The Covid lockdowns appear to have been a tipping point in relation to many of our schools. For example, Welsh school staff and learners have recently featured in news headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In relation to the behaviour of school staff, our starting point is the website of the Education Workforce Council Wales (EWC). EWC regulates education practitioners across schools, further education, youth work, and work-based adult learning. EWC maintain a Register of Education Practitioners eligible to practise in schools, further education, youth work, and work-based adult learning. They also publish a Code of Professional Conduct and Practice which sets out the “standards expected of those registered”. The recent allegations, findings, and decisions of all the hearings held are published by the EWC and can be viewed on their website. Although historical case summaries do not appear to be available to the public via the EWC website search function, we have been able to identify the following examples from secondary sources:
Examples of School Staff Whose Conduct Fell below Professional Standards
- Teaching assistant David McGuire “crossed professional boundaries” when he followed a schoolboy into a public toilet during a trip.
- Primary school teacher Angela Simonson was struck off after a panel heard she was falling down drunk, knocked a child over, and left an open can of beer in her classroom.
- High school teacher Alexander Price was struck off for at least two years for writing a gossip blog about his school, describing girls as dressing like “Eastern European prostitutes and Kardashian clones”.
- College media teacher Richard Lewis was banned after swearing repeatedly in class and calling one student a “paedophile” because “he had an after-school job as a children’s swimming teacher”. The disciplinary panel issued a “prohibition order striking him from the teaching register for three years”.
Other staff banned from working in Wales’ schools by the EWC include:
- “School learning support worker Joshua Heseltine-Smith was banned from the classroom for two years after hugging a child, asking a child if they wanted to sit on his lap and leaving children unattended during swimming lessons and in a school resource base”.
- School learning support worker Johanna Strong was struck off for misconduct. “She made derogatory comments about children integrating into mainstream saying ‘What’s the point? He’s never going to work with his peers’. Ms Strong also imitated jerky head and/or shoulder movements when talking about the communication abilities of a child”.
- Lecturer Stuart Ford was banned from teaching after “showering a former student with gifts and money in the hope of having sex with her”.
- Learning support worker Amanda Jayne Griffiths was banned from the classroom after it was found that “she allowed a child to have contact with someone she knew, or ought reasonably to have known was a registered sex offender.”
Two far more serious cases of serious misconduct by senior members of the teaching profession surfaced in 2024.
Paedophile Teacher and Headteacher Jailed (Wales)
The first case, from March 2024, concerned historical offences.
A retired teacher has been jailed for 20 years after he sexually abused two boys in the 1970s. Gareth Rogers, 77, of Commercial Road, Newport, who taught history at the city’s Caerleon Comprehensive School, was found guilty after a trial of six charges. They were one count of a serious sexual assault and five of indecent assault. Jurors at Newport Crown Court heard how the defendant was nicknamed ‘Randy Rogers’ by pupils because of his behaviour.
The gravity of Rogers’ offending behaviour was revealed during the trial:
They were told that girls at Caerleon Comprehensive School had tried to raise a petition against him over claims he enjoyed looking up their skirts as they walked up and down a stairwell.
Rogers was a convicted paedophile who had convictions which post-dated the offences in this case. In 1997 he was guilty of indecently assaulting two girls aged under 14. In February 2014, Rogers was convicted of indecently assaulting two boys in the 1980s and in March 2014, he was convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage girls … had previous convictions for 10 offences that involved six victims.
And another case from May 2024:
Neil Foden, 66, of Old Colwyn was found guilty of 19 charges, including 12 of sexual activity with a child. In addition, he was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, possessing indecent photographs of a child for show, and the sexual assault of a child under 13.
Equally concerning is that:
Judge Rowlands criticised Cyngor Gwynedd (Gwynedd Council) for not investigating concerns about Foden meeting girls alone as far back as 2019. He said, ‘It does appear to me that when real concerns were raised with the council in 2019 they were dismissed’.
‘No note was even taken of anything that was said. We now know he continued to offend. That’s very concerning indeed’. In July 2024, Foden, who was head of one Gwynedd school and strategic head of another … was jailed for 17 years.
In October 2024, the Gwynedd Council leader, who initially refused to apologise to the victims of a paedophile head teacher, resigned.
Paedophile Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher Convicted (England)
In England, "The headteacher of a primary school who had a haul of child abuse material, including a paedophile manual and over one million indecent images, has been jailed for six years. Thomas Singleton, 41 [from Suffolk], was also one of the safeguarding leads at the school [emphasis added]".
In a second example, a Wakefield High School assistant headteacher and safeguarding lead [emphasis added] was convicted of 11,500 child abuse images and banned from the profession indefinitely.
The NASUWT and the Global Agenda
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) Wales represents teachers and headteachers in Wales. The NASUWT has made a Climate Change and Sustainability Position Statement. Within this statement, they say, “The NASUWT is committed to working with organisations nationally and internationally to support the work of teachers in promoting education for climate justice and sustainable development”. Additionally, they state, “NASUWT members, activists and staff have a key role to play in securing our commitment to environmental sustainability and climate justice and to be a net zero carbon union by 2050”.
NASUWT also has a Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy in England.
There can be no doubt that NASUWT support the implementation of UNESCO Globalist policy in the form of education for sustainable development in both Welsh and English schools.
The NASUWT Behaviour in Schools Report
In September 2023, the NASUWT published a report: ‘Behaviour in Schools’. This report was developed in response to data gathered from the Union’s Big Question survey, alongside statistics taken from casework records. NASUWT Wales published a seven-page document: ‘Behaviour in Wales’ Schools - Key Messages’. In response to the main report, NASUWT Wales conducted an online survey, which 373 members completed.
- 38% of respondents experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils.
- 95% experienced verbal abuse or violence from pupils.
- Backchat and rudeness were the most common behaviours, reported by 98% of respondents.
- 91% were sworn at by pupils.
With regard to physical violence:
- 12% of teachers were hit or punched.
- 9% were kicked.
- 43% were shoved or barged.
- 4% were spat at.
- 2% were headbutted.
Specific experiences include teachers having chairs and other items thrown at them, as well as a teacher being subjected to misogynistic comments and intimidation. When asked how behaviour management policies are being used, 9/10 (92%) stated their school has such a policy. When asked if that policy is enforced:
- 5% said always.
- 32% said usually.
- 46% said sometimes.
- 15% said rarely.
- 2% said never.
According to the survey responses, the factors affecting pupil behaviour are as follows:
- 69% said poor socialisation skills following Covid restrictions.
- Two-thirds (65%) stated the use of restorative behaviour programmes that are ineffective.
- More than half of respondents (61%) identified a lack of proper policies and procedures to deter unacceptable behaviour.
- 49% stated lack of support from their Senior Management Team (SMT) for classroom teachers.
The NASUWT feel that Welsh Government need to “adequately fund behaviour support services in all educational settings as a matter of urgency, to enable pupils with behavioural needs to receive the support they deserve”.
At a governmental level in England and Wales, there is already published guidance in relation to pupil behaviour management. For example, in Wales, ‘Behaviour Management in the Classroom: Guidance for Secondary Schools’ was published by the Welsh Government as far back as 2012.
The guidance in England was updated in February 2024: ‘DFED Behaviour in Schools: Advice for Headteachers and School Staff’. The NASUWT website even has a page dedicated to resources for Behaviour Management for Teachers in the Classroom:
In our own small survey of six South Wales high schools, to be published in the next article of this series, we found evidence of schools using pupil isolation and fixed term exclusions in relation to pupil behaviour that fell below prescribed standards. Each of these schools were found to have a pupil behaviour policy in place. However, we did find evidence of one school that was making regular use of fixed term exclusions whilst failing to observe the correct procedures as laid down by the Welsh Government.
High Numbers of Learners in Wales Being Excluded Due to Poor Behaviour
It is difficult to quantify the number of teaching days lost in Wales due to permanent and fixed term exclusion. However, an article published in January 2024, ‘All the children expelled and excluded from schools in Wales last term and the reasons why’, revealed some worrying statistics. For example, “64 children are known to have been permanently expelled by their schools between September and November 2023 … A further 5,112 fixed term exclusions (FTE) were reported by councils providing information, but again this figure is likely to be higher”.
It is difficult to quantify the number of teaching days lost in Wales due to permanent and fixed term exclusion. However, an article published in January 2024, ‘All the children expelled and excluded from schools in Wales last term and the reasons why’, revealed some worrying statistics. For example, “64 children are known to have been permanently expelled by their schools between September and November 2023 … A further 5,112 fixed term exclusions (FTE) were reported by councils providing information, but again this figure is likely to be higher”.
According to local councils in Wales, “persistent disruptive behaviour and assaulting an adult or pupil were by far the most usual reasons schools permanently or temporarily excluded children [although] school leaders blame worsening levels of behaviour since the pandemic”. Most of the behaviour problems reported occur in “secondary school with the highest number of exclusions and FTEs in years 7 to 11”.
Fixed Term Exclusions in Wales
A separate secondary source claimed that “school exclusions have hit record levels in Wales … There were more than thirty thousand fixed term exclusions — of less than five days — according to school census figures for the year 2022-23”. The primary reason for exclusions were given as “verbal abuse, threats to staff and persistent disruptive behaviour”.
We suspect that the figures for the 2023-24 academic year will prove to be higher. When combined with the statistics for unauthorised absences, we suspect that these statistics will make grim reading.
Two Examples from Wales and England of Initiatives to Get Truanting Children Back to the Classroom
The Ammanford Incident – April 2024
In relation to getting truanting children back to school: ‘Welsh Government announces a new £8.5m plan’. The funds would be used to employ more family engagement officers (FEOs), with the main purpose of FEOs being to “help build relationships between schools and families”.
In England, an initiative of Devon County Council threatened schools with a £21,000 fine for every pupil excluded. The reason for this approach was to “keep children and young people in school rather than to pass the financial burden into the local authority”.
In April 2024 it emerged that “a 13-year-old girl had been charged with three counts of attempted murder after two teachers and a teenager were stabbed”. The incident happened at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, in Carmarthenshire. Situated at Ammanford, it is a comprehensive school with students aged between 11 and 18. “In 2014 further extensions and refurbishment work was carried out under the 21st Century Schools Programme [emphasis added] which included a new 6th form common room, library, staff workrooms, science laboratories, and a reception area”.
The girl had been “briefly excluded from the 1,500-pupil comprehensive school after being caught with a vegetable knife in her bag at the start of the school year”. Just prior to this shocking event, the girl had been challenged for wearing the “incorrect school uniform”. In January 2025, the girl was “found guilty of attempting to murder two teachers and a pupil”. Following the verdict, “Judge Paul Thomas KC told the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that he would adjourn sentencing until 28 April for the preparation of pre-sentence reports, including a psychology report”. At Swansea Crown Court, “Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced her to 15 years' detention, of which half is to be spent on remand. Sentencing the girl, the judge said he did not believe she had shown genuine remorse for her actions”.
It was previously alleged that “the 'troubled' and 'unhappy' girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly pushed to 'breaking point' after being bullied at school without any consequence for her tormentors [emphasis added], according to remarks reported to have been made by her father”. According to the girl’s father, “When you have somebody of authority who is pushing down on you and they are not listening [emphasis added] and you are getting constantly bullied, everyone is going to have a breaking point and she got to her breaking point, I believe”.
The Abersychan Comprehensive School Incident
In early December 2024, Abrsychan Comprehensive School, with just under 1,000 pupils aged 11-16, faced chaos. It was revealed that “a pupil smashed a window then threatened a teacher with a ‘dagger-sized’ shard of glass”. The pupil concerned had been excluded.
NASUWT national executive member Sharron Daly said, “There is a large group of year 11 pupils - 15-year-olds - who are excluded from lessons and refusing to follow instructions, roaming the school kicking doors and being defiant”. An article published on the NASUWT website, ‘Striking Teachers Protest at the Senedd over Pupil Behaviour’ stated: “On Thursday 12th December, members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, at Ysgol Nantgwyn, Rhondda Cynon Taff, and Ysgol Abersychan in Pontypool will take strike action over poor pupil behaviour and will be taking their protest to the steps of the Senedd”. Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, said,
Both Nantgwyn and Abersychan are examples of teachers losing patience with the employer as they have failed in their duty of care. They have turned to their Union to seek to protect them from verbal and physical abuse in the workplace because their employer is failing to do so … It is also now a wider issue than this. It exists in Wales and beyond and we need the Welsh Government to step up.
If we refer back to the NASUWT Wales published document ‘Behaviour in Wales’ Schools - Key Messages’ it was claimed that “more than half of respondents identified lack of proper policies and procedures to deter unacceptable behaviour (61%)”.
The lack of adequate policies does not appear to apply in relation to Abersychan Comprehensive School or Ysgol Nantgwyn, Tonypandy. Their policies are available for inspection via the links below.
- Abersychan School, ‘Believe to Succeed’ Behaviour for Learning Policy, Summer 2024-25
- Ysgol Nantgwyn, Behaviour Policy, 2024–2025
Examination of the above behaviour policies reveals that both schools use a points-based system. They also make reference to the fact that when positive and negative points are awarded that teachers record these on Class Charts.
What Is Class Charts?
TES Class Charts is classroom management software. It allows teachers to issue behaviour points in a simple “Two Click” process. The Class Charts “behaviours” feature can be customised to match individual school policies. The Class Charts “influences” feature allows swift creation of classroom seating plans based on how pupils interact with each other. Pupils who accumulate too many negatives can be separated easily.
Behaviour thresholds are set within the software. These can relate to either low level disruptions [emphasis added] or relate to positive behaviours. Once thresholds are met, a series of pre-determined actions are triggered in ‘real-time’. The software allows instant access to individual student behaviour profiles and attendance records, provides for homework tracking, records, detentions, etc. It can also create management statistics and reports on a daily, weekly, or term basis. We understand that parents/carers can download the corresponding app for their Android or Apple ‘smart’ phones.
A fuller flavour of how schools make use of TES Class Charts can be obtained by watching this video. Our investigation revealed that the Class Charts software was being utilised in the majority of schools that we investigated.
Micromanagement of Pupil Behaviour by Computer Software Could Lead to Injustices
It is not difficult to imagine how injustices could result from the use of such a behaviour management system. For example, hypothetical Child A is talking in class. The teacher mistakenly believes the culprit to be Child X. Teacher issues a negative point. Child X objects and says it wasn’t him. The teacher issues a second negative point for answering back. Teacher tells Child X to keep quiet. Child X asserts that he is an innocent party. Teacher issues another negative point; this time, it’s for defiance.
Within the behaviour policy of two schools in the Vale of Glamorgan, we identified the concept of ‘Crossing the Red Line’. In the example above, the ‘three negative points’ threshold has been breached: a ‘Crossing the Red Line’ moment. The behaviour policy states:
The concept of the ‘red line’ has been devised to signal to students that a member of staff has a serious concern about a student’s behaviour and to give students an opportunity to self-regulate before an incident escalates into something more serious. A ‘red line’ may be given when:
The student has seriously challenged the dignity of a member of staff or another student at which point the teacher issues a ‘Crossing the Red Line’.
Therefore, learners protesting their innocence may be perceived by the teacher as 'answering back' and challenging the teacher's dignity.
In our hypothetical scenario, Child B intervenes in defence of Child X, and also receives a negative point. In this simple example, it is easy to see how a misunderstanding over a minor issue could quickly escalate into a ‘Crossing the Red Line’ moment. This could in turn lead to either isolation and possibly exclusion of Child X. We have been provided with evidence that similar events of mistaken identity and wrongful exclusion have actually happened in practice.
In some instances, we suspect that when a child is either placed in isolation or excluded from school that they could receive further punishment at home by angry parents/carers who believe the school’s version of events. This would be more likely if parents/carers are contacted at work and asked to immediately remove their child from school. The unintended consequences of such an event might also result in the lowering of children’s self-esteem and confidence. In addition, it could also undermine their trust in teachers and of the school itself. We suspect that it might also act as a deterrent to learners ‘speaking out’ if they witness bullying or inappropriate behaviour by teachers against fellow learners.
We have to ask: Could there be potential child protection issues to consider? The following two examples from Wales illustrate this obvious danger.
Example 1: 'Head of Year and Drama Teacher Charged with Sexually Abusing Boy’
A Clear Case of Double Standards in Relation to Behaviour in Welsh Schools
In March 2025, “emergency services were called to St Joseph's Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre in [Port Talbot], South Wales [emphasis added], after the violent assault”. The headteacher allegedly attacked his deputy with a spanner in front of shocked pupils over a love triangle involving a female teacher.
At his trial, it was found that "Felton hid the wrench under his coat when he went to Mr Pyke's office at the 800-pupil St Joseph's Catholic School to discuss an email from a parent. But when another teacher left the room, Felton swung the wrench while Mr Pyke's back was turned - hitting him on the head and knocking him to the floor". The whole incident was captured on the school's CCTV.
The court heard that "Felton believed Mr Pyke had slept with another teacher with whom he had recently been in a relationship - and also found out he was the father of her child." Mr Felton's "wife Maria ... is an RSE [Relationships and Sexuality Education] co-ordinator at the [same] school”.
The judge sentenced him at Swansea Crown Court to two years and four months in jail. It didn’t escape our attention that Paul Thomas KC was the same judge who had earlier presided over the Amanford stabbing trial, where he imposed a sentence of “15 years' detention” on the 14-year-old girl.
With a headmaster exhibiting such appalling behaviour towards his own deputy, one might ask: how did this headmaster act towards his own pupils at the school?
School Ordered to Write a Letter of Apology and Update Its Behaviour Policy
The answer is not difficult to identify, because recently:
... a school has been ordered to apologise to a pupil and his parents and update its behaviour policy after a tribunal found it had discriminated against him. An Education Tribunal Wales hearing concluded that St Joseph's Catholic School in Port Talbot [emphasis added] failed to reasonably support Kian Mills and discriminated against him in the way it applied its behaviour policy. His mother had claimed that ‘his ADHD and dyslexia weren't taken into consideration‘.
The tribunal heard that "matters came to a head in June 2024 when [the boy’s mother] was called in to be told their son, then 14, would receive another spell in isolation. She said that to that point, Kian had had more than 250 sanctions, including exclusions, isolations and detentions during two years at the school and 'enough was enough’”.
The letter of apology from the school, dated 26 January 2025, was signed by Dr. Felton, Headteacher. We understand from the parents in this case that they had followed the usual school complaints procedures yet were unable to resolve the matter. This resulted in them placing the matter before an Education Tribunal. It appears to us that a letter of apology from the headmaster and a requirement that the school update its behaviour policy are of little consolation to parents whose child had more than 250 sanctions imposed against him and his education ‘trashed’.
Less than one month after the headmaster of St Joseph's Catholic School in Port Talbot issued a letter of apology, it was reported that ‘Wales' “strictest headteacher” brings in Saturday detentions for pupils’.
The headmaster of the 1,300-pupil Caldicot School in Monmouthshire, South Wales, admitted that “other forms of discipline at the school to deal with bad behaviour hadn't been effective”. Therefore, the school had introduced other “creative ways of disciplining pupils. These included Saturday detentions and on some occasions asking their parents to attend class and sit next to them”. Additionally, learners who misbehaved could be required to carry out “supervised litter picking”.
This school had previously hit the headlines in September 2022 “for taking 50 pupils out of class in one day for not wearing the correct uniform and in June last year some parents claimed up to 200 girls at the school had also been told they couldn't attend class because their skirts were too short“. Apparently, “Mr Ebenezer has made a name for himself as one of the toughest disciplinarians in British secondary education”. In a second source, headteacher Alun Ebenezer, claimed that his school has “zero-tolerance [sic] towards defiance.” In other words, ‘do as you’re told or else’.
An incident in England 8 years ago was triggered by a school enforcing a strict new uniform policy: ‘Police called after school sends 50 pupils home over “wrong uniform”’. According to the report:
... police had to be called to a furious parent protest after 50 children were sent home on their first day back at school for wearing the wrong uniform ... Police officers were called to Hartsdown Academy, in Margate, Kent as tensions escalated during a two-hour stand-off at the school gates. Angry parents criticised the headteacher for his handling of the situation, which they branded ‘Gestapo-like’ ... The headteacher defended the uniform policy.
Zero Tolerance Behaviour Policies Might Be the Cause of Mass School Isolations, Exclusions, and Worsening Learner Behaviour in School
In 2019, Birmingham City University published ‘Zero Tolerance Policies Cause Anger Not Reflection’. Dr Elizabeth Nassem, founder of the Bullied Voices anti-bullying consultancy writes:
Zero tolerance involves instilling a hierarchy of punishments to misbehaving children, for example first giving the child a warning, followed by a second warning and then detention. If detention didn’t improve behaviour, which often it did not, then the child could be placed in isolation. This involves placing children in small secluded booths sitting alone, segregated from other pupils for several days, and even weeks.
Schools such as St Joseph's Catholic School in Port Talbot that imposed over 250 sanctions on a 14-year-old with “ADHD and dyslexia” should take note of Dr. Nassem’s findings: "Once these children are identified as misbehaving, they become increasingly targeted and subject to a vicious cycle of punishments. The victimisation that these children feel can lead to them becoming increasingly resentful and hostile towards their teachers and other pupils [emphasis added]”. Could this have been a potential ‘trigger’ to the Ammanford stabbing and other serious incidents in schools?
In relation to children with learning disabilities, Dr Nassem points out that "zero tolerance policies are often targeted at working-class male children, particularly those who are from deprived backgrounds and have learning disabilities or special educational needs [emphasis added]’.
In England, the Mayor of Hackney slams ‘Zero-Tolerance Behaviour Policies in Schools’. “She understood why there was a need for bold and firm lines to protect teachers and children, but any child with special educational needs is going to fall foul of a zero-tolerance policy at one point or another”. Her comments followed remarks from David Davies, divisional secretary for the local National Education Union (NEU) branch, who criticised the recent media appearance by a “famous academy head advocating for a ‘no excuses’ approach to behaviour”.
On 22 March 2025, NASUWT published 'Behaviour Crisis in Wales deepen as as teachers report pupil violence and negative impact on health.' It appears that "violent incidents in schools have more than doubled in the last three years. 35.5% of teachers had experienced physical abuse or violence from learners in the last year, and 92% had experienced verbal abuse”. Neil Butler, National Official for Wales, says:
We now face a moment of reckoning. The Welsh school system must be overhauled to reflect pupils’ increasingly complex needs. We need more specialist education facilities, and mainstream schools require significant resources and funding to put into place robust behaviour policies and increased lower level support for affected pupils.
We look forward to working with the government at the upcoming <em>Behaviour Summit</em> [emphasis added] to put into place world-leading measures to tackle the urgent and unsustainable level of violence and aggression in our schools.
We ask: Will the upcoming Behaviour Summit consider or ignore the potential impact Zero Tolerance Behaviour Policies may have played in relation to the current behaviour crisis confronting schools in Wales?
In the next article in this series, we will examine the official statistics published by Welsh Government in relation to the rapidly increasing levels of school absenteeism, fixed term exclusions, and pupil isolations.
