Eleven teachers sent home without pay after refusing to teach or supervise eight pupils who they said posed a risk to health, safety and welfare have returned to the classroom today.

In a joint statement, the NASUWT Scotland union and Edinburgh City Council said the dispute at Kaimes School in Edinburgh had been resolved, and a range of actions agreed which would “enhance both working conditions for teachers and the learning environment for pupils”.

They added that both sides had agreed “a zero-tolerance approach” to any incident involving violence against staff and that they would meet again in December to review progress.

“Both parties agree that the staff and pupils at Kaimes School now need space and stability to enable them to move forward positively and so there will be no further comments or statements made at this time,” they said.

The problems at the school - which caters mainly for autistic children - came to light last month when the NASUWT Scotland revealed the teachers had been sent home after refusing to teach eight pupils.

‘Violent physical assaults’

The union said the teachers had faced “month after month” of violent physical assaults, verbal abuse and threats. The union also claimed that “equipment has been smashed and classrooms trashed” by pupils.

The council, however, said that it had put in place an “improvement action plan” at Kaimes - an all-through school of 96 pupils with 85 teachers and support staff - at the beginning of the academic year and that most staff were working to take this forward.

Writing in the wake of the incident, the deputy chief executive of the charity Scottish Autism, Charlene Tait, challenged teachers to see problematic behaviour not as intentional, but as a sign of stress and anxiety

A former Kaimes School teacher, meanwhile, took to social media to defend her colleagues.