Barry: Teachers strike over being abused in class by pupils

Teachers are striking at a high school where a union says there have been more than 50 serious incidents of verbal and physical abuse since September.

A maths teacher at Pencoedtre High School in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, said a decline in pupil behaviour left staff with "no choice" .

NASUWT said six schools in Wales are now in disputes over classroom safety.

The Vale of Glamorgan council said it was taking steps to "improve the working environment".

"We've seen a decline in pupil behaviour, especially truancy in classes, and physical and verbal abuse of teachers," said teacher Mark Adams, a NASUWT representative.

"My members are at risk, and we've decided enough is enough."

Mr Adams said nothing had come out of eight months of negotiations with school leaders on the issue.

"They don't seem to be taking the matter seriously," he said, and that abuse was adding to the strain on staff in a profession that is already becoming increasingly difficult.

"It's affecting the learning of the children, but also the physical and mental health of teachers at the school," he added.

"We've got a number of teachers off at present on work-related stress, and we'd rather get them back in the classroom.

"Long term we'll lose teachers, good teachers from this industry."

Strike action by staff affiliated to the NASUWT union meant Pencoedtre High School was closed to the majority of pupils on Wednesday, with another five days of strike action planned.

NASUWT's national officer in Wales, Neil Butler, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that "gangs of learners" have been "roaming the corridors" of the school.

"They've got a serious internal truancy problem," he said, and that verbal abuse had become a daily occurrence in classrooms.

"We're getting to the point where its almost accepted practice in schools and that's got to stop," he said. "Without respect for teachers there can't be learning in classrooms."

"It's also bad in other schools as well," Mr Butler said. "We've got disputes in six schools across Wales over this issue.

"We don't think employers are taking our health and safety concerns seriously enough and we will be taking action in any school that doesn't protect its teachers."

While assaults on teachers are "mercifully reasonably rare", he said they were happening.

"When physical assaults are committed on teachers we expect a robust response from employers such as permanent exclusion and the situation dealt with seriously and we're not seeing that," he said.

"We are striking because of our employer's response," said Sharron Daly, NASUWT's representative for south east Wales.

"What's happening here isn't different from any other school in Wales - what's different here is the management's response to that behaviour."

Ms Daly said teachers did not feel "empowered" by senior management to deal with troublesome behaviour, calling the lack of behaviour policy in the school "ridiculous".

"Our members are not supported by management when they try to deal with those incidents of indiscipline."

In a joint statement, the Vale of Glamorgan council and the school said they were "fully aware of the issues affecting staff and are working with the NASUWT to resolve them.

"The work taking place has been discussed with the trade union in regular meetings and includes steps to improve the working environment and update the school's behaviour policy."