Now a primary school teacher has revealed her SOS letter over violence in WA classrooms

A primary school teacher has detailed the violent attacks teachers deal with daily at public schools in Perth by children as young as five. The experienced female teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution by the Education Department, said she uses secret code words almost daily to evacuate her classroom during outbursts by violent students. She said teachers and students were traumatised by violent primary school students smashing windows, throwing chairs, hurling scissors, and threatening to stab students and teachers with pencils. “I have colleagues off work now because of injuries because they’ve had things thrown at them,” she said. “Students are being physically hurt and mentally tortured by this violence – many don’t feel safe at school. “I have fears that at some stage a child will be attacked, and we won’t get there in time - I worry about that all the time.” The teacher penned a letter to The West following the front page story in The Sunday Times yesterday. “This isn’t an issue isolated to high schools. Primary schools are a big problem, too,” she said. “Instead of being removed from the class or suspended like they are supposed to, we are told to bend over backwards to keep them there because all students deserve an education.” The teacher said the Education Department had gagged principals. “The Education Department needs to let principals have their power back,” she said. “Principals are put under pressure to keep suspensions down despite continued violence, and if suspensions exceed what the department deems acceptable, they are made to defend their actions.” Department of Education Deputy Director General of Student Achievement Jim Bell said the Department did not accept violence or aggression in any form. “There is a no-tolerance stance when it comes to students, or anyone, behaving violently or aggressively on, or near, school grounds,” he said. “Sadly, while violence is always absolutely unacceptable, it’s something that is experienced in the community and unfortunately sometimes filters into our schools.” Mr Bell said under the State Government’s Let’s Take a Stand Together Action Plan, violent students will be automatically suspended. “Under the action plan, students who attack other students or start or film fights face automatic suspension,” he said. “We expect schools to report all incidents of violence.” Education Minister Tony Buti revealed the new plan last year to help combat violence in schools and empower principals after a string of violent incidents in public schools in 2023. The plan included a dedicated email and phone helpline to support principals with managing violence and threats and extra training on managing students with complex and challenging behaviours. However, teachers believe the action plan is just lip service and is not enough to combat the daily dangerous conditions teachers face. The teacher said that even if students are suspended, they will return two days later and repeat the same behaviour. “I believe it was something the department felt it needed to put out in response to increased violence in schools, in particular, due to certain incidents that occurred last year that made it into the media,” she said. “They have to be seen to be doing something. But no, it is the same old story for many of us on the ground in education. Nothing has changed significantly to date.” She said the department needed to invest in more support in classrooms to protect students and teachers. “There is more absenteeism from both students and teachers than ever before,” she said. “Students and teachers are traumatised by these violent students. I love being a teacher but every day I consider leaving my job because of how much stress it is causing me. Good teachers are leaving because they aren’t being listened to. “Poorly behaved and violent students know they can get away with anything. Other students lose hours of learning time, which is evident in our student outcomes. So many are behind in their learning and not hitting benchmarks. “Something needs to be done to protect other students from the trauma created by the violence they are witnessing and experiencing from their peers.” READ THE EXPLOSIVE LETTER SENT TO THE WEST AUSTRALIAN IN FULL BELOW Hello, I am writing in response to the front-page article “A Teacher Will Be Killed…” and the editorial “We Must Support Teachers” from your Sunday Times that I have just read. I am a primary school teacher working in a public school. I would rather be doing something else on a Sunday morning than taking the time to write to you about school, but honestly, I was already gearing up to contact the media about this very issue myself. I don’t want you or your readers to assume that the violence in schools is limited to mainly high schools. It is not. In primary schools, the situation is just as bad. Everywhere! I speak to colleagues from other public schools across many suburbs, and the story is just the same. My colleagues in the private schools report something similar, except they don’t have to put up with it for long, as private schools have the luxury of swiftly expelling poorly behaved or violent students (who inevitably end up back in the public system). When I tell you that the level of violence is the same in primary school, you might think this would be with the older kids (Years 5&6). But, no. We deal with violent students in every year group, from Kindy to Year 6. We are expected to write behaviour plans to “help” these children, then just ride the wave while they continue to (through their “regulating” of emotions) smash windows, flip desks, throw chairs, hurl scissors, spit, walk out of class, swear, slam doors with such force they break, use pencils as stabbing weapons, tear the classroom apart, and terrify other students. They threaten their teachers and peers on a regular basis and back these threats up with actual attacks, instigating fights in the yard and attacking both students and teachers in the classroom. In the primary school setting with younger students, school staff are expected to accept this behaviour as “a child still learning to regulate”, regardless of how much damage they do or harm they inflict. And because they are still small children, we are expected to brush it off and keep going. More staff are now getting injured and are off school grounds, on leave due to their physical injuries and/or mental distress. What about the effect this is having on other students? Both staff and students are being subjected to ongoing violence at school while also losing hours of teaching/learning. With cortisol levels so high, how can we even expect students (and staff) to concentrate? That’s if you can get the classroom under control without the poorly behaved students disrupting, causing a scene, or pushing their violence to a level where the class needs to be evacuated to keep the teacher and other students safe. Students are being physically hurt and mentally tortured by this violence – many don’t feel safe at school. There is more absenteeism from both students and teachers than ever before. Just ask around. A fellow colleague at another school says their school principal will go to great lengths to avoid suspending violent students to save themselves from being “pulled over the coals”. What people don’t realise is that the more suspensions a principal doles out, the more explaining to the Department they have to do. And not about the violent students but about their own actions. The Department doesn’t seem to accept that students come to school already violent and that there is very little you can do to change that – they simply put it back on the principal: “What have YOU done to accommodate this student? What steps have YOU put in place? What can YOU do next?”. There should be more acknowledgment from the Department that these students come from violent homes and that it is a societal issue – not one that THE PRINCIPAL and school staff can (or be expected to) remedy. We cannot control the violence they bring to school from home. If the Department claims to have put measures in place to combat violence (as they purport to have done with their new policy), then why are principals and school staff put under such immense pressure to keep suspensions down despite continued violence? Principals have the power to suspend students for their violence, BUT if the number of suspensions a principal imposes exceeds a level the Education Department deems “acceptable”, then the principal is made to explain THEMSELVES and THEIR actions. This is ludicrous! According to Department policy, if a student is violent at school, they should be automatically suspended (or expelled for continued violence). Therefore, Principals should not have to weigh up whether to suspend a student or not based on how many other suspensions they have already issued, and what effect it is going to have on their performance management from the Department, and ultimately their career. As a result, there are not as many suspensions as there should be, and instead, more “putting up with” the violence in schools. The effect that witnessing violence in school has on other students and teachers appears to come second and third in importance to the needs of the violent student (which always seem to come first). Principals are put under enormous amounts of pressure and stress due to the ridiculous number of hoops the Education Department makes them jump through to demonstrate what measures they (and the whole school) have put in place to “help” these violent students. Yet, what about the students witnessing and being affected by this violence? What is put in place for them? Quite often, the parents of these violent kids will not even come to collect their own child from school after a violent incident because they themselves need a break from their child’s violence. Ask how many “in-school suspensions” school staff have to deal with due to parents (not at work) refusing to come and collect their violent child from school during school hours, as this is their own “me time”. As though we are a babysitting service. Ask how many parents of violent students will actively avoid coming into school to sit down and work on a behaviour plan for their child. “All students have a right to an education”: this is constantly thrown in our faces as the reason violent students are not being suspended or expelled at higher rates. However, what about the effect that violence at school is having on other students? They have a right to come to school and feel safe; but, they are not feeling safe and we are doing very little to remove the violence. What about the teachers? In what other profession are staff expected to accept this daily abuse? Speaking up gets us nowhere. Public school teachers are more frequently changing schools in an attempt to get away from the continued violence and hoping it might be different elsewhere, but are finding the same situation at any school they move to. Parents are withdrawing their children at record rates and either home-schooling or trying their luck at other public schools, but are also finding the same. The Department binds principals and to protect their jobs will not stand up to the Department. What we need is for parents to complain more and demand more action. Parents need to speak to their children at home. Parents - if your kids come home telling you about the events of the day involving students who have been violent, ask them if they feel safe at school around that. If your children come home saying they do not feel safe at school, then please approach the principal and let them know. Work with the principal, not against them, as the real problem is the Education Department. Please keep in mind that principals would love to be able to do more but feel trapped. Please don’t think that the teachers and other school staff don’t care. We see it all, and we care deeply. We worry about our students and are concerned for their futures. We worry about what future society will look like when these students – who stumble through the education system without much change to their behaviour – are grown adults and out in public. There are names we know will feature in future headlines for acts of violence. “They’re going to kill somebody one day” is discussed among teachers about certain students more than you think. We take our concerns as far as we can with our school leaders, but ultimately nothing much gets done. There are very few consequences for the most violent of students. School leaders want to protect their jobs and are afraid to stand up to the Department. It is easier to just keep struggling along than to put your head on the chopping block. In theory, you shouldn’t be dismissed for speaking the truth and seeking answers, but people have been fired for this and/or left due to the stress and frustration of NOT GETTING ANYWHERE with the Department. Take me – I am writing to you anonymously, as I know speaking my truth will have consequences (even though it shouldn’t), and I could lose my job (even though I shouldn’t). Since those who run the Education Department are not listening, we (all school staff) really need more parents to join us in putting pressure on the Education Department. Demand for principals to be given the support and understanding they need and want so they can mitigate and manage violence in schools exactly as the policy states, without fear of jeopardising their careers. GIVE THE POWER BACK TO THE PRINCIPALS. It comes from the top – when principals feel helpless and cannot demand answers from the Department, this has a trickle-down effect. When the principal of a school is powerless to manage these violent students with true consequences, teaching staff lose faith in the principal and lose control of their classrooms and teaching. Poorly behaved and violent students know they can get away with anything. Other students lose hours of learning time, and this is evident in our student outcomes. So many are behind in their learning and not hitting benchmarks. The once brilliant Australian education standard is slipping, and it is glaringly obvious. Parents are losing trust in our public school system. As somebody on the inside, I blame the EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Having a “no-violence tolerated” policy in schools while also making principals hesitate to suspend students for violence, to avoid receiving a bollocking from the Department for issuing “too many” suspensions, is the definition of idiocy. We are doing a grave disservice to our young people and future generations. As a society, we need to do better. Please help. Primary School Teacher