"I don't want people to believe Jersey students are terribly behaved"

Monday 01 October 2018

A senior education official has praised the behaviour of the majority of local school-children, after an official survey revealed one-in-ten teachers has been physically attacked by a pupil, and more than a third abused verbally.

Seán O’Regan, Group Director of Education at Children, Young People, Education and Skill (CYPES), said that a majority of teachers said their pupils' behaviour was either good or very good, and the problems were being caused by a small group of regular offenders.

Released on Friday, the 2017-2018 Annual Teachers' Survey showed that teachers are facing increasing levels of abuse from students and parents alike.

38% of the 500 teachers who responded to the survey said they had been verbally abused by a pupil in the past year, while roughly one-in-four experienced verbal abuse from a parent. In the previous survey, only 28% of teachers had reported verbal abuse.

In addition, 14% of teachers said they had been threatened of physical harm by a pupil, with 8% reporting actually being physically attacked by pupils. 6% of teachers also reported receiving abuse or having allegations made against them by pupils on social media.

Pictured: Teachers were asked if they had received abuse in the past twelve months as part of the survey.

Mr O'Regan said that while the figures were a "real concern" for his department, the picture is not as bad as it might look.

"The very reason for having the survey is to find out what teachers experience. We speak to headteachers, the unions and teachers themselves regularly, but the survey enables us to get all of them," he told Express.

"We wanted to know if they experience abuse and of course the figures are a real concern. But if you look at the big picture, 67% of teachers said their pupils' behaviour was good or very good."

Mr O'Regan says that while there has been a large number of reports of abuse, they relate to a small group of individuals.. "What we have found out is that there is a very small number of pupils who do it to a number of teachers. I don't want people to believe Jersey students are terribly behaved.

"There hasn't been any permanent exclusion in the past 12 years. We may have had a few temporary ones, for a day or more, but no one has been removed from a school. There is no area in the UK that can say the same."

Pictured: Teachers have been reporting more incidents since a common database was introduced.

He also explained that the Education Department's latest figures have risen compared to 2016 because it has gotten "much better at recording incidents." They now use a common database where teachers can report what has happened to them, which may have prompted more to disclose incidents they might have brushed off previously.

Mr O'Regan explained: "Previously, teachers might have thought, 'What's the point in reporting this incident?' Now they know we take it very seriously, which might be why the figures have gone up a bit. We have gotten better at reporting and recording and this helps us identify patterns of behaviour."

The results of the survey will be taken into account by the department to help reduce the number of incidents. But Mr O'Regan says work is already in place to do so. He explained that the focus in on children and that each incident is treated on a "case by case" basis to find the root of the children's behaviour. "We work hard to be inclusive," he said.

Pictured: Senator Tracy Vallois, the Education Minister, wants all teachers to be trained in the "Positive Parenting Programme."

Known as 'Triple P', the 'Positive Parenting Programme' has also been introduced to a number of schools. It is described as "a parenting and family support system designed to prevent behavioural and emotional problems in children and teenagers." A number of people have already received the training, and the Education Minister, Senator Tracy Vallois, aims to bring a proposal to the States for all teachers to be trained.

Mr O'Regan said: "Teaching is a hard job and parenting is a hard job. The programme is about teachers working hand-in-hand with parents to provide the best outcome for children. The focus is on the children because we want to do the right thing for them."