Schools with good disciplinary records should partner with those that are struggling to form "behaviour hubs" and replicate successful models across the UK, the education secretary has said.

Gavin Williamson has said there is no reason why teachers should be physically or verbally assaulted by pupils in their classrooms, and has called for "strong discipline" and "traditional teaching values".

Mr Williamson was speaking to Sky News on a visit to a highly disciplined school in East London this week.

Pupils at the City of London Academy move between classrooms in line, while mobile phones and cash are both banned.

"Children were walking down the corridors in silence, in order, going to their classroom on time and getting straight on with their work," said Mr Williamson.


"There is no reason why every school in this country can't replicate this and deliver it," he added.

The behaviour hubs would enable schools with exemplary behaviour to work with other schools that want to improve.

The schools would learn from each other, share good practice and equip other heads and senior leaders with the skills to improve their approach.

Image: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has called for 'strong discipline in schools

But those who work with pupils excluded from mainstream education say cuts to school budgets have led to an increase in bad behaviour and more exclusions.

One teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had been kicked and spat at by pupils.

"Once I was bitten and had to go to hospital for eight hours and have a tetanus jab. And that was a primary school," he said.

Sky News has spoken to several other teachers who have been punched, had furniture thrown at them and been verbally abused by pupils in the classroom.

Figures from the Department for Education show the number of permanent exclusions in England due to physical assault on an adult has increased from 490 in 2012/13 to 845 in 2017/18.

The number of pupils being permanently excluded overall has stayed broadly steady.

A survey last year by the NASUWT union found that 89% of teachers said they had experienced physical or verbal abuse in the last 12 months.

Sam Walters, who works in Pupil Referral Units that teach children excluded from mainstream education, says traditional disciplinary processes won't work in every school and staff need time and space to forge relationships with students.

He said: "The sad thing is that with the cuts that we have faced over the last five to 10 years and the loss of roles… a lot of the early intervention is no longer being carried out.

"It's not because mainstream colleagues don't want to support the young people… but unfortunately they haven't got the headspace and the time to do so."

Teacher and behaviour consultant Sam Munday-Webb said an increasingly narrow curriculum was to blame.

"Drama and music are less practical, but taking those options away has put a barrier up to a student's ability to behave… and fulfil their creative potential," he said.

The government has pledged to increase schools funding in England by £7.1bn in cash-terms by 2022 - a figure that would near enough reverse the cuts of the last 10 years.