An increase in violence in New Zealand schools is sparking concern among parents and teachers. But one school may have found the solution.
Figures from 2019 show around one-quarter of teachers feel unsafe in the classroom at times - a 50 percent increase since 2016.
In Bay of Plenty alone the number of students being stood down has doubled in the last five years. Last year 66 students were stood down - 42 of whom were between the ages of five and nine.
It comes after shocking footage emerged of a brawl at Auckland Girls' Grammar School. The footage shows students punching each other in the face and tackling others to the ground.
Glenview School in Porirua has seen a huge decrease in violent disruptions after the school implemented widespread changes.
Principal Lynda Knight-de Blois told The AM Show on Friday before she took action, students were regularly lashing out.
"I was lucky to come six years ago to a school that had a really good culture of inclusion and manaakitanga but all the same we were still experiencing children in distress."
She said students would act out by crying, having meltdowns and running away. And it was having an impact on the school staff.
"We had teachers who were caught in the fallout. Teacher aids as well with a few bruises and kicks and smashed windows."
But two years ago that changed after the school increased teacher aid support and got staff to undertake comprehensive training and professional development.
"[The training] was largely through the Child Trauma Academy in the United States so it was online. But we also did a book study with a book called 'The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog' by Dr Bruce Perry and a number of other things all self-initiated and self-funded."
Knight-de Blois said it "completely transformed" the school environment.
"Going back a couple of years ago… I would have two to three interruptions a day with a child being brought to me… or I might get a call to go into a classroom to remove a child, for example, because they were unsafe."
This year, she said she can count on one hand the number of times she's had similar disruptions, and the majority have been with new or young students.
She said the training helped staff understand what was happening in students' brains which made it easier for them to help.
"It's helped our teachers to really understand what's going on in the brains, in the nervous systems - the stress response systems in our students but also their own stress response systems."
It also increased awareness about why children might be acting. She said neurodiversity, stressful home lives, poverty, homelessness and colonisation all play a role, and better understanding of those issues from teachers is key.
Knight-de Blois called on the Ministry of Education to ensure all teachers are trained to understand trauma in children and hire enough support staff.
