Hey Tappsters!
Valentine’s Day has been and gone, with just 8% of primary teachers saying they were doing special activities in class to mark the day – much different to the 81% of Elementary teachers in the US who are doing such activities!
Nevertheless, what could be more romantic than a fully stocked snack drawer? That’s why this month’s prize draw gives one lucky teacher the Ultimate Snack Drawer hamper, packed snacks chosen by you lovely lot! The winner can share with their fellow teachers… or keep them all to themselves! To enter you just need to Tapp five days in a row to earn a ticket. The full terms and conditions are here.
But what has Teacher Tapp learned this week? Here are the findings…
Disruptive Behaviour
Many of you have reached the halfway point in a long Spring Term (93% are on half term this week!) – thanks to a particularly late Easter this year. As we approach the end of these long stints in school, reports of worsening behaviour often emerge. So it’s time for our regular behaviour check-in!
For those who don’t know, we ask a regular question on Fridays throughout term-time about incidences of poor behaviour. This longitudinal question allows us to track across several school years how behaviour is changing.
Since the pandemic, the percentage of teachers who say that their most recent lesson was disrupted due to poor behaviour has been steadily rising. In fact, in the 2023/24 academic year, this percentage never dropped below 35% – the highest average result across an academic year since we started recording.
However, we’ve seen a much different pattern in the 2024-25 academic year. This year, the percentage has never risen above 35%. If this pattern continues throughout the year, is this a sign of improving behaviour or just a one-off blip? Only time will tell!
Disruption can come in many forms, but day-to-day low-level disruption can cause the biggest headaches! One-in-three teachers experienced students unwilling to work in the last lesson – consistent across both primary and secondary phases. In the primary phase, more than half of teachers (57%) say they experienced disruptive fidgeting. 12% of secondary teachers said their most recent lesson was disrupted through mobile phone usage.
Remember as well that this is just a snapshot of a single lesson. We anticipate that if you tally these up over a whole day it would result in a significant amount of lost learning time!
Have you noticed any changes in students’ behaviour this year, for better or for worse? Get in touch via Contact Us in the app, or england@teachertapp.co.uk.
Food and Snacks
In case you missed it, our prize draw this month is all about snacks, and we’re inviting you to send in your favourite snacks that will form the winner’s prize – the Ultimate Snack Drawer! All the information you need to enter is at the top of the page.
We wanted to form the ultimate snack drawer from your suggestions – so we had to ask about your favourite snacks! Many of you favoured the sweet treat, with ‘anything chocolate’ and biscuits being popular options. We commend those teachers who mentioned healthy options too – fruit, nuts and cereal bars we often brought up!
Of course, there were some more unusual suggestions which deserve a shout out – jars of pickles and marmite oatcakes were two stand outs. Although the award for our favourite goes to the Tapper who’s favourite snack is emotional support cheese!
Getting Takeaways
Perhaps all this snack chat inspired this question from one Tapper, who wanted to know how many of you are allowed to order food deliveries to school.
More than half of you (51%) didn’t know whether you were allowed to do this – so we excluded those responses and looked just at those who were confident. 41% said they could order these deliveries at any time, with a further 34% saying they could, but only when students weren’t around. It’s more common in primary schools, where half of you can order at any time, compared to a third of secondary teachers.
Outdoor Clothing in EYFS
Managing outdoor clothing in the Early Years can be a challenge! The majority of EYFS/KS1 teachers say that pupil need to bring in their own coats, while 51% say pupils are also required to bring their own wellies.
Not all Early Years settings place the responsibility on parents, though. 18% of EYFS/KS1 teachers state that their school provides all the outdoor clothing such as coats, waterproofs and wellies!
A Review of the EBacc
It looks like secondary teachers have fairly ambivalent feelings towards the English Baccalaureate, which is celebrating its 15th birthday since it’s unveiling in 2010 🎂
- 34% of teachers believe that entering a students for all the EBacc subjects keeps a young person’s post-16 options more open
- 37% say that the EBacc is good for students even if they don’t go on to do A-Levels or Univeristy
- 34% believe it is good for social mobility
These feeling have also not changed much over the past three years – when the proportions of secondary teachers who agreed with each of these statements were roughly similar!
Daily Reads
This week our most-read piece was a piece for SLT about what the qualities are for a good leader!
Have you seen a great blog you think would make a great daily read? Let us know by emailing england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out!
