Hey there, Tappsters!
What a start to the new school year: a new Ofsted inspection framework on the way, curriculum changes in the pipeline… and of course, the all-important job of actually teaching the children! If you’re feeling a little frazzled, you’re not alone.
But what exactly has been going on in classrooms? Teacher Tapp has the data…
Refer a Teacher Tapper
Back in the staffroom and meeting new colleagues? Now’s the perfect time to share your Teacher Tapp referral code.
For every teacher who signs up with your code and answers two days of questions, we donate £5 to Education Support. So far, you’ve raised £245 to support teacher wellbeing! 🎉
Each Tapper can unlock up to £25 in donations, with a total pot of £5,000 available — but only until 30th September (or until the donations run out).
Find your code in the app, spread the word, and let’s see how fast we can reach the target! 💪📱
1. Did learning stop?
We asked teachers: Did learning stop in your class because of poor behaviour?
Regular tappers will recognise this as one of our ‘tracking over time’ questions – this means we can check responses from previous years to see if anything has changed…
- Primary: 50% of classroom teachers said yes this September — up from 41% last year, and the highest September figure we’ve ever recorded.
- Secondary: Disruption is slightly higher than last year (36% UP from 33%), but still below the 38% peak we saw in 2022.
So, while both phases are facing challenges, the rise in primary disruption stands out.
Abuse from students and parents
Looking back at last year, we asked classroom teachers if they’d faced verbal or online abuse.
- Verbal abuse (from students): 42% of primary teachers and 53% of secondary.
- Verbal abuse (from parents): 16% of primary teachers and 31% of secondary.
- Online abuse (from students): rare, at just 2% of primary and 3% of secondary teachers.
- Online abuse (from parents): also rare — 4% in primary, 2% in secondary.
So while most teachers thankfully don’t face abuse, the fact that over half of secondary teachers reported verbal abuse from students shows this is still a serious issue.
2. Tech and teachers
Who gets the gadgets?
We asked: What tech has your school given you?
- Primary classroom teachers: 74% get a laptop, 20% a tablet, and 0% a phone.
- Primary senior leaders: 85% get a laptop, 24% a tablet, and 5% a phone.
- Secondary classroom teachers: 59% get a laptop, 13% a tablet, 1% a phone.
- Secondary senior leaders: 81% get a laptop, 22% a tablet, 10% a phone.
Since 2019, laptops are up (57% → 70%), tablets are down (25% → 18%), and phones remain unchanged (2%).
Password overload
How many passwords do you juggle daily?
- 31% of teachers now have more than seven — up from 21% in 2018.
- 84% have to use two-factor authentication, compared to 68% in 2023.
Hands up if you’ve lost track of which code goes where… 🙋♀️
3. Teacher Tapper asked…
One Tapper asked us to find out how common exit tickets are in classrooms. We added mini whiteboards and quizzes for good measure.
- Exit tickets: 7% primary, 11% secondary.
- Mini whiteboards: 25% primary, 28% secondary.
- Quizzes: 22% primary, 32% secondary.
Subject differences stood out too:
However, not all secondary teachers are equally fond of these plenary tools: maths and science teachers are more likely to be using mini whiteboards than their art and DT teacher counterparts (38% and 36% vs 13%).
Science and humanities teachers are more likely to be using quizzes compared to maths teachers (41% and 40% vs 17%).
However, there wasn’t the same sort of difference in exit tickets – English, art and DT, PE and other subjects were slightly more likely to use tickets compared to maths and humanities teachers (13% vs 10%).
+ BONUS tricky conversations
Difficult conversations aren’t fun — but every leader faces them. We asked 708 school leaders for their top tips. Here’s what they said:
Before the conversation:
- “Stick to facts and logical consequences.”
- “Write down the key things you want to articulate beforehand.”
- “Don’t do it last thing on Friday.”
During the conversation:
- “Be honest and very clear about the issue.”
- “Be factual and evidence-based – not personal.”
- “Go with solutions not just problems.”
After the conversation:
- “Try and make contact with them again over something positive.”
- “Follow up with an email… it creates a paper trail.”
We’ll be sharing more practical advice soon in a full Teacher Tapp blog on this topic!
Daily Reads
✨ HOCUS POCUS…Everybody focus! 🪄🔮
14% of you read our blog on classroom attention grabbers last week! If you missed it, here’s your chance to read now!
Got a blog you think we should feature? Email us at england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out!
