Just 40% of children ‘always feel safe at school’ – report
Only two in five children say they always feel safe at school, according to a government survey, and teachers across Britain have said they have seen pupils’ behaviour deteriorate over the past two years.
Teachers told the Guardian that violence and abuse aimed at school staff and other students had increased, alongside displays of homophobia, racism and sexism, with women in particular bearing the brunt of aggressive sexual remarks.
The findings come as authorities in Wales considered their response to an attack that occurred at a state school in Carmarthenshire on Wednesday.
While violent incidents involving weapons in schools are extremely rare, the survey carried out for the Department for Education (DfE) in England found significant differences between head teachers, classroom teachers, pupils and parents, over their experience of school behaviour.
Asked how often they felt safe at school only 39% of pupils said they had felt safe “every day” the previous week. In contrast 69% of head teachers and senior staff said their school was safe every day.
Similarly, 35% of secondary school leaders said their school had been “calm and orderly” every day during the previous week, but only 16% of secondary school teachers and 13% of pupils said the same, with all responses lower than those recorded in the DfE’s 2022 survey.
The survey also revealed that parents were less supportive of school behaviour policies, with 24% of secondary school staff saying that parents disagreed with a school’s rules, compared with 20% in 2022.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The vast majority of pupils are well-behaved, and schools remain overwhelmingly safe and positive environments. However, there has been an increase in poor behaviour among a minority of pupils which is posing a challenge for school leaders and teachers.
“We would like to see the DfE carry out work to establish the reasons for this increase in poor behaviour, but the disruption caused by the pandemic and the ongoing difficulties in supporting pupils with mental health and special educational needs are likely playing a part.”
The survey chimed with the responses of teachers who told of their experiences in the classroom.
One teacher from Lincolnshire, who had taught for more than 20 years, said: “The rise in aggressive and defiant behaviour is unprecedented. Pupils as young as eight using abusive language, physically threatening staff, hurling objects at fellow pupils and treating their peers and staff appallingly.
“Personally, I have found my stress levels have rocketed and [it] has led me to consider whether I can continue in my present career.”
The teacher blamed cuts in funding and Covid-19 for reducing the support available for the most vulnerable children. “Normally pupils with these extreme needs would be in a pupil behaviour support unit but due to cuts there are no places.”
A reception class teacher from east London said: “Last year I was physically attacked by a child every single day. I was bitten, kicked, slapped, had chairs and tables were thrown across the room.
“Sadly this behaviour is also seen, to a lesser extent, in so many children. They are starting school with very low levels of emotional regulation, not able to express their feelings appropriately, so they have constant ‘melt-downs’.
“I’m not entirely blaming Covid, as [the situation] was definitely getting worse before, but the noticeable differences since then are that parents do not trust schools and don’t listen to teachers. So, we try to talk to them about their child’s behaviour and they laugh it off or even say we are lying.”
A spokesperson for the DfE said: “Good behaviour in schools is key to raising standards which is why we are taking decisive action to ensure all schools are calm, safe and supportive environments, and are providing school leaders and teachers with the tools to improve behaviour.
“Not only have we banned mobile phones in schools to reduce disruption, our £10m behaviour hubs programme aims to support up to 700 schools over three years to improve behaviour. Data from our hubs act as a benchmark of the standards we expect so we make sure support is targeted where needed most.”