Michael Ejercito
2024-03-29 17:03:22 UTC
https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSkepticism/comments/1bpury0/pupil_behaviour_worse_at_schools_in_england_since/
Pupil behaviour 'getting worse' at schools in England, say teachers
1 day ago
By Lauren Moss & Elaine Dunkley,
BBC News
Share
Getty Images Stock image of a student looking at a mobile phone in a
classroomGetty Images
Nearly one in five teachers in England has been hit by a pupil this
year, a survey commissioned by the BBC says.
One teacher told BBC News behaviour was a "never-ending battle". Another
said spitting, swearing and chair-throwing were among the things
happening often.
A union says its members are reporting worsening violence and abuse from
pupils since the Covid pandemic.
The Department for Education (DfE) says it has invested £10m in
behaviour hubs to support schools.
Using the survey tool Teacher Tapp, BBC News asked up to 9,000 teachers
in England in February and March a series of questions about their
experiences with behaviour in the classroom.
A greater proportion of primary and secondary teachers reported pupils
fighting, pushing and shoving compared with two years ago.
Lorraine Meah has been a primary school teacher for 35 years, for the
last five of which she has chosen to do supply work - covering lessons
on an ad-hoc basis - because it is more flexible.
Over that time, she says pupils' behaviour has worsened.
Gemma Laister Lorraine Meah, supply teacherGemma Laister
Supply teacher Lorraine Meah says sometimes pupils as young as six are
throwing chairs
She says she has seen nursery and reception-aged children "spitting and
swearing", with the worst behaviour from five and six-year-olds with
"dangerous tendencies" like throwing chairs.
"You will get three or four children in your class displaying
challenging behaviour. That's hard to deal with when you've got a class
of 30," says Mrs Meah, who teaches in the Midlands.
Another Midlands-based teacher, Zak Copley, did supply teaching for a
year and also says behaviour is "definitely getting worse" and sometimes
feels like a "never-ending battle".
On one occasion, the computer science teacher said he had to pull pupils
apart after they began "throwing punches" at one another.
"The room got absolutely ransacked," he says, remembering that displays
were "ripped off the wall".
On another occasion, a pupil who had been sent out of class tried to
break back into the room with a cricket bat, he said.
School takes a stand to stop teen toilet vaping
School transforms behaviour with compassionate approach
Teachers speak out over rising pupil violence
In Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, St John Fisher Catholic Academy for 11 to
18-year-olds is working hard to improve its behaviour.
In 2022, it was rated "inadequate" by Ofsted, whose inspectors found
poor behaviour by pupils, including frequent fighting, made others feel
unsafe.
"There was a culture of bullying and an atmosphere of intimidation,"
says Karl Mackey, the school's fifth head teacher in six years.
"We had a lot of internal truancy - kids going into toilet cubicles
vaping and using mobile phones."
BBC/Dan Nelson Karl Mackey, head of St John Fisher Catholic Academy in
DewsburyBBC/Dan Nelson
Karl Mackey has brought in new rules and changed the curriculum to
tackle poor behaviour at his school
Since Mr Mackey joined a year ago, his new behaviour policy has seen
pupils rewarded for good attendance.
Corridors are closed off to stop children being able to wander the whole
school if they leave a lesson. There are strict rules about going to the
toilet during lessons and mobile phones are banned.
He has also brought in more subjects including dance, drama and music.
Year 9 pupil Tamika was excluded from her previous school, and says
pupils at St John Fisher have "settled down" since the rule changes.
"I find it easier to co-operate with teachers and speak to them if I am
struggling with a lesson, and I can get my head down," she said.
"There are less students going round kicking off. If they do, there will
be steps in place for them to reflect on their behaviour - like going
into isolation, or being sent home."
Mr Mackey says the school tries its best to avoid suspending children if
possible.
Pupils blame absence on routine shattered by Covid
Boost sport to get pupils back to school - report
Putting pupils in isolation 'harms mental health'
He says the whole school community, including local residents, have
noticed children behaving better.
"There's been a real shift. This year you'll see them in lessons every
single day, not late, in perfect uniform, trying their hardest," he added.
In the Teacher Tapp survey, the BBC also found:
30% of all teachers said they had witnessed pupils fighting during the
week they responded to the questions
Two in five respondents said they had witnessed aggressively violent
behaviour that needed an intervention in a single week
15% of secondary teachers said they have experienced sexual harassment
from a pupil when working at school.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT union, says teachers
are reporting that violence and abuse in schools "have risen notably"
since the pandemic.
"This is being compounded by cuts to specialist behaviour and mental
health services for children, which have left teachers doing their best
to fill the gaps and meet the needs of pupils that really require the
skills of specialist counsellors and therapists," he said.
Former DfE behaviour adviser Tom Bennett told BBC One's Breakfast
programme, on Tuesday, it had been a problem for "decades" after being
"brushed under the carpet".
"Up until about five or six years ago there wasn't much by way of
[teacher] training in behaviour management, which would probably
astonish a lot of people," he said.
"We need to make sure schools are looking at teaching the behaviour they
need, having boundaries and having consequences - a fairly simple
structure but quite hard to put into practice."
Teacher and union representative Debra de Muschamp stands smiling
outside school
Debra de Muschamp, from the head teachers' union, says teachers have
been left "shaken, frightened and isolated" by abuse from parents
The DfE says "decisive action" is being taken to improve pupil behaviour.
A spokesperson added it had doubled its mental health and wellbeing
scheme for head teachers this year, backed by £1.1m.
In 2020, the DfE launched a £10m behaviour hub programme to allow
hundreds of struggling schools to be paired with others to learn new
ways of dealing with poor behaviour.
The programme finishes this year.
Abuse from parents
One in five respondents to the BBC's survey said they had experienced
online abuse from a parent or guardian since September. A similar number
said they had experienced verbal abuse.
Head teachers' union NAHT says some members are experiencing growing
problems among a "minority" of parents.
"It can be face-to-face, on the telephone, on social media... enough is
enough," says Debra de Muschamp, a regional NAHT secretary who runs
three primary schools in north-east England.
NAHT, which is running a local campaign to tackle parent-on-teacher
abuse, says head teachers have had tyres slashed and been physically
assaulted.
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Pupil behaviour 'getting worse' at schools in England, say teachers
1 day ago
By Lauren Moss & Elaine Dunkley,
BBC News
Share
Getty Images Stock image of a student looking at a mobile phone in a
classroomGetty Images
Nearly one in five teachers in England has been hit by a pupil this
year, a survey commissioned by the BBC says.
One teacher told BBC News behaviour was a "never-ending battle". Another
said spitting, swearing and chair-throwing were among the things
happening often.
A union says its members are reporting worsening violence and abuse from
pupils since the Covid pandemic.
The Department for Education (DfE) says it has invested £10m in
behaviour hubs to support schools.
Using the survey tool Teacher Tapp, BBC News asked up to 9,000 teachers
in England in February and March a series of questions about their
experiences with behaviour in the classroom.
A greater proportion of primary and secondary teachers reported pupils
fighting, pushing and shoving compared with two years ago.
Lorraine Meah has been a primary school teacher for 35 years, for the
last five of which she has chosen to do supply work - covering lessons
on an ad-hoc basis - because it is more flexible.
Over that time, she says pupils' behaviour has worsened.
Gemma Laister Lorraine Meah, supply teacherGemma Laister
Supply teacher Lorraine Meah says sometimes pupils as young as six are
throwing chairs
She says she has seen nursery and reception-aged children "spitting and
swearing", with the worst behaviour from five and six-year-olds with
"dangerous tendencies" like throwing chairs.
"You will get three or four children in your class displaying
challenging behaviour. That's hard to deal with when you've got a class
of 30," says Mrs Meah, who teaches in the Midlands.
Another Midlands-based teacher, Zak Copley, did supply teaching for a
year and also says behaviour is "definitely getting worse" and sometimes
feels like a "never-ending battle".
On one occasion, the computer science teacher said he had to pull pupils
apart after they began "throwing punches" at one another.
"The room got absolutely ransacked," he says, remembering that displays
were "ripped off the wall".
On another occasion, a pupil who had been sent out of class tried to
break back into the room with a cricket bat, he said.
School takes a stand to stop teen toilet vaping
School transforms behaviour with compassionate approach
Teachers speak out over rising pupil violence
In Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, St John Fisher Catholic Academy for 11 to
18-year-olds is working hard to improve its behaviour.
In 2022, it was rated "inadequate" by Ofsted, whose inspectors found
poor behaviour by pupils, including frequent fighting, made others feel
unsafe.
"There was a culture of bullying and an atmosphere of intimidation,"
says Karl Mackey, the school's fifth head teacher in six years.
"We had a lot of internal truancy - kids going into toilet cubicles
vaping and using mobile phones."
BBC/Dan Nelson Karl Mackey, head of St John Fisher Catholic Academy in
DewsburyBBC/Dan Nelson
Karl Mackey has brought in new rules and changed the curriculum to
tackle poor behaviour at his school
Since Mr Mackey joined a year ago, his new behaviour policy has seen
pupils rewarded for good attendance.
Corridors are closed off to stop children being able to wander the whole
school if they leave a lesson. There are strict rules about going to the
toilet during lessons and mobile phones are banned.
He has also brought in more subjects including dance, drama and music.
Year 9 pupil Tamika was excluded from her previous school, and says
pupils at St John Fisher have "settled down" since the rule changes.
"I find it easier to co-operate with teachers and speak to them if I am
struggling with a lesson, and I can get my head down," she said.
"There are less students going round kicking off. If they do, there will
be steps in place for them to reflect on their behaviour - like going
into isolation, or being sent home."
Mr Mackey says the school tries its best to avoid suspending children if
possible.
Pupils blame absence on routine shattered by Covid
Boost sport to get pupils back to school - report
Putting pupils in isolation 'harms mental health'
He says the whole school community, including local residents, have
noticed children behaving better.
"There's been a real shift. This year you'll see them in lessons every
single day, not late, in perfect uniform, trying their hardest," he added.
In the Teacher Tapp survey, the BBC also found:
30% of all teachers said they had witnessed pupils fighting during the
week they responded to the questions
Two in five respondents said they had witnessed aggressively violent
behaviour that needed an intervention in a single week
15% of secondary teachers said they have experienced sexual harassment
from a pupil when working at school.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT union, says teachers
are reporting that violence and abuse in schools "have risen notably"
since the pandemic.
"This is being compounded by cuts to specialist behaviour and mental
health services for children, which have left teachers doing their best
to fill the gaps and meet the needs of pupils that really require the
skills of specialist counsellors and therapists," he said.
Former DfE behaviour adviser Tom Bennett told BBC One's Breakfast
programme, on Tuesday, it had been a problem for "decades" after being
"brushed under the carpet".
"Up until about five or six years ago there wasn't much by way of
[teacher] training in behaviour management, which would probably
astonish a lot of people," he said.
"We need to make sure schools are looking at teaching the behaviour they
need, having boundaries and having consequences - a fairly simple
structure but quite hard to put into practice."
Teacher and union representative Debra de Muschamp stands smiling
outside school
Debra de Muschamp, from the head teachers' union, says teachers have
been left "shaken, frightened and isolated" by abuse from parents
The DfE says "decisive action" is being taken to improve pupil behaviour.
A spokesperson added it had doubled its mental health and wellbeing
scheme for head teachers this year, backed by £1.1m.
In 2020, the DfE launched a £10m behaviour hub programme to allow
hundreds of struggling schools to be paired with others to learn new
ways of dealing with poor behaviour.
The programme finishes this year.
Abuse from parents
One in five respondents to the BBC's survey said they had experienced
online abuse from a parent or guardian since September. A similar number
said they had experienced verbal abuse.
Head teachers' union NAHT says some members are experiencing growing
problems among a "minority" of parents.
"It can be face-to-face, on the telephone, on social media... enough is
enough," says Debra de Muschamp, a regional NAHT secretary who runs
three primary schools in north-east England.
NAHT, which is running a local campaign to tackle parent-on-teacher
abuse, says head teachers have had tyres slashed and been physically
assaulted.
Banner saying 'Get in touch'
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your
experiences by emailing ***@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC
journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803
Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
Upload pictures or video
Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy
Please share your experiences.
0/500
Your contact info
Name
Email address
Contact number
Location
Age
I accept the Terms of Service
Submit
In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be
published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless
you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary
risks or infringe any laws.
The BBC retains the right to select from these contributions based on
editorial requirements and subject to online terms and conditions and
BBC editorial guidelines. For more information about how the BBC handles
your personal data, see here.
Made with Hearken | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to
visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or
comment or you can email us at ***@bbc.co.uk. Please include
your name, age and location with any submission.