Teachers across UK schools are ‘locking classroom doors’ to keep aggressive pupils out amid a surge in disruptive behaviour by students.
Shocking stories have emerged of teachers being assualted, pupils throwing objects across classrooms and skipping lessons as well as students beating each other up.
Teaching unions and groups say they have been contacted by frightened teachers who are fearing for their jobs and several who are ‘acting like social workers’.
It comes as Department for Education figures show school suspensions have nearly doubled in the last six years to almost 250,000. Dozens of teachers across the country are also striking over reportedly bad working conditions.
A report by consultancy Public First also revealed lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic caused a ‘seismic shift’ in parents’ attitudes to school attendance.
Teachers at the Oasis Academy on the Isle of Sheppey went on strike due to poor working conditions and abuse in November
Teachers at Pencoedtre High School in Barry went on strike after suffering more than 50 serious incidents of verbal and physical abuse last month
The research suggested parents believed their children did not need to be in school full time if they were anxious, increasingly thought that ‘life was too short’ not to have a term-time holiday as well as not being bothered about fines for absence.
It said: ‘Pre-Covid, ensuring your child’s daily attendance at school was seen as a fundamental element of good parenting.
‘Post-Covid, parents no longer felt that to be the case, and instead view attending school as one of several – often competing – options or demands on their child on a daily basis, against a backdrop of a more holistic approach to daily life.’
Chris Zarraga, 54, from Schools North East, told The Mirror: ‘All staff in school are acting more as social workers than teachers and it’s beyond their training and resources.
‘A lot of schools are reporting that pre-pandemic you would largely have the support of the parents if the child was misbehaving. Post-pandemic, they refuse to accept the school’s view and take the child’s side.
‘That is having a huge impact on staff wellbeing and retention.’
Figures showed there were 129,151 suspensions in all school types in the 2016/17 autumn term compared to 247,366 in the 2022/23 autumn term.
The number of pupils getting permanently excluded has also shot up from 2,816 in 2016 to 3,104 in 2023.
Mark Morris, of the NASUWT union, said: ‘None of us went into this job to be abused. Teachers are scared of challenging groups of kids because of the abuse.
‘They are also getting misogynistic behaviour from boys and girls, putting up with sexualised language.’
Mr Morris said one of the most disturbing ‘trends’ was internal truanting, pupils going to school but not into lessons.
Teaching unions have also reported a large number of violent incidents between pupils (file photo)
Teachers have been forced to lock classroom doors amid fears of having to keep aggressive pupils out
He added: ‘They wander round and knock on doors of classrooms to speak to their friends.’
Mr Morris, a national executive member for the NASUWT, also said things had got worse since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest regional figures revealed the North East of England had the highest number of exclusions and suspensions with 66,928 recorded between 2016 and 2022.
Redcar and Cleveland had the highest rate with 4.74 percent of total enrolled pupils for that area being either excluded or suspended followed by Doncaster at 4.54 percent.
On the other end of the scale, the Isles of Scilly and the City of London had the lowest exclusion and suspension at 0.19 and 0.18 percent retrospectively.
NEU chief Daniel Kebede also warned that violence was a problem in schools.
He said: ‘We’ve seen gangs re-forming which haven’t been active for some time. Violence has no place in our schools and colleges.
School is where all school staff, students, teachers, and support staff should feel and be safe.’
Teachers at Pencoedtre High School in Barry went on strike last month after suffering more than 50 serious incidents of verbal and physical abuse since the start of the school year in September.
Ofsted’s chief executive Amanda Spielman said in her final annual report that disruptive pupil behaviour and absenteeism were becoming more commonplace
This was also the case at Oasis Academy in Sheerness where teachers have reported being pushed and shoved by children, chairs thrown and racial abuse to black members of staff.
Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, Scotland, teachers said they feared their safety and were scared to go to work because of rising school violence.
An Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) survey of 800 teachers in the city revealed almost half reported violent pupil behaviour in school every day whilst around a third said they had been physically assaulted.
One secondary school teacher, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘There are pupils that just refuse point blank to do what you’re asking. They’ll swear at you, often they will square up to you.’
One teacher said she had recurring nightmares after being attacked, with another described her school as ‘completely lawless’.
David Belsey, assistant secretary of the EIS which is Scotland’s biggest teaching union, said teachers are also suffering post-traumatic stress disorder after violent incidents.
It comes as school watchdog Ofsted’s latest annual report stated that absenteeism and disruptive pupil behaviour was becoming more commonplace.
Ofsted’s outgoing chief executive Amanda Spielman also warned that secondary schools are plagued by a growing number of children playing ‘internal truancy’, where they wander corridors and hang out in toilets instead of going to lessons .
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: ‘Our ongoing £10million Behaviour Hubs programme aims to support up to 700 schools over three years.’
Have you witnessed a violent incident at a school? Please email richard.percival@mailonline.co.uk
Post source: Daily Mail
Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com
