Senior school leaders have a more rosy view of the behaviour of their pupils than the staff who teach them, a government commissioned survey has revealed.

According to the results of the Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, released today, 16 per cent of primary classroom teachers described behaviour of pupils at their school as “poor” or “very poor”, compared to just 3 per cent of senior leadership.

There was a similar pattern in secondary schools, where 11 percent of classroom teachers, but just 1 per cent of senior leaders, said behaviour was “poor” or “very poor”.

Across the two phases, 55 per cent of senior leaders rated pupil behaviour as “very good” in their school, compared to 28 per cent of classroom teachers.

Overall, primary teachers were more positive about pupil behaviour, with 85 per cent saying it was “good” or “very good”, compared to 64 per cent of secondary teachers.

Classroom teachers called for the support of parents to tackle low-level disruption in the classroom.

Asked which two things would most help, 64 per cent chose “parents understand and reinforce behaviour expectations”, with “consistent application of behaviour rules by all teachers” in second place, chosen by 57 per cent.

These were also the two most popular choices of senior leaders, with 75 per cent choosing the latter, and 63 per cent the former.

A quarter of classroom teachers called for senior leadership to be more visible throughout the day in the classroom, corridors and grounds.

The survey also asked teachers to rate parental engagement with behaviour issues at their school.

62 per cent of senior leaders thought it was “good” or “very good”, compared to 43 per cent of classroom teachers.

The Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey was carried out online last May, while the Senior Leader Booster Survey was completed online and on paper in June and July.

In total, 1,874 serving teachers from 1,573 state-funded schools took part - 47 per cent from primaries, and 53 per cent from secondaries. 56 per cent were classroom teachers, and 44 per cent were senior leaders.

The survey was representative, overall and for primaries, for free school meal eligibility, performance band, and school and local authority type. The secondary school data was weighted to be more representative of free school meal eligibility.

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