‘Bubble’ of post-pandemic bad behaviour among pupils predicted to peak

Exclusive: Experts say desocialised' pupils home schooled through Covid are entering traditionally most disruptive years

• Fifty English secondary schools suspended more than a quarter of pupils after pandemic
• It's about developing relationships with pupils': the school working to reduce suspensions

Teachers returning to work next month will confront a worrying behaviour bubble" as younger children who were most severely affected by the pandemic reach the teenage years renowned for peak classroom disruption.

The warning from experts and school leaders in England comes as evidence shows that children of primary school age during the pandemic - when schools were closed to most pupils - have been accruing exclusions and suspensions at a record pace since moving to secondary school.