Teachers to confront a “behaviour bubble” as post-pandemic bad pupil behaviour expected to peak

Teachers returning to work in the coming weeks will confront a concerning “behaviour bubble” as younger children who were most affected by the pandemic reach the teenage years notorious for peak classroom disruption.

Experts and school leaders in England warn that children of primary age during the pandemic have been accruing exclusions and suspensions at a record pace since making the move to secondary school. Primary schools were largely closed during the pandemic and deprived many children of key socialising moments. This period of reduced socialisation is thought to have contributed to the spike of bad classroom behaviour that has followed the return to the classroom.

Exclusions and Suspensions Have Skyrocketed in Year 7 and 8 Pupils

Most recent figures, for the 2022-23 school year, reveal that exclusions and suspensions experienced the highest increase in pupils in years 7 and 8. These pupils are now moving into years 9 and 10, years when sanctions against classroom disruption are traditionally highest.

Bad Behaviour on the Rise According to NASUWT Teaching Union

The general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, Patrick Roach, claims there is “no doubt” that worsening behaviour levels have escalated into a crisis since the pandemic, and warned that there could be worse to come.

“In the aftermath of the riots in many towns and cities during the summer, we also need to see the government and other agencies stepping up to work with our schools and colleges to support vulnerable young people who are at risk of being drawn into violence,” Roach said.

He added: “While the Covid pandemic highlighted the failures of government policy, it also amplified those failures, as more and more teachers reported being sworn at, threatened, shoved, kicked, bitten or punched and attacked by pupils carrying weapons.”

Labour Slam Tory Handling of Classroom Behaviour

Sources from the government were quick to place blame on the Conservative government’s handling of education pre- and post-pandemic, highlighting the high turnover of Tory education ministers during the various Conservative administrations.

A government source said: “The merry-go-round of Tory ministers in recent years failed to grip the rising tide of poor behaviour pre-pandemic and then told children and their families they’d ‘maxed out’ on Covid recovery support. This government will do the hard yards and get to the root of much of the bad behaviour blighting our schools with a support-first approach that gets control of our classrooms once again.”

Classroom Disruption: The Numbers 

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently released behaviour data for English state schools. The results reveal a shocking trend towards increased sanctions. Among the findings were:

• The proportion of year 7 pupils who received at least one suspension increased from 3.5% pre-pandemic to 5.5% in 2022-23. The proportion of year 8 pupils suspended rose from 5.5% to more than 8% in the same period. 
• The rate of slightly older pupils in years 9 and 10 receiving at least one suspension in 2022-3 was close to 10%. This was well above pre-pandemic levels. 
• The rate of exclusions in secondary school rose fastest amongst year 7 and 8 pupils. The difference was especially marked among girls. 
• Before and during the pandemic, around three boys were excluded for each girl. The ratio changed significantly post-pandemic, moving to nearly two to one. This accounts for 1,000 more female exclusions compared to 2018-19.

Teachers Continue to Voice Concerns about Pupil Behaviour

Andrew Old, a secondary school teacher and blogger has identified a trend of rising exclusions among younger pupils and girls. He said: “Next year’s year 9s and year 10s could be the most challenging for many years. However, that may depend on whether schools have successfully addressed the behaviour of those pupils in the years they have already been at secondary school.”

A spokesman for the DfE said: “The rising number of school suspensions and permanent exclusions are shocking, and show the massive scale of disruptive behaviour that has developed in schools across the country in recent years, harming the life chances of children.

“We are determined to get to grips with the causes of poor behaviour: we’ve already committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school and ensuring earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with special needs.

“But we know poor behaviour can also be rooted in wider issues, which is why the government is developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty led by a taskforce co-chaired by the education secretary so that we can break down the barriers to opportunity.”

Pandemic and Underfunding: A Perfect Storm

Other factors apart from the pandemic are also shaping the reality of the classroom. Poverty, underfunding, and an increasing proportion of pupils with special needs also contribute to the increases in sanctions in the classroom. That said, exclusion rates in primary schools and among year 11 pupils remain around the same as they were pre-pandemic. This suggests that the move to secondary school has had a disproportionate effect on pupils now in years 9 and 10. 

Covid’s Lost-lasting Legacy

Lee Wilson, the chief executive of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, said: “Many parts of our society are still feeling the effects of Covid. Its legacy in schools – the result of lockdowns and school closures – has led to weaker academic outcomes nationally, lower attendance and poorer behaviour, especially among disadvantaged children and in schools which were already struggling or were at the start of their transformation.”

Bennett went on to say: “I think the pandemic disruption plus – I hate to say it – a burgeoning reliance on social media and smartphones has desocialised the cohort, giving them somewhere to invest their attention spans and cognitive bandwidth on pursuits that are essentially trivial and worthless.”

Covid, Mobiles, Parents, or Something Else?

Myriad factors are potentially coming together to create the disruptive, disrespectful, and disobedient behaviour teachers are increasingly seeing in classrooms these days. What do you think the factors that are contributing to increased classroom disruption are, and what could be done to address it?

We’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you’re a parent to a teen in a Spanish school. Are Spanish classrooms experiencing the same problems post-Covid and, if so, how are they handling it? Leave us a comment and join the debate!