The image of one young girl kicking another in her face will stay with me, probably forever.
That it happened in what most may think of as a sleepy corner of Fife, nestled by the beautiful beaches of the East Neuk, may surprise some but for teachers and staff across Scotland, it was no surprise.
The level of violence in schools has always been higher than acceptable but it has been so much worse since the pandemic. Almost universally, staff report an increase in distressed behaviour since children have returned from months of lockdown.
I am a liberal and I believe in tackling the root causes of behaviour rather than simply punishing the symptoms, so I support inclusion and the restorative approach adopted in Scottish education.
But that does not mean I will ever deny the problems exist.
There does appear to be a conspiracy of silence and of under-reporting among the Scottish political and education leadership who cannot admit the severity of the problems or that the current approach is just not working. It is important that they admit the problem because teachers and staff will just not believe the leaderships are listening to their cries and pleas unless they do.
Yet it is not only staff and teachers who feel the consequences of a failed approach in cuts and bruises, but also young people too. One parent told me the GIRFEC policy (Getting It Right for Every Child) had too often become getting it right for one child while the rest of the class must endure the disruption – and sometimes physical attacks. Bullying is ugly and it is demeaning.
Some say schools don’t exclude enough, that they are a soft touch, that the offenders must be punished and the police should be called. It would be a sign of a failed system if the only answer was increasing numbers of young people condemned to the criminal justice system, probably for life.
I was among the last to be belted in Scotland as corporal punishment was abolished shortly after I left education.
Yes, young people need to have boundaries but why would we ever want to teach them that the boundaries are enforced with violence? Especially as the majority of the incidents are in primary and special schools rather than those in secondary schools, often videoed for social media.
The current approach isn’t working but the answer is to give our teachers and staff the resources, support and training they need. A third of all pupils – 241,639 – in Scotland’s publicly-funded schools were identified as having an Additional Support Need. To support the needs of all young people, we need to ensure there is sufficient investment in core education.
I support mainstreaming and inclusion but it can’t be done on the cheap.
There has been a fall in specialist teachers, long waits for mental health treatment, a reduction in classroom assistants, insufficient educational psychologists and not enough staffed spaces to provide appropriate support to pupils. The list goes on. That needs to change.
Through my work on the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee, I visited a school which had experienced big issues with behaviour and performance. A new headteacher was brought in who built relationships with parents, engaged with their lives and brought in the Aberlour charity, using the government’s Pupil Equity Fund.
Aberlour gave the young people the tools to cope with the pressures of school and family life. The new leadership and the targeted support improved the performance of the school and pupils.
Bannerman High School staff went on strike and EIS members in Northfield Academy balloted for strike action because they’d had enough of the violence and behaviour issues without adequate support. Quick as a flash, the resource was found. In these schools, it shouldn’t have taken a crisis for the resource to be brought in.
For many staff, teachers and pupils, violence is a daily occurrence. Too often they feel helpless and ignored. We must start listening and, more importantly, acting.
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