In a startling exposé, a survey of over 7,000 school support staff in England has revealed the daily barrage of verbal and physical abuse they face, painting a grim picture of the deteriorating behaviour standards plaguing the nation’s schools. As classrooms turn into battlegrounds, teaching assistants, librarians, and catering workers find themselves on the frontlines of an escalating crisis, bearing the brunt of aggression from both pupils and parents alike.
Support Staff Under Siege
According to the survey conducted by Unison, the union representing school support staff, a staggering one in three respondents reported being subjected to verbal abuse on a daily basis. Mike Short, Unison’s head of education, shed light on the alarming trend, stating that the abuse stems “mostly from pupils but occasionally from parents and carers,” with teaching assistants often assigned to work with the most challenging children.
The situation has become so dire that many support staff have recently witnessed violent incidents, including kicking, pushing, and throwing objects. “These aren’t easy situations to resolve, but the bottom line for us is that no one should go to work to face abuse or violence, and this is just a daily reality,” Short emphasized, underlining the urgent need for action.
Stretched Thin and Underpaid
Compounding the issue is the chronic underfunding of schools, leaving them ill-equipped to address the rising tide of misbehavior. “We’re seeing schools having to make do with less and less money, which means staffing levels that aren’t adequate to deal with these incidents when they come up. Support staff are having to pick up the slack and they are suffering as a result,” Short explained.
The survey also shed light on the dismal pay and working conditions endured by support staff, with the median monthly income ranging from £1,200 to £1,400, and most only receiving pay during term time. An overwhelming 78% of respondents reported struggling to pay their bills, with energy costs, utilities, and housing topping their list of concerns.
Pandemic Fallout and Increased Workload
The survey also highlighted how the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges faced by support staff, particularly teaching assistants. Two-thirds of respondents reported working more unpaid hours each week since COVID-19 disrupted education. “The pandemic changed the nature of the teaching assistant role in particular. A lot of TAs took on more duties informally during lockdown, and that has persisted,” Short noted.
“TAs described their job as more intense than before Covid – they are doing more around supporting pupils’ pastoral and wellbeing needs and delivering interventions to those who have fallen behind, and increasingly supporting parents and carers.”
– Mike Short, Unison’s head of education
Moreover, teaching assistants are increasingly filling in for specialized staff whose positions have been cut due to financial constraints. “If a school might have had a speech and language therapist and that job is cut for financial reasons, the teaching assistant ends up covering it. A lot of other roles have increased in volume and intensity, partly as a result of the pandemic,” Short added.
Glimmer of Hope Amidst Funding Woes
While the government has pledged to reintroduce a school support staff negotiating body, which Short hopes will lead to improvements in pay, training, and career frameworks, the latest funding allocations still leave schools at risk of making further cuts after accounting for inflation and pay rises.
“It is difficult to see how schools will be able to afford teacher and support staff pay awards at anything like the level required to address historic pay erosion and a severe and deepening staffing crisis.”
– Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders
As the behaviour crisis in England’s schools reaches a boiling point, it is evident that urgent action is needed to protect and support the unsung heroes of education – the teaching assistants, librarians, catering staff, and other support workers who dedicate themselves to nurturing the nation’s youth. Without adequate funding, staffing levels, and resources to tackle the root causes of misbehaviour, these vital members of the school community will continue to bear the brunt of a system in crisis.
The government must prioritize the well-being and safety of all school staff, ensuring that they have the tools, training, and compensation they need to carry out their crucial roles without fear of daily abuse and violence. Only by addressing these systemic issues can we hope to create a learning environment where both students and staff can thrive, and where education can truly flourish.
