‘Punching, kicking and scratching are quite common...’
ASSAULTED three times in 18 months, twice by the same pupil, an experienced highschool teacher from Wales is now nervous about going back into the classroom.
The teacher, in his late 40s, said he has been headbutted on one occasion and shouldered violently by a 15-year-old boy during break time.
He, and his representative from the NASUWT Cymru teaching union, don’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals. They claimed that pupils, parents and even some school management staff can turn against teachers who raise complaints.
But they want the details told to highlight what they say is a rising problem with aggressive behaviour from some pupils, behaviour the union said would not be tolerated in hospitals and other public services.
On one occasion the teacher was on duty at lunchtime when he said the 15-year-old shouldered him out of the way to go upstairs. The culmination of three assaults left him taking time off work.
NASUWT Cymru claims this is just one example of many happening daily at schools across Wales.
The union is so worried it has now opened a hotline for members in Wales to report instances of physical or verbal abuse and is calling on the Welsh Government to do more to highlight and tackle the problem
The union said more than half of teachers it asked in Wales believe there is a problem with poor discipline in their own school, 88% of teachers report being verbally abused in the past 12 months, 15% report having been physically assaulted and 46% say they have been regularly shoved or barged by pupils over the same period.
“Some senior management seem to think physical abuse is part of the job of teaching,” said one teacher.
“Punching, kicking and scratching are becoming quite common in primary schools. Teachers are being told they have to put up with it. They are being put at risk.
“In my own school, and in others, behaviour has got much worse in recent years. It is verbal and physical assault and also utter defiance from some pupils. Being sworn at is a daily occurrence in some high schools. There are an awful lot of good children and their education is being stolen by the growing number of ill-disciplined children.”
She believes bad parenting is one cause of bad behaviour but said “there is fear among school management because they don’t want to be seen as failing by asking local education authorities for support with this”.
Another south Wales high-school teacher said one of his female colleagues, a science teacher, had been left devastated by a prolonged and obscene verbal attack from a pupil.
“I don’t teach in a bad school and this is not about all pupils, but there is a complete lack of filter with many pupils in terms of the language they use to teachers,” he said.
“I have had items thrown at me – pens, glue sticks and pencils. I have colleagues who have been spat at.
“It’s often the same groups of pupils causing no end of problems because there are no effective sanctions. You give them detention and they don’t turn up. Exclusion can be effective, but schools don’t always want to exclude pupils.
“I think a lot of the problems are to do with the way the children are brought up.
“Why should teachers have to put up with this? If you go into a hospital or any other public service there are notices saying threats and abusive language won’t be tolerated. There should also be a zero tolerance in schools.
“Some teachers feel totally demoralised by bad behaviour. It’s affecting teacher wellbeing.”
A primary teacher member of another union, the NEU Cymru in north Wales, echoed the concern of NASUWT colleagues.
He said: “I have on a weekly basis had people contacting me regarding pupils who assault them in some way, pupils who hit them and cases of being kicked, scratched and spat at.
“The spitting and scratching is younger pupils in primary. We have had cases of a four-year-old spitting, scratching and kicking teachers.
“Secondary schools tend to have more issues to do with physical violence and verbal challenges than with offensive language.
“In hospitals there is a campaign to protect staff from this sort of thing. Schools don’t get this support. There seems to be a de facto rule that teachers have to accept sometimes being kicked or threatened.
“We have also had one or two incidents where parents have threatened teaching staff.
“In one incident a teacher was pushed and there are verbal threats. You would be banned from a GP’s surgery if you did this.
“Behaviour like this is just an ongoing problem and does blight a number of teachers’ lives.
“I am a primary teacher. I see in my school cases where pupils answer teachers back and show disrespect. Ten years ago that would not have happened.”
Eithne Hughes, director for the Association of School and College Leaders, insisted headteachers do take behaviour seriously.
“Our experience is that school leaders have clear behaviour policies in their schools which are consistently applied, and that they support their staff in behaviour management.
“This does not mean that everything is perfect. The behaviour of a small number of pupils can be extremely challenging and we do not seek to minimise the impact this can have on teachers.
“The severe funding pressures on schools have not helped matters because it makes it more difficult to provide early interventions which prevent challenging pupil behaviour from escalating.
“However, school leaders are doing an excellent job in difficult circumstances, and we would urge any teacher who is experiencing difficulties with pupil behaviour to speak to their headteacher.”
Chris Keates, NASUWT acting general secretary, said teachers report a growing culture in schools of “blame the teacher” rather than holding pupils accountable for their behaviour.
“There are also widespread concerns among teachers about the misuse and abuse of behaviour policies, particularly those which are based on restorative behaviour, which teachers report are becoming synonymous with no punishment or sanctions for unacceptable behaviour.”
Neil Butler, NASUWT national official for Wales, said: “All teachers are entitled to dignity at work and a safe working environment.
“Teachers are being disempowered by the failure of the Welsh Government to ensure that across the country behaviour policies are supporting teachers in maintaining high standards of discipline.
“We need strong and unequivocal action by government to reinforce the rights of teachers to a safe working environment, and to take action to ensure that these rights are being delivered.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Any form of violence or abuse against staff in our schools is completely unacceptable. We want our schools to be safe and welcoming environments where teachers can get on with their jobs, helping pupils achieve the best they can.
“There is a duty on local authorities and schools to ensure schools are a safe environment for all.
“If at any point the environment within a school becomes unsafe, the school should ensure that the relevant authorities are informed so that appropriate support can be made available.”