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.”
