On Monday, Caroline Woodley, the Hackney mayor, called for “bold and firm lines” against students’ bad behaviour as a council committee discussed a survey, which revealed violence in UK schools is worsening.
Mayor Woodley cited the most recent data on behaviour in UK schools: an online survey of 6,586 teachers in the UK conducted by the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).
It found that 37 per cent of teachers experienced physical abuse/violence from pupils, while 90 per cent reported verbal abuse/violence within the same period.
Mayor Woodley said: “I cannot stand zero-tolerance policies in any context.”
She said there needed to be “really bold and firm lines if we want to stop prejudice in any form”, but “any child with SEND [Special Educational Needs and Disabilities] is going to fall foul of a zero-tolerance policy at one point or another”.
Poor pupil behaviour is having a negative impact on teachers’ mental health, with 49 per cent of respondents saying they had experienced anxiety because of it and 17 per cent saying they had experienced depression. Nine per cent took time off work due to stress.
The most common misbehaviour was rudeness – noted by 97 per cent of respondents – followed by being sworn at (81 per cent).
Darren Northcott, a NASUWT National Official, suggested having a counsellor in every school across the country and promoting greater collaboration between schools.
He said: “Schools that have good behaviour approach behavioural management in very different ways. But one thing that seems to unite them all is their consistency and the ownership of all stakeholders.
“Consistent policies consistently applied are the bedrock for having the kind of behaviour in schools that we would all want to see,” he added.
Sarah Smith is a postgraduate Newspaper Journalism student at City St George's, University of London. She is currently reporting on the Springfield ward in Hackney. She has experience writing for the Climate, Books, Lifestyle and News sections of The Boar, and she has also done work experience at Essex Live. In her spare time, she likes to watch Disney films and spend time with friends.