Ministers urged to give schools support to end pupil violence as long-awaiting guidance published

Scotland’s education secretary insists the new government guidance on classroom behaviour is what teachers want to see

Teachers have warned ministers long-awaited new guidance on how to combat rising school violence in Scotland will have little effect without extra support and resources.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth on Tuesday published the Scottish Government’s national guidance on how to tackle escalating levels of bad behaviour and classroom violence post-pandemic.

The document lists various examples of bad behaviour, along with suggestions on what teachers and support staff should do about it.

The document aims to tackle rising levels of violence in Scottish schools.

However, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has warned the new guidance will have little impact on the day-to-day reality for teachers unless it is backed up with more government money.

The NASUWT teachers’ union welcomed the report but called on the Scottish Government and local authorities to “put these words into practice”.

Among the consequences the document suggests for teachers is asking the child to move to a different seat, giving the pupil an alternative activity from the rest of the class, asking the child to take a break from the class, and speaking to the child’s parents.

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More serious bad behaviour could be addressed by restricting the child’s access to certain areas of the school during lunch, the guidance suggests, and the pupil being given “reflective time” to consider the impact of their behaviour on others.

Other suggested actions include being allowed “out of class two minutes early so they move through corridors while largely empty”, and having conversations on what could have been done differently.

For the most violent children, teachers are being told to consider giving the child a “laminated set of bullet points, for example to remind and support them to step away, seek help and follow an agreed and rehearsed process”.

While the guidance says teachers can consider excluding the most badly behaved children, Ms Gilruth said this should only be used as a last resort.

The government guidance also reminds teachers and school staff that children may be badly behaved because they are “showing off to friends”, they want “to gain attention”, are not able to “manage big emotions”, or may “accidentally knock into others without realising the impact”.

Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS, said: “While welcoming the intent to address the issue, the EIS has been clear that policies alone will not address the serious issue of violence and aggression we are seeing in schools across Scotland unless they are accompanied by additional funding and dedicated investment in education.”

Andrea Bradley, EIS general secretary. | Andrew Milligan/Press Association

She added: “These are sound educational approaches, but teachers have been clear that they need time and space and resources to implement them. We need smaller class sizes, reduced class contact time and investment in ASL [additional support for learning] to tackle violence and aggression in our schools.

“The reality is that, unless the guidance is matched by investment, little will change. We need more than carefully considered words to make a difference. We need investment and we need more resources, including more teachers and support staff in our schools.”

NASUWT Acting General Secretary Matt Wrack said the guidance had “potential” to leave to improvements in pupil behaviour.

He said: “What is now critical is that the Scottish Government and COSLA put these words into practice and take the steps to make sure every school has the tools and support needed to turn the tide on the growth of violence and disruption by pupils.

“The message must go out from ministers and employers that every school must take a strong stand against poor and abusive behaviour, that consistent sanctions are enforced where behaviour policies are breached and that staff are backed in tackling verbal and physical abuse.”

Mike Corbett, NASUWT Scotland National Official, said the guidance was “an important step”.

He added: “The task must now be to improve the processes for reporting and monitoring incidents of violence and abuse in schools and on improving the confidence of teachers to report incidents.

“This work must go hand in hand with action to ensure that every employer embeds the principles underlying the National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour in every school.

“Teachers are not yet seeing enough positive change in their classrooms. Momentum must increase to turn the principles enshrined in this guidance into tangible improvements in behaviour management in every school.”

Ms Gilruth dismissed concerns there was nothing new in this guidance for teachers.

Speaking to The Scotsman at St Brendan’s Primary School in Motherwell, she said: “I think there is - I think we need to remember the reason we’ve published this national update in relation to the use of consequences is because the teaching profession has been really clear with me that they felt we were not as robust as we could have been.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth | Press Association

“You’re right - much of what’s in the document will be familiar to schools. But I think we should set out at national level the expectations. The final thing I would say is for the most extreme examples of behaviour, exclusion does exist as a last resort and teachers have to use their professional judgement to apply it.”

The EIS said it agreed exclusion “should be used judiciously” because of the long-term impacts it could have on a child.

Ms Gilruth said: “I accept there are challenges in our schools post-pandemic. One of the really striking and challenging parts of our research is that some of the most deregulated and challenging behaviour now presents in primary four, so you are talking about some of our youngest children. The way we respond to that has got to be different.

“The national guidance today talks about relationships very clearly and talks about restorative approaches. It’s about building relationships with mums and dads, fostering a clear and consistent approach to behaviour, and talking about events where things have gone wrong.”

At Holyrood, the new document was dismissed by some critics as “waffle”.

Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservatives’ education spokesman, said: “This SNP-issued guidance is a pathetic response to the epidemic of violence in Scottish classrooms.

Miles Briggs MSP | screenshot

“Teachers are still being given no clear rules on when and how they can exclude violent or disruptive pupils. Jenny Gilruth only mentions it as a last resort.

“Instead, teachers are being fed waffle about eye-contact, hand signals and merits. These are utterly insufficient for dealing with the extreme behaviour that we’ve seen recently in classrooms up and down the country.

“Rather than clear rules, this document is full of Holyrood blob buzzwords about multi-agency processes, positivity and inclusion.”

He said teachers, school staff and pupils “deserve better” than this “woeful response to the collapse in discipline”.

Pam Duncan-Glancy, Scottish Labour’s education spokeswoman, said: “Teachers and staff in schools will not feel reassured by a laminated list of bullet points when they are having to deal with violent incidents involving pupils.

Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy. | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“While any measures that can effectively tackle disruption in classrooms is welcome, parents will be sceptical of the approach being taken if this is the best that SNP ministers can come up with.

“Young people, teachers and school staff are being badly failed by an SNP government that clearly does not know how to tackle this issue.”

Willie Rennie MSP, the Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said the report will achieve little.

He said: “This report is not only late but is unlikely to be read by many.

Willie Rennie MSP. | Lisa Ferguson/National World.

“It was supposed to be a report on consequences to give teachers the backing and the tools they need but the section on consequences is stuck in the appendix after 77 pages of process.

“After clear evidence that violence is on the rise in schools, this report will do little to change the experience for staff and pupils.”