A summit on violence in schools will be held to address rising concerns about behaviour, education secretary Jenny Gilruth has said.
Ms Gilruth made the announcement in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, during the same session in which a debate on “ending violence in Scottish schools” was led by the Scottish Conservatives.
Earlier this month, the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) said that an “aggression epidemic” in schools resulted in “many teachers feeling unsafe at work and unsupported by employers” after it surveyed nearly 2,500 members.
The summit on tackling violence in schools will be convened by Ms Gilruth “in the coming weeks”.
The Scottish government said: “It will bring together young people, parents and carers, schools, local authorities and unions to discuss how to tackle the problem. This will build on guidance provided to local authorities and on the £2 million of funding to support violence prevention activities within schools and communities.
”Education Scotland will also work with every local authority to identify good practice in behaviour and relationships, sharing the findings with schools across the country.”
Speaking during this afternoon’s parliamentary debate on violence in schools, Ms Gilruth said: “I have been in post for two months now, and during that time I have made it absolutely clear that behaviour in schools is one of my top priorities.
“Children and young people must have every opportunity for successful learning that is unhindered by disruptive behaviour. I also want to make sure that teachers and school staff are working in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment.”
She added: “Any form of violence in our schools is completely unacceptable. No teacher or pupil should suffer verbal or physical abuse, and parents should be able to send their children to school knowing that they are safe.
“To that end, I’m looking forward to bringing together young people, parents and carers, schools, local authorities, unions and campaigners to identify how we tackle the problem of violence and disruption in our schools.”
Guidance for teachers on behaviour
The Scottish government also said it had issued guidance for teachers on supporting positive behaviour, including advice on prevention and de-escalation of incidents, and was “in the process of updating national anti-bullying guidance”. Meanwhile, the latest Behaviour in Scottish schools research will report by the end of this year, for the first time since 2017.
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said: “While incidents of serious indiscipline and violence are still comparatively rare in our schools, there has been a marked increase in the number reported in recent years. It is, therefore, welcome that the Scottish government is now seeking ways of addressing this worrying increase in reported violent incidents in our schools.
“It is essential that Scotland’s teachers and their unions play an active part in this summit, to ensure that an accurate picture is presented as to the scale and complexity of the problem in our schools. Real solutions, including additional resources, must be forthcoming - and quickly.
“Schools must be safe places to learn and to teach, safe spaces for students and staff alike, not least because health and safety legislation requires it.”
Ms Bradley added: “The impact of the pandemic on young people, coupled with the continuing scourge of poverty and the huge increase in the number of young people requiring specialist additional support, including mental health support, have combined to create an environment where anxiety, frustration and disaffection can potentially fester.
“Teachers want to deliver the best outcomes for all young people, but they require the support and resources to allow them to meet the diverse needs of all young people effectively and must not be put at personal risk as they do so.”
In a motion to Parliament today, Tory education spokesperson Stephen Kerr called on MSPs to note “the impact that the current escalation of violence in schools has had on the teaching profession, especially in relation to retention and mental health”.
The party called for the establishment of “a nationwide school violence working group, that will produce a national framework for reporting instances of violence and disruption within schools, update guidance on exclusion laws and policies, ensure pupil support assistants are available and issue materials that will support parents and schools, assisting them in promoting acceptable behaviour and tackling violence and disruption”.
‘Teachers feel providing education is now subordinate to managing disruption’
Mr Kerr quoted SSTA president Catherine Nicol saying this month: that “many teachers feel that providing education in our schools is now subordinate to managing disruption”; that “at worst, mob rule prevails in classrooms and corridors”; that “a culture of accommodating the needs of the transgressor has become the default position in some places”; and that “learners who come to school to learn do not feel secure”.
He added: “I cautiously celebrate the minister’s announcement.”
Mr Kerr spoke of the huge impact on the mental health of pupils who had been the victims of violence and had also seen footage of the attack shared on social media, adding that “the offenders need help, too, and returning them straight back to the classroom isn’t a workable solution - there needs to be somewhere for these disruptive and damaged pupils to go - they need help, not isolation”.
He added that “the language of rights has taught some children to say that their teachers can’t force them to go to class - there must be consequences to such disruptive and disrespectful behaviour” and that “strengthening the authority of teachers will go a long way to resolving this important and difficult issue”.
Ms Gilruth sought an amendment to the Tory motion noting that while “evidence relating to violence in schools was last gathered in 2016...data collection is now underway [and] will be published later in 2023 as routine publication returns to pre-pandemic arrangements”.
At the weekend, Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “It is simply unacceptable that teachers in Scotland are going to work worried about their safety or that parents worry about the safety of their children in school.”
She added: “For years, teaching unions have been raising the alarm and this government and successive SNP education ministers have failed to act.
“That the planned report on this is not expected until December shows a lack of urgency from the government on this serious issue.”
Earlier this month, Ms Gilruth told the SSTA annual congress in Crieff that “there are real challenges in our schools at the current time” and that there had been “a shift in behaviour” in the wake of the pandemic, although she questioned if the extreme incidents reported in the press represented the “whole picture”.
When asked at the time by Tes Scotland if she would be providing schools with extra resources to deal with the rise in challenging behaviour, Ms Gilruth said: “There is an assumption that staffing is going to solve this, and I just don’t think it is.” She talked of improving partnerships with other agencies such as social work “that can feed into schools”.
