Is this typical at school now, or am I unlucky?

[Ridingthegravytrain]

I apologise if I phrase this badly, this is no way a thread bashing the way things are handled by teachers or behaviour of pupils but as I don’t have experiences of other schools I don’t know if this is just typical of what happens in many classes now...

I have two children in different years in a small village primary school and on almost a daily basis they both come home telling me about disruptions in class. And by this I mean chairs and tables being kicked and thrown and the children needing to be restrained (I volunteer and have witnessed this) and the children having to be all taken out of class until things are calmed down.

I have also had form teachers speak to me along the lines of “I just need to let you know your DD was unable to leave the toilet as there was a child outside doing XYZ and she was too scared to leave, just in case she mentions it to you”. Speaking to parents with children in other years it seems to occur across most classes.

Just wondering what other people’s experiences are with this level of disruption as it’s getting to the point where I’m considering getting on a waiting list to move them, but I have no idea of the likelihood that it will happen wherever we go. Have I just been unlucky?

Our catchment school a couple of years ago sounds similar to this. It had a very inclusive head who took in dc who had been permanently excluded from other schools, it also seemed to have more than average numbers of SEN children who didn’t have the correct support. Together with poor leadership the school very quickly went downhill, and a lot of the ‘good’ dc left. After several reports about tables being thrown at teachers etc, we didn’t go to that school. Luckily, after a damming ofsted, the head left and the new head seems to be turning the school around.

If I were you, I would view some other schools and move your dc ASAP. They don’t deserve to be scared at school and they definitely don’t need their education disrupted by pother dc who have no intentions of learning anything.

Yes I've worked in schools where this has happened.
I Can categorically say that poor leadership does nothing to help, yet poor leadership is often not picked up on by OFSTED. It's joke really.
If staff do not feel confident to discipline children the whole system can fall apart.
More children are shipped into mainstream schools with less staff and less financial assistance.
Lots of children are not looked after at home, unwanted and undisciplined.
I've seen the number of TAs cut resulting in TAs and teachers having to deal with more and more disruptive behaviour.
An excolleague's friend is currently off sick with broken bones as a result of being assaulted by a pupil.
I no longer work in education. So glad I left. It's soul destroying at times.

etluxperpetua: yes, I do agree that settling some children in takes time. However there is a difference between that and severe ongoing disruptive behaviour that should be dealt with by expert teachers and very small classes. Heads have to look at strategies and use their judgement about DC. Excluding DC with SEN is problematic but, to avoid this, DC need expert help. Many teachers and TAs simply cannot be expected to do a great job without help.

I do see poor leadership picked up in Ofsted reports. They do interview children, teachers and get parent view. If behaviour is really bad, ofsted will know about it.