More than three-quarters of teachers (76 per cent) have said that pupil misbehaviour stopped or interrupted teaching last year amid spiralling concerns over behaviour post-pandemic, government data shows.
And 74 per cent of teachers said pupil misbehaviour had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing last year, up from 62 per cent in 2022, according to a government poll of teachers and school leaders.
The survey showed that the proportion of teachers reporting poor pupil behaviour is growing.
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of teachers said pupil behaviour was “poor” or “very poor” in May 2023, compared to less than a fifth (18 per cent) in 2022.
Access to specialist support not ‘timely’
The findings have been revealed in the latest wave of the national behaviour survey, which surveyed school leaders, teachers and pupils in May 2023.
The report found that a quarter (25 per cent) of teachers felt that pupil misbehaviour had led to more than 10 minutes of teaching time being lost per 30 minutes of lessons in the week before they completed the survey, up from 10 per cent the previous year.
The Department for Education survey, which included responses from more than 2,000 school leaders and teachers, also revealed concerns about support for school staff in dealing with misbehaviour.
Less than one-fifth (18 per cent) of school leaders and teachers said that external specialist support provided to manage behaviour was timely, with the majority (52 per cent) reporting it wasn’t.
The proportion of leaders and teachers who disagree that parents are generally supportive of the school’s behaviour rules rose year-on-year from 15 per cent in 2022 to 20 per cent in 2023.
The concerns around parental support come amid concerns that schools are facing a “rising tide of mistrust” from the public following the pandemic and schools dealing with an increase in vexatious complaints.
A major Tes investigation into the rise of parental complaints received by schools earlier this year revealed that the increase was creating an “unmanageable” drain on resources.
Fewer teachers feel confident managing misbehaviour
The DfE survey also revealed the impact of increasing pupil misbehaviour on the school environment, with almost six in 10 (59 per cent) of teachers reporting that their school had been calm and orderly “every day” or “most days” in May 2023 - down from 70 per cent in 2022.
And fewer teachers feel confident in personally managing misbehaviour in their school. Just over a third (35 per cent) of teachers said they were “very confident” in managing this, down from 47 per cent in March 2022.
Concerns over support for poor behaviour come amid warnings that poor mental health and long waits for support are “fuelling” the school absence crisis.
The latest government data revealed that overall absence rates for last term were higher than for the previous spring term in 2023.
‘Lack of support’
Responding to the government data, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said school budget constraints had “severely limited the amount of pastoral support schools are able to provide”.
He added: “The fact that so many teachers and leaders surveyed report not being able to access timely external support services is particularly worrying.”
Mr Di’Iasio said that a “lack of support from some parents, many of whom are facing challenges themselves in dealing with behavioural issues, only adds to the scale of the challenge.”
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