue silently in the playground three times a day – before school, and after morning and lunch break.
Teachers then thank them for participating and for their hard work.
Year ten students, who are studying for their GCSEs, will now have to stay an extra hour after school four days a week to work without speaking, from September, under the new regime.
Mrs Masson, 51, said: ‘Students have three minutes to queue and they line up in their form group.
Val Masson, headteacher of Albany School, where children have enforced silent time. The former humanities teacher wants to improve behaviour at the school which in 2015 was told by Ofsted it ‘requires improvement’
‘When the second bell goes, they’re expected to fall silent.
‘Then a senior staff member or a head of year, including myself, will encourage them to enjoy and get the most out of their next lesson.
‘We take the time to praise them for high standards of things like uniform and punctuality.’
Mrs Masson said the scheme was ‘divisive’ when it was first suggested in meetings with other members of staff, but she says staff members have noticed a marked improvement in how calm many pupils are.
The school has just under 900 pupils and over a third receive free school meals.
She added: ‘We’ve seen far fewer lessons starting late. Regularly lessons are starting way before the late bell.
‘Before we did this, students were still arriving at lessons then but now they’re beginning on average three minutes earlier.
‘If you multiply that, it’s 15 minutes extra teaching a day.
‘When students don’t settle, we have a relocation system that sees them sent to another classroom to settle down.
‘That system has almost reduced to zero. We almost get no relocations any more and that’s because a lot of distraction was happening at the beginning of the lessons.’
And it was the success of the scheme that spurred on Mrs Masson to push the boundaries by asking Year 10 students to stay an hour later from next year.
She said students would be expected to carry out their extra work without speaking.
Year 10 student Ronnie Brooks, 15, who is studying for seven GCSEs, said he supported the stricter rules.
He said: ‘It’s completely changed the school, it’s made it so much calmer.
‘It used to be quite boisterous when you walk into lessons and now its very calm, everyone is mentally prepared.’
And fellow pupil Olivia Hazell, 15, agreed, adding: ‘I think it’s really good to be honest.
‘When you walk to lessons, you can remain focused on your work because you’re already in the calm mindset.
‘It’s helped a lot of people. When you walk into lessons, you aren’t getting pushed around or anything.
‘It makes studying for my GCSEs a lot easier.’
Encouraging pupils to keep noise to a minimum has substantial benefits, said Dr Helen Lees, the author of Silence in Schools.
Students in year ten will be made to stay for an hour after school four days per week when the new school year begins
She said: ‘It’s a very bold experiment and it sounds amazing.
‘From everything I’ve read on the uses of silence in schools, it’s stood to work and have the effects that its having.
‘The key to it is regularity. It’s the fact that these students are expecting it and they are dwelling in the silence because they know it has a purpose.
‘It’s part of the school environment and in general, they are happy to take part in it.’
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, praised the scheme.
He said: ‘Schools use a range of techniques to encourage orderly behaviour and create a climate for learning.
‘Headteachers work with the school community – including governors and parents – to establish the approaches which work best for their school and build a shared commitment towards the expected standards.
‘Short periods of silence can encourage reflection and calmness in an age which is often noisy and frenetic.’