To think something has gone wrong in schools? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0m2x30p4eo

[RebelBabybel]

From the BBC : school exclusions have doubled in the last 10 years.

I’ve worked in schools for 30 years : KS1/Early Years.

When I first started I was expected to do : hand written, detailed plans. Assessments. Handwritten reports. I had no TA. I had a blackboard. Children had books. I had to be firm with behaviour, schools had very clear behaviour policies in place, and the head would have an overview, was visible, check classes, be the ‘go to’ person if anything was difficult to manage.

Over the years, particularly in the Early Years things have changed massively.
My latest role has involved a manager who is mostly on the computer and rarely interacts with the children. No planning, no assessment. Resources are put out, but there is an ethos that it’s ‘wrong’ to show the children how to use them. Therefore children don’t use jigsaws as puzzles, they take the pieces out and transport them round the classroom. A doctors role play is set up, but with no input as to what the resources are there are for or how to role play ‘being a doctor’.

There is an expectation, a ‘box’ of what constitutes ‘normal’ behaviour : even with very young children. Any child who is outside this box, is often labelled ‘I think they’ve got autism, I think they’ve got ADHD’ without a formal assessment. These children - rather than getting to know them, or putting clear strategies in place, are quickly labelled as difficult : and fall into a stereotype that causes a negative cycle. There seems to be little ‘fault’ addressed to the teaching style, and the ‘fault??’ is centred on the child, I’d also argue that it is NOT a fault. It’s called being a child.

Children seem to be very readily excluded from schools without the adults fully questioning their teaching style and whether that might be at fault.

To be completely honest, teaching was far easier 30 years ago. Children were better behaved, and there was far better, stronger support from senior management. It felt more like a team, rather than:

an SLT who are in meetings, on a computer, off to conferences, in the staff room, pushing ‘new’ initiatives and criticising their staff.

@Appuskidu

Again, KS1 - but I was doing assessments. I had something called a ‘Sentence Maker’ as well!!! Bloody hell, imagine using that today. It was a folder with 100 words in, and if one child dropped it on the floor - all the words fell out and they’d have to put them all back in.

Exactly this.

Poverty, Ofsted, large class sizes and lack of money. Also education is a political football. Useless testing and focus on this in the classroom. If only the actual education experts designed the curriculum and expectations!

It's horrendous teaching in schools at the moment, and I absolutely agree with everything you've said.

We have SLT who are nowhere to be seen, a head who is rarely in the building, or in meetings. Who is seemingly disengaged in all the staffs wellbeing. And absolute rocket in behavioural issues. We are now running on 1 TA across two class year group's, because one is always out on Behaviour management. Which means no interventions get done, no reading, no support for the SEN children or those who struggle academically.

Then the teachers and staff are then criticised when the targets aren't met. Because you physically can't support 60 children to one adult. It's the absolute Pitts.

How do you accommodate a child hitting you, hitting other children, throwing things at windows and kicking chairs and tables over?

I definitely did extra maths sessions as it wasn't quite my best subject. Base 10!

This was in the 80s.

@Sherrystrull

It just didn’t happen! Any noisy class, and the head would storm in!

I had 30 Year 1 kids using these sentence makers, with no TA.

Except worse, because there was about 100 words in the folder…

This sounds just like the school I work at now. It's a good day when I don't have to write a cpoms report!

I think it’s a combination of factors? Were those children you taught:

• living in temporary accommodation aka shipping container?

• Being neglected at home, but not removed because there were literally no foster carers / moved into care 500 miles away because it was the only foster placement available

• Watching violent porn at age 11

• Stuck in their bedrooms all evening and weekends on devices because there are no heap or free youth activity or social clubs, or no transport to get them there.

• Contactable 24/7 through social media / smartphones, and riddled with anxiety.

• Living in poverty but watching influencers living heavenly-looking lives, daring to dream it might be possible for them before reality hits.

• Brought up in a home where adults interacted with their personal screens more than their children.

• Hearing messages every day about how humans are killing nature, the world is on fire and at war and robots will soon rule the world and take all the jobs.

And, yes, taught in overcrowded, understaffed schools by burned out teachers trying to achieve the impossible and tightening the iron fist of control in a desperate but futile attempt to get things ‘how they use to be’…

I've noticed a lot of it is all about appearences now. Twinkle displays on the walls; CP being full of lovely looking table displays, and, an obsession with having something in their books and it highlighted in various different colours. It's time consuming and doesn't feel like actually teaching any more, but window dressing.

Yes, I had Breakthru’ sentence makers in my first KS1 classroom with no TA as well.

If I compare this to the Y1 class in my current school, there are some very clear differences though.

What I didn’t have in my 1990s classroom was 2 pupils with severe ASD-both non verbal and in nappies. I didn’t have pupils with SEMH needs who threaten others with scissors and throw chairs at staff when they are dysregulated. I didn’t have children with physical needs that require a hoist for toileting and PEG feeds twice daily. I also didn’t have a phonics screener to get all my class through by the end of the year, that I/we would be judged on for the following year.

Those children still existed, but they attended specialist provisions, not mainstream classrooms.

And do what with the noisy children? Besides, people aren't just talking about children being noisy. I had a child in reception a couple of years back who tried to stab other children and staff with a pencil, there has been at least one child in each cohort since that has displayed similar behaviours, that is in addition to the noisy children. The way you word your posts makes me think you are no longer a class teacher, if you were I don't think you'd be framing things as if it's teachers who are to blame for not managing behaviour.

Think you should try just being a bit firmer with those kids, Appu. Or tell them how to do a jigsaw.

Agree but is the problem with the child/adult or is it the shitty society we've created?

I'd argue it's society and the problem with school is that it's hothousing young people for that society. From a neurodivergent perspective, it's an utterly hostile society and schools are by and large hostile environments for neurodivergent children. It's no much wonder they have 'behavioural' problems or they become school refusers. Remember, behaviour is communication- that's what we're told when they're babies and toddlers. Not for neurodivergent children - it's naughtiness, bad parenting or bless, part of their disability - god forbid we might consider the problem they're trying to communicate - this environment and many of the staff are hostile to me and my needs is wht we should be hearing.

The school environment has become increasingly rigid and therefore increasingly unsuitable for many of the cohort - lo and behold, more exclusions. No surprise many are neurodivergent. Rather than address institutional failings, these kids are being broken in the name of efficiency or inclusivity as its now called.

In a class of 30+ it's impossible to consider behaviour as communication for every child in every lesson. What am I supposed to do with 30 children all communicating with me in some way? What I do is try my best but I'm sure it falls woefully short.

Some people suggest methods that work at home in a 1:1 situation and are then surprised a teacher can't do the same in a 1:30 situation.

Over the years, particularly in the Early Years things have changed massively.
My latest role has involved a manager who is mostly on the computer and rarely interacts with the children. No planning, no assessment. Resources are put out, but there is an ethos that it’s ‘wrong’ to show the children how to use them. Therefore children don’t use jigsaws as puzzles, they take the pieces out and transport them round the classroom. A doctors role play is set up, but with no input as to what the resources are there are for or how to role play ‘being a doctor’.

This is not good early years practice though and not typical of what I see across a wide range of schools.

I only have examples of 2 children in a one form primary but cohort makes such a difference. Child no.1 describes her classroom in ways that make me want to weep to be honest. She’s been hit, sworn at, verbally abused by kids (all boys) in her class with some really high needs that clearly aren’t coping. She loves learning but really is desperate to get out of there and secondary can’t come soon enough for her. Child no.2 seemingly has a class that is full of angelic, clever children. Now as the expectations get higher, child no.2 might have a different experience but the teachers all say how lovely that year is, how well behaved they are etc. no-one ever says that about my eldest’s class.

So we have 9400 perm exclusions in 22/23

5795 in 14/15

9880 in 03/04

Over 12000 in 94/95 .

1050 SEN schools (private and state)

2019 1044

1148 in 2004.

In 1997 1239.

You were saying?

Ineffective, inexperienced,absent or apathetic SLT can be a massive issue though and affects the whole culture of the school, including behaviour. I'll give you that.

What were the other 29 kids doing whilst you were 1-2-1 with him? I have class sizes of 32. That's less than 3 minutes 1-2-1 per child per week and a lot less once you account for settling them and giving them time to pack up and instruction giving.

Exclusions have rocketed because SEN kids whose needs are not being met, kick off, and the school instead of doing what would have been done in the 80s and 90s and taken a view on each situation, are so hampered by all sorts of well meaning and necessary legislation but without the funding to do things properly, that it becomes an opportunity to off-roll the tricky ones.

That’s why SEN kids are disproportionately more likely to be excluded. It makes them and their lack of funding, someone else’s problem.

I teach in reception and what you describe certainly doesn't reflect my classroom. We model how to use equipment and toys and role play areas.

I've been teaching since 1996!

And SENCOs became a thing after the Education Act in 1993.

Masking.

Also you don't know how many adults were involved with the child at home.