Deteriorating behaviour is known to be an issue in Scottish schools; the education secretary has admitted as much.
However, she says one-off extreme incidents have been sensationalised in the media, creating the impression that these problems are widespread.
She argues that an increase in low-level disruption is the problem, not an increase in violence.
That was her message to Tes Scotland back in August during her first sit-down interview since being appointed in March, and it was her message today to the primary school leaders gathered for the annual AHDS conference in Glasgow.
But they rejected it.
Ms Gilruth - who is chairing a series of behaviour summits - acknowledged that behaviour had “completely shifted” in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
She said that a third of Scottish pupils now had an identified additional support need and that children were starting school unable to regulate their behaviour as well, and less able to pay attention.
However, she added: “I don’t think necessarily we are seeing more violence in our schools, but I think we are seeing much more challenging behaviour.”
She said the most “challenging and extreme events” did happen, but were “a rarity”.
A conference room packed with principal teachers, deputes and headteachers today, however, refused to accept her analysis of the situation.
‘Untenable’
In the question and answer session following Ms Gilruth’s speech, one delegate asked for school leaders to raise their hands if they agreed violence in primary was a rarity. Not a single hand was raised.
Ms Gilruth then tried to clarify her position, saying she had simply meant that “the extreme events are more rare than low-level behaviour”.
However, this was again disputed by the school leaders gathered in the room who gave voice to their dissent.
One headteacher of over 20 years’ experience told the education secretary she had been bitten and punched just the day before.
She said that increasing workload was making the job of primary headteachers “untenable” and “undoable”.
Another school leader commented on the “lack of optimism and hope in the profession” and the diminishing number of deputes keen to become headteachers.
Leaders on the front line
Speaking to Tes Scotland following Ms Gilruth’s address, AHDS general secretary Greg Dempster said that in a recent survey, almost 80 per cent of members reported having been subject to violence in the past year.
He said primary leaders reported that pupil behaviour had been deteriorating prior to the pandemic, but that this trend had accelerated in its wake.
Mr Dempster added: “School leaders are often called on to help out when behaviour escalates, so they put themselves on the front line to enable teachers to carry on teaching.
“A lot of their time is turned over to supporting pupils one-on-one who are not coping with the situation they are in.
“To support the pupils with this dysregulated behaviour, school leaders need an increase in the number of support staff trained to work with these children so they can give them the support they need.
“There also need to be more placements outside the mainstream for children who require that because some kids would be better served by a specialist placement.”
‘Time to get on with’ reform
In what was at times a combative Q&A session, Ms Gilruth was also urged by a primary headteacher to push ahead with education reform.
In the wake of a wide range of consultations, reports and reviews, Ms Gilruth has come under fire for failing to move forward with the reform of Scottish qualifications and key education agencies.
The head said: “You are in the chair, you need to make the decisions, and it’s time now to get on with it.”
He also urged the education secretary to give school leaders more freedom and to resurrect the “headteachers’ charter”, which aimed to give them more power.
The head said he needed money from central government given directly to his school community, as well as support from his council when it came to human resources, payroll and legal.
He then added: “See, for everything else, I need you to get out my way.”
Ms Gilruth responded that she was not in his way, adding: “I don’t run your school; the council runs your school.”
She said she disagreed that she should “just get on with” education reform.
Reform vs reality
Earlier, Ms Gilruth argued that “context matters”, as progress was needed on the ongoing issues with attendance, behaviour and teacher workload before reform could take place.
She said there was some appetite for reform during the pandemic but that had started to “jar with the reality of what teachers are dealing with in school”.
On violence in schools, Ms Gilruth said “no one deserves to be abused in their workplace” or to “feel intimidated coming into their place of work”.
She said she was “very much listening” and that there would be an update following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools research in three weeks’ time.
However, she also stressed that “the government is in a perilous financial position” and there is “less money to go around”.
