In the 2023 SSTA survey, 71% of members highlighted that the misuse of mobile phones was having an impact on poor pupil behaviour and learning.

The SSTA Education Committee wanted to get further information on the use of mobile phones in school and commissioned a survey to find out members views. The survey took place in February 2024 with 1,451 members responding.

Seamus Searson SSTA General Secretary said.

“92% of members said their lessons were being interrupted by asking pupils to put away their mobile phones. 13% of members said half their lessons were interrupted but more worryingly 75% said the majority to all their lessons were interrupted”.

When members were asked about their concerns of the inappropriate use of mobile phones during lessons members said

90%     pupils have detachment issues

90%     Texting during lessons

80%     Taking photos

60%     Social media bullying

46%     Answering calls during the lessons

41%     Viewing inappropriate content

35%     Live recording of lessons (audibly, visually, or both)

In addition, members gave other examples of misuse of mobile phones in lessons such as gaming, recording staff, listening to music, watching tv, contacting parents to make a complaint about staff, taking and hiding other people’s phones, anxiety (constantly checking), arranging meetings in corridors or toilets, use of snapchat or YouTube, cheating during tests, upskirting, videoing fights and bullying then sharing on social media, AI friends and online ‘dares’, etc.

When members were asked what strategies, they used to prevent the use of mobile phones in your class they reported that.

86%     Pupils were asked to put phones away

83%     Pupils were asked to put phone in school bags

67%     Phones placed on teachers’ desk if used in lesson

44%     Pupils were asked to put phone on silent

21%     Pupils asked to place phones into a box or doocot at start of lesson

In addition, members said the school confiscated the mobile phone, phones were sent to school office, messages were sent home to parents, demerits were issued, and whole school detentions were issued. However, these measures led to complications such as confrontation with pupils when they refuse to give phones up often with parental support, possibility of theft and claims made against school staff, and many pupils need their phones to pay for school lunch.

James Cowans, SSTA Education Convenor said

“62% of members saw the benefits of using mobile phones in helping with lessons. In many cases this was due to the lack of access to other mobile devices or poor connectivity within the school. 64% of members stated that wi-fi connection is variable to poor and 30% saying that they do not have access to a class set of mobile devices for use in their lessons”.

“72%, of schools have a mobile phones policy in place, to try and address issues but only 10% stated that the policy was extremely/very effective. Schools are struggling to implement successful mobile phone policies. There are several issues with implementing a policy such as inconsistency, legality, pupils conforming, no consequences, support from local authorities that need to be resolved”.

Seamus Searson added.

“It would appear that the benefits/advantages of using mobile phones are now outweighed by the negative impact that they are having on learning and teaching, behaviour, attainment and achievement. Only 37% of members support a complete ban of mobile phones in school, however, the majority would support a mobile phone ban from the classroom and other parts of the school”.

“Mobile phones are preventing teachers from teaching and creating problems for pupils that are on a scale many teachers and parents cannot imagine. The mobile phone is the most important possession to pupils and is taking over their lives and their futures. There needs to be a concerted effort from the Scottish Government, local authorities, schools working together with teachers, pupils and their parents to redress the balance of what is acceptable mobile phone use and its place in a young person’s life”.

[ENDS]

Attached

SSTA Press Release - Mobile Survey 2024 - Summary.pdf

Children’s Education at Risk by Cutting Teacher Numbers

As Scottish Councils are setting education budgets for 2024-2025 the SSTA is receiving reports of education cuts with teachers and educational support staff numbers being reduced.

Seamus Searson SSTA General Secretary said:

“It's that time of the year again. Teachers are tired of being used as a ‘political football’ in the funding battle with the Scottish Government. The Councils have used this tactic in previous years to force money from the Government. This was also a tactic used 2023 in allowing the continuation of the first teacher strike in 40 years. Councils are threatening to reduce the number of teachers at a time when more are needed. I hope the Scottish Government do not call the councils’ bluff”.

“Teachers have been dealing with years of reduction in education funding at school level without the prospect of real investment in education. Something needs to change to ensure our children get the best opportunities at school and cutting teachers is not the answer”.

Stuart Hunter SSTA President said:

“Once again, teachers and students suffer the fallout from a tripartite system that is no longer fit for purpose.  The news is that Glasgow has told teacher unions that it proposes to reduce teacher numbers by changing pupil-teacher ratio as a response to the Scottish government council tax freeze”.

“Whilst the local authority and the Scottish Government flex their muscles in a playground standoff, the teaching profession and the students have become the weaponised instrument of their political bickering. Teachers are already past breaking point because of a toxic workload. To reduce the number of teachers will only exacerbate an already failing system that requires considerable amounts of free overtime to ensure that our children are given the best education possible.  

“The playground tantrums borne out of political grandstanding creates harmful fallout for teachers and students alike. These antics will only see the attainment gap widen to the detriment of our students and impact on their future life choices. Therefore, my message to you is grow up, show a little maturity and work together for the sake of education in Scotland”.

Seamus Searson SSTA General Secretary said.

“Many local authorities have embarked upon a campaign of education cuts by removing education support staff in schools or not replacing them when they leave. This leaves an additional burden upon the teachers in schools who are expected to cover the work of the staff who are no longer there. Education support staff were appointed for essential educational purposes to remove this vital support by stealth is to fail the children and classroom teachers. Unfortunately, it does not end there we are hearing of local authorities delaying or refusing to employ supply teachers to cover gaps left when teachers have moved to another post, go on maternity leave and to cover sick teachers. We are told there is a shortage of teachers, yet we are told by our supply teachers they are not getting appointed to council supply registers and are unable to get regular work. This all puts more pressure on the teachers left behind and it is no wonder we hear that teachers are looking to leave that will only be to the detriment of our children in schools now”.

“The most important part of a schoolteachers’ job is teaching their classes and ensuring that every child’s learning improves. If you ask any teacher ‘what is the best part of being a teacher?’ they would all say that being in the class teaching their pupils. Teachers are leaving the profession due to the ever-increasing pressures from outside the classroom to produce paper and statistics for headteachers, parents, Council Officers, Education Scotland Inspectors, and the Scottish Government. All this so these bodies can prove that they are doing their job. Not at any stage does anyone ask, ‘Is this a good use of teacher time and does this improve teaching and learning?’

“The local councils must value and protect teachers, this underhand way of saving money is disrespectful to teachers and the children they teach. Unfortunately, the local authorities saw the recent teacher industrial action and the failure to delay or not replace teacher vacancies, teachers on maternity leave or on sick leave as valuable money saving exercises.”  

Glasgow Council is a good example where it removed all their attendance officers when pupil absences were increasing with the expectation that teachers would just cover the work. A Glasgow SSTA member said.

".. the responsibility of pupil attendance, the bureaucracy and ‘paper trail for paper trail’s sake’ has just landed with the teacher and is getting beyond a joke. We are being made accountable for every child’s attendance and this work expected on top of our classes/remits/curriculum etc. There is a lack of time, resources, education support staff, a lack of mental health care, for us but we are being made to create reams of paperwork – in the knowledge that nothing will come of it. We are expected to take on every job that Glasgow Council has taken away. We are to become Educational Psychologists (we have to do all their paperwork, even though we are not qualified to analyse it), School Nurse, Attendance Officer, Social Worker, etc. I am sad to say this is pushing me away from a job I love but for my own well-being I will be looking away from teaching”.

Stuart Hunter SSTA President said.

“Teacher’s time is finite, yet tasks placed upon them are taking them further and further away from teaching and learning. Teachers must be instructed to focus upon the most important task of teaching children. All these additional tasks and duties must be placed against a very simple criterion ‘Will this task enhance my teaching?’ If not, it should be left undone or if it is important, undertaken by ‘someone else’.  Unfortunately, the someone else in schools has nearly all but disappeared. Local authorities have been forced into saving money over several years. However, choosing to save money by failing to replace Education Support staff is a clear choice by Local Authorities to place the additional burden on all the teachers left behind, taking them further away from the core job of teaching and learning. The SSTA says Let Teachers Teach and the children will be the winners”.

“The demands placed upon teachers is excessive and teachers need to protect themselves from being worn down and bunt out. The SSTA advises all members to focus on teaching and learning and not to take on tasks that do not require the skills and expertise of a teacher. The SSTA is always ready to support members from bureaucratic burdens to reduce workload and recognise the most important task of teaching”.

[ENDS]

26 October 2023

The SSTA Additional Support Needs and Education Committees organised a members’ consultative survey to assess the increasing evidence of disruptive pupil behaviour in secondary schools. 2478 members responding to the survey.
 
The survey revealed both the extent of verbal and physical aggression being faced by teachers in Scottish secondary schools as well as systemic failures to address these issues.
 
While facing verbal aggression at work would be uncommon in most occupations, 75% of secondary teachers reported having experienced verbal aggression in the past year. Indeed, even more seriously, 1 in 8 secondary teachers reported that they had been physically assaulted at work over that period. Perhaps it is not surprising that 75% of secondary teachers reported not feeling safe at work.
 
At the same time, the extent of violence against teachers may not be fully appreciated by Local Authorities as only a third of those secondary teachers who had been assaulted went on to complete a Violent Incident Form or equivalent. From comments provided, it appears that this may be due to a deep level of scepticism over whether officially recording Violent Incidents makes any difference in practice, while other comments suggest that some teachers had been actively discouraged from completing them by senior management.
 
Similarly, while most people assaulted at work would think it appropriate to report such incidents to the Police, only 4% of teachers who had been assaulted at work took that route. Teachers reported not doing so for a variety of reasons, ranging from fear the police would not take the reports seriously, to concerns it would not help the situation. Pupils over the age of 12 have reached the age of criminal responsibility and can be charged with offences, including assault, but many teachers – even when victims – did not wish to see this happen.
 
Schools continue to have the legal power to exclude pupils for seriously unacceptable behaviour but there is pressure from government and local authorities to see a fall in the usage of short-term exclusions, especially for care-experienced young people. Official figures confirm that there has been such a reduction in recent years but, of course, this does not mean that less incidents of seriously unacceptable behaviour are occurring – merely that less of those incidents are resulting in short-term exclusions being applied. The survey provided some evidence to support this belief in that two-thirds of teachers reported that pupils who had committed verbal or physical aggression against them were returned to their classes before the matter had been resolved.
 
Seamus Searson, SSTA General Secretary, was scathing in his response to the findings stating :
 
“This survey has provided clear evidence of an aggression epidemic sweeping through our schools which has left many teachers feeling unsafe at work and unsupported by employers who have a legal duty to ensure their health and safety”.
 
“No teacher should have to go to work worried in case they will be a victim of verbal aggression or even assault that day. School managements must ensure that appropriate actions are taken in response to violence and verbal aggression against staff, including properly risk assessing pupils with a propensity for violent outbursts before any decision is taken to return those pupils to their classes.”