Aggression and violence in North Ayrshire classrooms is rocketing and there is a fear of reporting incidents, according to a senior Tory.
North Ayrshire opposition leader Tom Marshall made the claim with depute leader Shaun Macaulay revealing that steps were being taken to ensure incidents are dealt with.
Councillor Marshall said at the recent full council meeting: “According to the Corporate Health and Safety Group meeting dated May 25, appendix one records Aggression and Violence incidents in North Ayrshire Secondary Schools in Quarter Three as 52 compared to 31 last year - a rise of almost 70 per cent in a comparable quarter.
“How many of these incidents involve teaching staff and what steps are being taken to address this problem?"
Councillor Macaulay replied: “The way the statistics are recorded means that incidents are collated into one figure. To break this down the three categories are:
- Physical violence
- Threatening and intimidating behaviour
- Verbal abuse
“The figures for the first two categories remain at similar levels. The rise reflects rising numbers of cases of verbal abuse being recorded with seven recorded in quarter three of 2021 and 24 recorded in quarter three of 2022.
“ A working group has been convened, comprising a range of local authority and school staff to work in partnership with trade union colleagues.
"This reflects the commitment of the education service to analyse, learn from and respond to incidents which happen in North Ayrshire schools.”
Councillor Marshall then suggested that teachers were discouraged from reporting violent incidents because they felt it made the school look bad.
Councillor Macaulay said: “No they are not discouraged from reporting incidents. There is a new reporting system coming in to place this summer which is going to make it easier for all staff to report incidents.
“This will be available on mobile phones and tablets, computers and laptops in schools. We hope it will encourage staff to report incidents or near misses so we can learn from it ,analyse it and put in place the support that the staff deserve.”
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