(UK) E. Yorkshire: More teachers attacked by students; lack of SPED support blamed

Feb 15, 2019, Hull Live: More pupils are attacking East Yorkshire teachers as unions blame government cuts https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/education/more-pupils-attacking-east-yorkshire-2549846 More teachers are being attacked by their own pupils in East Yorkshire. Permanent exclusions from primary and secondary schools have almost doubled in three years, while attacks on other students have also risen sharply over the same period. A teacher's union has blamed government cuts and a shortage of teachers on the increase in exclusions and attacks. … The report revealed 41 pupils were indefinitely barred from primary and secondary schools in East Riding in 2017/18 - up from 21 in 2015/16. Meanwhile, 26 students have been permanently excluded in the current school year since September 2018 up to February 5. The main reasons given for permanent exclusions in the East Riding last year were persistent disruptive behaviour and physical assaults against teachers and school staff. Physical assaults against both pupils and staff led to 18 permanent and 413 temporary exclusions in 2017/18 - up from 9 and 322 the previous year…. There has also been an increase in fixed term exclusions - pupils that are temporarily suspended - with a 60 per cent rise between 2015/16 (1,456) and 2017/18 (2,336). Persistent disruptive behaviour made up almost half of the fixed term exclusions in the past school year (1,040), but most alarmingly there were 416 incidents of verbal abuse and threatening behaviour towards staff…. Damian Walenta, East Riding secretary of the National Education Union, said: "The fact that exclusions for persistent disruptive behaviour have doubled in the last two years may seem shocking, but anyone in education will be able to point to the causes. "Higher pupil to teacher ratios mean that teachers are struggling to manage classes of up to 34 or 35 students in some instances, while the massive reduction in support staff over the last few years mean that many students with emotional and behavioural difficulties now don't have that extra support to help manage their behaviour…. "Outside of the classroom, access to support for mental health and pastoral issues has also been cut in many schools. This lack of critical staff affects the whole learning and teaching environment and all students lose out. However, he said that nationally across England, an increase in the number of pupils being permanently excluded from school is being seen year on year. …