by A school has paid for a petting zoo, inflatables and sports sessions to keep pupils busy while teachers walk out on “rude” behaviour. Teachers at Nantgwyn School in Tonypandy have accused the principal and management of “rewarding bad behaviour”.
Teachers described the school as a “hostile” environment where they were regularly called the c-word, sworn at and threatened. Big teenage boys have “circled” the women’s team in the corridors and in one case a boy dropped his trousers in front of a staff member, they said.
As members of the Nasuwt teaching union prepared to strike again they accused the school of failing to take action over behavior including violence, sexual abuse, threats and “multiple pickpockets” from pupils. The union said the school should have been closed if cover staff could not be arranged during the stoppage, but were paid for fun activities instead of lessons.
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The Nasuwt said the school employed Merthyr-based A&S Animal Encouters to entertain students by bringing in animals including Armadillos, snakes, meerkats and Tonyrefail-based Sporting Marvels when 35 teachers walked out on strike 9 and 10 October.
“The school introduced a bouncy castle and an assault course and a private company to run activities…the message to the children is that if you misbehave you will get bouncy castles and an afternoon off,” said Sharron Daly, Executive Nasuwt national for the area covering Nantgwyn School.
Teachers, who did not want to be named because of the retaliation, said it was a “heartbreaking and disappointing” thing to come into work. They said they were walking out after months of talks that they had failed to see an effective behavior policy introduced at the school.
One person said: “Swearing has become a regular occurrence, we’ve had staff bags stolen from students, female staff faced sexual language from male students, and many staff and students felt threatened and intimidated by other students . Nothing had any effect on this solution, but the action of Nasuwt and a collective refusal to teach aggressive students.
“Homophobic comments have been made to staff which have not been dealt with again. In addition, there was a physical attack with students throwing chairs at staff and throwing tables.
“The students are getting away with everything, there are no consequences. We all know that children will push boundaries, but they are being set up for failure later in life if we don’t correct these behaviors and we make our students responsible for their actions.
“Management don’t get this. They are redacting the teachers’ reports of aggressive behavior and even intimidating younger members of staff to downgrade the seriousness of the incidents.”
Teachers said the following are among the incidents they experience at Nantgwn School:
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Throw chairs and other things on them
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Being pressured and “circled” by older teenage boys.
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Being under oath on a regular basis
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Homophobic abuse
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Drought in the school that disturbs
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In one case a male teenager dropped his trousers in front of a female teacher and another called a teacher a “fat chancel c***”.
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A teacher receiving an abusive, sexual email from a male student
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Truancy at school
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Fights among students
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Vaping around the site unchallenged by students
Ms Daly said the school was only able to hold a few GCSE classes on the strike days of October 9 and 10 and most pupils were sent to the out-of-schedule sessions in the sports hall during the outings. She said Sporting Marvels, which describes itself on its website as a Christian charity based in the Rhondda and Mini Mayhem Soft, a bouncy castle hire firm based in Tonyrefail, were brought in on the first day of strike action and a zoo petting company and Mini Mayhem on. the second day.
Teachers said the situation at the 1,000+-pupil all-age school is so bad that it is affecting their home life and some are looking for jobs elsewhere. The union said behavior was so bad it was not safe for staff or pupils, many of whom want to learn and their education is being disrupted.
One teacher accused the school and the local education authority of failing to act for fear of adversely affecting their exclusion and attendance data.
“The current situation in the school is extremely hostile. The students threw chairs at the staff and attacked each other, which the senior leadership team does not deal with,” said the teacher.
“Senior staff have fostered a culture of blaming teachers where we are intimidated into downgrading serious behavior issues to make behavior figures look better than they should.
“The school is a very stressful place and many of the staff are feeling unhappy and sick when they think about what they could be blamed for or intimidated into changing records for that day .”
Describing a recent day at the school, the union said one of its members experienced the worst case of verbal abuse in 30 years of teaching: “Two students were trashing a lesson. When a senior teacher came to class 10 minutes late, our member told the students they would lose 10 minutes of their lunch to make up the time.
“One of the students exploded with anger, swore repeatedly, called our member a “fat chancel c***” in front of the whole class several times. He then proceeded to knock on the door, continuing to swear.
“The senior member of staff managed to get the student out through the door, but all the while he continued to swear and shout the same unfortunate words. A short time later the student returned to class and did the same thing, swearing again and banging on the door.”
The Nasuwt said that other strike days are set for November 6, 13, 27 and 28 and nine dates through December, January and February that the school has resolved the matter.
Nantgwyn School responds:
When asked about the school’s behavior and the costs of student activities on strike days, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, on behalf of the school, said: “School leaders and senior council officers have engaged positively and productively with Nasuwt and his members. It is disappointing that the dispute continues despite everyone’s efforts to resolve it.
“The school already has a behavior policy in place, which was the focus of the consultation. Following feedback from Nasuwt on behalf of its members, proposed amendments to this policy were undertaken to address issues of concern. We hope that, after further consultation, any other issues will be resolved.”
The council said there was a positive inspection of the school in April 2023, and no major concerns about learner behavior were identified. Estyn noted that, as a result of a new behavior system, the behavior of almost all primary-age pupils is consistently good and that many secondary school pupils behave well.
The statement continued: “NASUWT formally raised further concerns in December 2023 with the school, and in February 2024 with the council. Since then, many improvements have been made, resulting in better student behavior and participation, which Nasuwt members have recognized. The school is committed to continuing these improvements.
“Recent staff training sessions on improving student behavior received positive feedback. We hope that further review of behavior policies will ensure consistency in managing the challenging behavior of a minority of learners.
“It is important to recognize the positive behavior and dedication of the majority of students and the school’s commitment to inclusive education. We will continue to work with Nasuwt and its members to resolve all outstanding issues.
“The wellbeing of our learners and workforce is paramount and the claim that Nasuwt members were targeted is refuted in the strongest possible terms.”
“Regarding the sporting Marvels – There is an ongoing arrangement between the school and Sporting Marvels throughout the year.”
The Nasuwt said further strike days are set for November 6, 13, 27 and 28 and nine dates through December, January and February if the situation is not resolved.
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