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A recent report by the Education Review Office painted a grim picture of student behaviour - saying violent and disruptive behaviour in schools has reached critical levels.
Half the teachers surveyed said the problem has become worse in the past two years, and half say they are spending nearly an hour a day dealing with bad behaviour.
The Education Review Office says the trend is harming children's learning, and schools need to take a nationally consistent approach to addressing it.
The approach it favours is called PB4L, which stands for Positive Behavior for Learning.
But a group of teachers in Porirua East who work with students with high levels of dysregulated behaviour say ERO is promoting ineffective, outdated practices.
They say teachers need to understand the neuroscience that underpins behavior and stress, and its programme 'Hauora' is working.
Lynda Knight-de Blois is principal at Glenview School in Cannons Creek, and founder of the Hauora programme.