A teacher who was sexually and physically assaulted in her classroom has slammed the Scottish Government’s summit on violence in schools as “nothing more than a talking shop”.
The secondary school teacher - who works in Glasgow has told how she has been punched, kicked and grabbed between her legs in a series of shocking incidents - is hitting out over a lack of action since the summit took place in September last year. At the time, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth heard first-hand accounts of school violence from teachers, unions and child experts.
She said it was clear the current system of monitoring and recording violent incidents in schools is inconsistent and pledged to develop a more robust system to provide staff with better support. But the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous over fears for her safety, said “nothing has changed”.
She told the Record: “Attacks on staff are still happening on a daily basis and teachers remain reluctant to report incidents because of a toxic blaming culture. I have been punched in the stomach and face, kicked in the legs and touched inappropriately.
“During one incident, a pupil grabbed onto my chest and had their hand on my crotch. They wouldn’t move and I couldn’t get them off me. It was horrible. I just had to try to block myself off from it.
“I’ve also had things thrown at me, including chairs, tables and rocks. And I’ve even seen teachers hospitalised with concussion.
“All these things are not uncommon, which is scary. Even when you have a reasonably calm class, you’re constantly on high alert.
“You’re whole nervous system feels tight and you’re trying to predict a million things that might happen. Witnessing and dealing with violence day in, day out becomes very triggering.
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“Yet since the summit took place, nothing has changed. It was nothing but a talking shop.”
The teacher went on to explain that no new reporting system has been introduced, adding that staff fear that informing management about assaults only makes them look “professionally incompetent”.
She continued: “The people looking at the reports analyse your practice and also the triggers for the attacks taking place. These conversations can be difficult to have. Some of us worry that we will be seen as incompetent and that makes us feel vulnerable.
“So in terms of a robust reporting system, we see no changes whatsoever. Sometimes we put in forms and hear nothing back.
“Overall, there has been no improvement in the reporting system as far as Jenny Gilruth’s promise goes.”
The Scottish Government’s emergency summit on school violence was announced last year after the Record highlighted an epidemic of sickening attacks involving children as part of its Our Kids ... Our Future campaign. The first of three planned sessions, held in September, focused on the reporting and monitoring of classroom incidents, approaches to relationships and behaviours and solutions.
Jenny Gilruth promised to work more closely with councils to ensure that school staff had the appropriate tools to intervene before situations escalate, but the teacher said there has been “no movement” on how to stop the attacks from taking place.
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She added: “There needs to be better staffing levels and mental health support for pupils because we are seeing a mental health crisis in our schools. We need to invest in things like school counsellors.
“There also needs to be smaller classes. In Glasgow, across the city, there are classes of up to 33 pupils who have a range of different needs. It’s not possible to meet their requirements if there is only one teacher, it just doesn’t work.
“We might not be able to stop violence from happening, however, there are things that can be done to minimise the risk. But right now, there does not seem to be any movement on how we can stop attacks from taking place.
“The summit opening up the conversation is vital, but without any change, it’s pointless and disappointing.”
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A survey from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), which looked at 875 schools, showed 82.7 per cent reporting violent or aggressive incidents each week. Of this figure, 72 per cent said the amount of violence and aggression from pupils has grown in the last four years.
A spokesperson for EIS teaching said: “The rising tide of violent and aggressive incidents in schools is an issue of huge concern, right across the country. Teachers have identified this as one of the most important issues currently facing Scottish education, so the Scottish Government must take action.
“Like many of the challenges facing education, this can only be tackled through significant additional investment in the resources and staff that our schools need. Despite the Scottish Government commitment to recruit 3,500 additional teachers by the end of this Parliament, the number of teachers in Scotland’s schools has actually fallen over the past two years.
“The staff and pupils in Scotland’s schools deserve far better.”
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A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “We take any allegations of violence in the workplace extremely seriously. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any violent behaviour towards staff and they are strongly encouraged to record any incidents to allow us to take swift action.
“Staff should be able to feel safe at work and we actively work with them to ensure they are aware of the correct reporting procedures and feel supported in using them.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Scotland’s schools should be safe learning environments for all – violence and abusive behaviour towards pupils or staff is completely unacceptable. The Scottish Government has taken a range of action in response to issues with behaviour in schools.
"In recent months we have convened the Headteachers Taskforce, brought together national summits on behaviour, published the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research and provided new funding for support staff, recognising the research showed they are more likely to experience negative behaviour.
"The First Minister and Education Secretary recently launched the Gender Based Violence in Schools Framework as part of a commitment to eradicate misogyny in Scotland’s schools. Crucially, work is well underway to bring forward a joint National Action Plan with COSLA to set out the range of actions needed at both local and national level, which will publish this Spring."
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