Rise in unruly pupils after Covid lockdown prompts fears concrete crisis could make it worse

Schools have seen a rise in difficult behaviour from children since the pandemic and governors warn the closure of classrooms over crumbling concrete will only make problems worse.

A survey of school trustees and governors of English state schools found that over half had seen more exclusions and safeguarding concerns, such as domestic abuse, neglect and bullying, among students in the past year.

Some 68 per cent reported an increase in challenging pupil behaviour, with respondents blaming the lasting impact of Covid lockdowns. Around 23 per cent of respondents had also seen an increase in permanent exclusions.

Safeguarding issues have been on the rise since the pandemic, the National Governance Association (NGA), which carried out the annual survey, said. In 2018, just 23 per cent of school managers said safeguarding was one of the most important issues, but by 2022, 71 per cent reported rising concerns.

Sam Henson, director of policy and communications at the NGA, said the impact of schools closing due to crumbling concrete would exacerbate the existing problems.

“We find ourselves in a precarious situation where a long-standing problem is now forcing some schools to shut their doors to children and young people who have already endured a lack of face-to-face learning during their one shot at schooling due to lockdowns,” he said.

He continued: “It is no coincidence that as attendance issues rise, so do safeguarding concerns. We are witnessing an increase in the number of pupils permanently excluded from school, with almost a quarter of our respondents reporting this troubling trend. For those who have also seen a significant uptick in safeguarding concerns over the past year, this figure climbs to 38 per cent.”

Over a third of those surveyed (37 per cent) said that their school buildings were not in good condition. Mr Henson said the Raac concrete crisis only “scratched the surface of the deep-seated concerns that governors and trustees harbour regarding the state of our school facilities”.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan ordered more than 100 schools and colleges to make either full or partial closures last week after she received new evidence regarding Raac and its risk of collapse.

Some 147 schools have been affected by Raac so far, with 19 forced to delay the start of term. Four have had to switch to remote learning for all students and another 20 have had to offer some form of remote learning.

The annual National Governance Association survey spoke to 2,695 people.

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.