Hansard

We have to make the school experience the holistic educational experience that many of us enjoyed when we were at school. That heritage is the birthright of all Scottish pupils and it should be made a reality, but it is not a reality across Scotland.

Scottish Conservative research has found that, since 2017, there have been almost 75,000 verbal or physical attacks on staff, 20,000 of which happened in the 2021-22 school year. It is a problem that seems to be getting worse.

One of the issues with gathering that information is the difference in recording standards between schools, which is why we demand a new national reporting framework. That is something that unions have been asking for and something that we, as political leaders, should expect of Government. The Government has not even collated, let alone published, those statistics since 2016. That omission must be urgently addressed and the figures published.

A pupil in a school in my area was violently attacked by fellow pupils. Her attackers shared footage of the incident on social media, so the pupil was not only physically injured but suffered mentally, knowing that everyone at her school had potentially seen the video of her being beaten up. Those responsible are still at the same school; the headteacher felt that they could not do anything about it, as did the police. The victim now attends school infrequently and suffers from severe anxiety when she does.

Teachers want a properly regulated classroom, but they feel that they are unprotected and potentially open to legal consequences if they act against violent pupils. Too often, our school leaders feel, as in this case, that they have no sanctions. That is a key issue for the summit. Pupils know it, teachers know it and parents know it.

Removing perpetrators from classrooms is a vital first step, but that cannot be the end of the story, because exclusions must lead to something else. The offenders need help, too, and returning them straight back into the classroom is not a workable solution. There needs to be somewhere for those disruptive and damaged pupils to go. They need help, not isolation.

We also have a crisis in attendance. Alongside that, there is a growing challenge of internal truancy, where pupils go to school but refuse to go to class. The language of rights has taught some children to say that their teachers cannot force them to go to class. There must be consequences for such disruptive and disrespectful behaviour. We need parents to be involved in resolving the issue. There should never be a culture of “What happens in school stays in school.” Parents must always be a part of the solution, but they can add to the problems that teachers are dealing with when they fail to back the teachers. Getting the teachers the tools and guidance that they need to deal with that will effect real change. Strengthening the authority of teachers will go a long way to resolving this important and difficult issue.

At decision time, we must—and I think that we will—unite every member of this Parliament, of every party, in supporting those who are entrusted with the teaching of our young people. We need to show them that we back them, that we appreciate them and—more importantly, with regard to this subject—that we have heard them. They need to believe that, at the summit on school violence, we will do something more than talk about getting them the help and support that they need.

The cabinet secretary told a teachers conference recently that she would work on a cross-party basis to bring about improvements in educational experience, outcomes and opportunities for our young people. Today, in supporting my motion, the Government in which Jenny Gilruth serves is making a start on keeping that important promise to teachers and uniting the chamber in tackling violence in our schools.

I move,

That the Parliament believes that no pupil, teacher or member of school staff should suffer physical or verbal abuse and that every child and young person has the right to an uninterrupted school day, free from violence and disruption; notes the impact that the current escalation of violence in schools has had on the teaching profession, especially in relation to retention and mental health; understands that evidence relating to violence in schools was last gathered in 2016, and therefore calls on the Scottish Government to address this matter urgently by collecting data and publishing findings on a regular basis, and believes that the Scottish Government must work with parents, schools, local authorities and unions to establish a nationwide school violence working group, that will produce a national framework for reporting instances of violence and disruption within schools, update guidance on exclusions laws and policies, ensure pupil support assistants are available and issue materials that will support parents and schools, assisting them in promoting acceptable behaviour and tackling violence and disruption.