Delegates at the National Education Union conference in Brighton voted for a motion calling for a national campaign to reduce violence in schools. According to Daily Mail - Home, Charlotte Lawrence described staff being grabbed, kicked, punched, spat at, cornered in classrooms, and subjected to threats. A teacher friend was beaten to the ground by a student and kicked 14 times while on the floor, leaving her traumatized, Laura Ann Watford said.
The motion called for a comprehensive survey of members' experience of violence in schools, promoting practices that support pupil wellbeing while managing behavior. It also called for the union to lobby for a national framework for school safety, training for members on de-escalation, and the establishment of a violence in schools task force. An NEU survey of 10,715 members found two in three teachers said bad behavior by pupils regularly disrupts learning in lessons at school.
Staff are being grabbed, kicked, punched, spat at, cornered in classrooms, subjected to threats and left managing corridors that feel more like crowd control than education, and pupils are suffering too.
Specific incidents include a member left with bruises and bites due to a pupil exhibiting violent behavior in her class, Susan Kent reported. Amy-Jane Clarke said 60% of female members have wanted to leave working in education due to experiencing violence and misogyny. Some members had been injured with objects being thrown at them, being spat at, scratched, and kicked; many had experienced misogynistic comments, Clarke added.
According to Daily Mail - Home, Charlotte Lawrence described children being assaulted by peers, witnessing frightening incidents, and trying to learn in environments where emotional dysregulation becomes the norm because there aren't enough staff or resources to intervene early or safely. Pupils should not be blamed for the increase in violent behavior; the rise is often due to unmet needs, mental health challenges, and unrecognized trauma, Lawrence argued. Teachers were far more likely to report behavior regularly disrupting learning than before the pandemic.
Children are being assaulted by peers, witnessing frightening incidents and trying to learn in environments where emotional dysregulation becomes the norm because there aren't enough staff or resources to intervene early or safely.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, criticized the government's record on schools, accusing Labour of letting down children and failing to deliver on education promises. He said 65% of NEU members who voted Labour in 2024 now say they will not do so again. Kebede argued that changes to Ofsted were just a rebranding exercise, children are still trapped in a culture of high-stakes testing, and the special educational needs system overhaul is destined to fail without greater investment. The Department for Education will provide schools and colleges with £1.6 billion over three years to improve inclusion, with further funding for local authorities and teacher training.
The NEU passed a motion to oppose Reform UK, claiming it is racist, fascist, and Far Right. The motion committed the union to distribute anti-racist teaching materials as part of a campaign to stop Reform UK taking power. It called on teachers to campaign actively against Reform UK in the forthcoming local elections and encourage school-based anti-deportation campaigns. According to Daily Mail - News, Emma Farthing described asking Reform members to justify how their party isn't homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic and racist.
It should surprise no one that the Green party now commands the greatest support among NEU members. People are not volatile – they are responding to what they see, and to what they do not.
Teachers are by law required to be politically impartial in the classroom but allowed to be politically active in their private lives. Suella Braverman launched a scathing attack on the NEU after it passed a motion against Reform UK, accusing teachers of crossing the line into extremism. According to Daily Mail - News, Chris McGovern described the NEU delegates who passed this motion as carnivorous sheep and the real fascists, and said most parents will be appalled that classrooms are to be turned into platforms for political indoctrination and brainwashing.
The union also vowed to campaign to legalise the Palestine Action group, which was proscribed under terror laws last year. In February, the High Court ruled that the ban on Palestine Action was unlawful, but it remains in place to allow the government a chance to appeal. Delegates at the NEU conference voted in favour of a motion calling on the union executive to oppose censorship in school libraries. A Salford school ordered dozens of classic titles be removed from shelves, including George Orwell's 1984 and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Index on Censorship reported. The school denied books had been banned and said they were moved into age-appropriate categories. According to Sky News - Home, Laura Butterworth described hearing many accounts from librarians in her district of them having to take art books off the shelves because they have historic paintings and sculptures of nudes.
Sixty-five per cent of NEU members who voted Labour in 2024 now tell us they will not do so again. That is not a statistic to be dismissed or explained away. It is a warning. And history teaches us that warnings ignored become consequences.
You cannot promise inclusion whilst you starve the services that make inclusion real.
The intolerant, authoritarian and anti-democratic NEU delegates who passed this motion are carnivorous sheep. They are the real fascists.
Most parents will be appalled that classrooms are to be turned into platforms for political indoctrination and brainwashing.
If you are a Reform member… I'd like you to justify how your party isn't homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic and racist.
Any move to censor books in school libraries based on misinformation and fearmongering should ring alarm bells for all of us.
I've heard many accounts from librarians in my district of them having to take art books off the shelves because they have historic paintings and sculptures of nudes.