NEWS: Concerning Rise in Physical Attacks by Younger Students

Schools are still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as alarming data shows children as young as five are being removed from school for physical attacks on teachers. A total of 3,599 children in reception and nursery years were suspended or even expelled due to physical assault on an adult during the 2022 to 2023 academic year, while a further 1,890 children were excluded for assault on another child.

It comes as teaching unions warned of violence among very young pupils getting worse since the Covid pandemic lockdowns. The figures are the “tip of the iceberg”, according to NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach.

National Education Union assistant general secretary Rosamund McNeil said: “‘Increases in behavioural issues at primary school level is a
real worry. Some 14 years of chronic underfunding has created larger class sizes and a loss of experienced teachers and pastoral posts.”

During the autumn term in 2023, there were 25,724 suspensions and expulsions for children aged 11 and under, an increase of nearly 7,500
from the year before. Making up the total were 15,283 assaults against adults and 10,441 against other children.

In December last year, Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said education has become “fractured and fragmented for too many children”,
while attendance remains a “stubborn and damaging issue” after Covid-19 lockdowns. In his first annual report as chief inspector of England’s education watchdog, Sir Martyn said Ofsted is “concerned” about the growing number of children “whose pattern of education is disjointed”.

This news story originally appeared in The Mirror