Teachers striking at a £34million newbuild school in Wales have claimed they are treated like ‘punchbags’ by pupils and are being forced to lock their office doors to protect themselves from violent teenagers.
A staggering 136 exclusions have taken place at the 1,100 pupil Pencoedtre High School in Barry, South Wales since September when the new year began.
London-based architects designed the school, with the violence being blamed on its new layout – featuring large open balconies around a central ‘heart space’ dining hall, main hall and courtyard.
According to The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the open-plan design has been feeding into the bad behaviour.
Teachers said the central location of the school’s ‘Successful Futures Centre’ enables big groups of children to interact, causing fights.
Pencoedtre High School in Barry, South Wales has an open layout which is being blamed for behaviour issues at the school
Teachers said the central location of the school’s ‘Successful Futures Centre’ enables big groups of children to interact, causing fights
National executive member of NASUWT, Mark Harris, said: ‘The design of the new school buildings is remarkably poor.’
Sharron Daly, a union official, claimed staff at the school were striking because ‘they feel at the end of their tether’ over issues with behaviour from the children.
‘The building is not fit for purpose. The physical make-up of the building is not going to help this situation and the situation needs to change,’ she said.
The school was unveiled by the Labour-run Welsh Government about a year ago, according to The Telegraph.
Debra Thomas, interim head teacher at the school, said the building’s layout is ‘very open’ which ‘facilitates large groups to form’.
Architects HLM designed the school paid for by the Welsh Government. The company previously said: ‘The new school will improve the social and cultural well-being of its users and facilitate a larger range of different learning requirements, intertwining both social and educational environments – a school for boys and girls to thrive.’
A staggering 136 exclusions have taken place at the 1,100 pupil school since the start of the new year in September
The open-plan design has been contributing to poor behaviour, according to NASUWT
Staff at the school were striking because ‘they feel at the end of their tether’ over the behavioural issues
NASUWT claimed teachers ‘dread’ working at the school – with 50 serious health and safety incidents reported to have taken place since the start of the academic year.
In a joint statement, the Vale of Glamorgan council and the headteacher said: ‘Both the council and school are disappointed by this strike action, which comes at a time when Year 11 pupils are sitting important examinations and Year 13 students are preparing for upcoming A-Level exams.
‘We are fully aware of the issues affecting staff and are working with the NASUWT to resolve them.
‘The work taking place has been discussed with the trade union in regular meetings and includes steps to improve the working environment and update the school’s behaviour policy.’
Staff at the Welsh school went on strike last Wednesday, with five more days of walkouts set to happen on January 18, 24, 25, 31 and February 1 if matters are not resolved.
has contacted HLM, Vale of Glamorgan council and the school for comment.
It comes after striking teachers who walked out of a Kent academy in a row with authorities over pupil behaviour were slammed by some locals who said they’re ‘bowing down’ to the anti-social children they’re supposed to be teaching.
National Education Union (NEU) members at Oasis Academy on the Isle of Sheppey joined the picket line last year as they claimed not enough was being done to protect staff from pupil attacks.
The troubled school was rated inadequate by Ofsted in August 2022 due to concerns over ‘bullying, racism, homophobia, vandalism and pupils’ understanding of sexual consent’.
The school, which is one of only two on the Isle, denied repeated calls for 10-day suspensions to be handed out to students if they abuse teachers.