Two West Lothian secondary schools saw a surge in recorded incidents of physical and verbal incidents in the last year, according to figures released this week.
A total of 66 incidents were recorded across the twelve high schools in the county. An education chief assured councillors the recorded incidents had been mainly verbal: pupils swearing at teachers.
The figures were presented in a report to the council’s Governance and Risk Committee as part of a report on the management of Health and Safety across the council.
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And an SNP councillor on the committee said she was “really worried” by what she had read.
The incidents were recorded on Sphera, the risk management software system used by the council for reporting and recording any Health and Safety incidents.
The table shows Inveralmond Community High School, in Livingston had the highest number of incidents - 22, up 13 on 2021-22.
Armadale Academy was the second highest with 13 incidents - up from three.
Other schools which recorded increases were Broxburn Academy, up one from five to six in 22-23.
The James Young Community High School in Livingston, and West Calder High school both saw one more incident recorded. That took this year’s figure from three to four in James Young and from two to three in West Calder.
The number of reported incidents fell in five secondaries. Most notable in this group was Bathgate Academy which saw 10 fewer recorded incidents in the last year compared to 21-22. That was a drop from 14 to four.
There was also a big drop in St Kentigern’s, Blackburn, from 11 down to two. Whitburn Academy dropped from seven to four.
Linlithgow Academy and St Margaret’s Academy in Livingston dropped two from four incidents reported in each school in 2021-22.
Deans Community High School in Livingston recorded four incidents in both the last two years and newly opened Winchburgh Academy recorded no incidents in its first full year of operation.
Councillor Lynda Kenna said: “Armadale Academy in my ward has plus ten of physical or verbal. It's the physical I’m really worried about. Is there any set pattern that can be put to this?.
Greg Welsh, the head of primary and early years education said: “ Having investigated those increase with both schools [Inveralmond and Armadale] and the headteachers of both schools, what we have noted is that the reportable incidents are predominantly verbal, I have to say, and for roundabout September/ October time when the school was re-establishing with its new intakes of S1 and children moving into new year groups, its expectations around conduct, relationships and how they interact with each other and with staff, and we saw a slight higher increase in both of those schools .
“It has settled down as time has gone on. As I’ve stated at previous committees, in terms of the numbers we report in education it is always mindful to note the numbers of young people and staff that we have in each establishment and although an increase in percentage terms may seem quite drastic they can sometimes be broken down to one or two instances.”
Kim Hardie, head of Health and Safety, added the council has the statistics on a monthly basis to monitor so that trends that can be spotted and support be put in quickly to schools where incidents rise.
Committee chair, the Tory group leader Damian Doran-Timson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "It is a scandal that the escalation of classroom violence has been left by the SNP Scottish Government for so long and action is only now being taken following a Scottish Conservative debate in Holyrood.
"Children and teachers deserve to learn and work in a safe environment and this requires urgent action to stop the upward trend.
"Classroom violence is an issue for West Lothian schools as it is for schools across Scotland and our teachers and children deserve better."
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