A national plan designed to tackle violence and abuse in Scotland’s schools is having little impact, the majority of teachers say, as they report that the number of pupils being physically abusive and violent in schools has increased in the last 12 months.

A survey on behaviour in schools by NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has found that 83% of members in Scotland said the number of pupils exhibiting physically violent and abusive behaviours has increased in the last 12 months.

This is despite the launch of a National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour in August 2024 by the Scottish Government in response to the rising reports of violence and abuse in Scottish schools.  

Eight in ten respondents said they had been threatened with assault with a weapon by a pupil in the previous 12 months and more than a third (37%) said they had actually been assaulted with a weapon.
 
These weapons commonly included knives, scissors, hockey sticks and chairs. Nearly a third (32%) said the pupils involved were aged between four and seven.
 
More than four in ten (44%) respondents reported experiencing violence or physical abuse from pupils in the previous 12 months. Members reported being spat at, bitten, headbutted, punched and kicked. 
 
Specific experiences include a teacher who reported having fireworks thrown in their direction, another who had their car vandalised and a member subjected to false and malicious online abuse from pupils alleging he was a paedophile.
 
Nine in ten teachers reported receiving verbal abuse, including being sworn at, threatened with serious violence, including threats of being shot, and targeted with racial or sexist insults. 90% said that the number of pupils verbally abusing staff members has increased in the last 12 months.

The National Action Plan is jointly owned by COSLA alongside the Scottish Government, but the NASUWT survey found that only 4% of schools or employers have shared details or promoted the plan to staff.

Under the plan all schools are supposed to have an agreed behaviour management policy in place that is consistently followed and communicated to all staff and students. However, the survey found that one in five teachers could not confirm their school had a policy in place and that even when there was one just 6% said it was always enforced.
 
The National Action Plan also states that a range of sanctions should be in place in schools for poor behaviour. NASUWT has become concerned in recent years about an over-reliance in many schools on restorative approaches which focus on the use of structured conversations between staff and pupils to address incidents of poor behaviour.
 
The use of restorative behaviour management programmes in schools was the biggest single factor cited by respondents (69%) driving a deterioration in pupil behaviour in their school.
 
63% of members who said that their school uses restorative conversations between pupils and staff as a method for managing behaviour said they felt it was ineffective in dealing with behaviour incidents.
 
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
 
“The safety and security of teachers and pupils should not be left to chance, yet it is clear from the survey findings that teachers are being left without the backup and effective deterrents needed to address poor pupil behaviour and to stop low level disruption spiraling into more serious incidents of abuse. In many instances members report they are themselves blamed for the poor behaviour of their pupils.
 
“No teacher should experience being hospitalised, have to take time off sick or feel forced to quit their job because of the level of abuse they have suffered.
 
“NASUWT will not hesitate to take action in schools where members report that poor behaviour is not being addressed effectively. But we should not have to resort to union action in order to get schools and employers to take violence and abuse seriously.”
 
Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said:
 
“There is strong evidence that local authorities and COSLA are not fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour is communicated and enacted in every school.
 
“Teachers and pupils have the right to expect to be safe wherever they teach or learn, but currently that is something of a lottery.
 
“We need behaviour management policies that have been agreed by staff and unions in place in every school, with action to ensure their principles are being consistently followed. These policies should make it clear that there will be zero tolerance and effective sanctions in place for pupils who abuse staff.
 
“Local authorities need to face up to their responsibilities, stop gambling with the safety of their teaching staff and work with us to ensure every school is a place of security in which children can focus on their learning and teachers can focus on helping pupils to succeed.”