Teachers at a Scots high school are set to go on strike over “failures” to tackle rising violence and abuse from pupils.
Staff at Kirkintilloch High School in East Dunbartonshire will walk out this week after concerns were raised over regular verbal abuse and violent incidents. Workers at the secondary school argue there are no serious consequences for the students involved and an overuse of ineffective restorative approaches to managing poor behaviour.
The action comes after the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign was launched in response to an epidemic of youth violence in Scotland. Our reports have laid bare the extent of the problem in schools, with many experts telling us more needs to be done to address the issue in classrooms.
NASUWT, a union which represents the teachers, confirmed industrial action will begin on Wednesday.
Mike Corbett, NASUWT Scotland National Official, said: “Members feel blamed and gaslit by management for the poor behaviour of pupils. They report being told at debriefing meetings that their lessons are ‘not fun or engaging enough’. A culture where there are no consequences for poor behaviour is not setting up pupils well for adult life and fails the employers’ duty of care towards its staff.”
An emergency summit on school violence was held by the government in August 2023 in response to our coverage, which highlighted a series of assaults on school staff. These included the sexual assault of a teacher at a secondary school in Glasgow and the brutal beating of another teacher at Taylor High School in Motherwell, who was left lying injured in the middle of the school corridor.
A video of the teacher, understood to be in his 60s, showed him curled into in the foetal position and surrounded by his concerned colleagues following the attack in May 2023. In another incident, a teacher was left with a a life-changing disability and unable to hold his newborn baby after a pupil jumped on his back during a lesson.
More than one year on from from the Holyrood summit, NASUWT claims the school and council has “done nothing significant” to embed the key points of the meeting, chaired by Cabinet Secretary Jenny Gilruth.
Mr Corbett continued: “The continued failure of the employer to take the concerns of our members seriously and act on them with any urgency means we have been left with no option than to begin a campaign of industrial action. We will not let our members be left exposed to abuse and violence.”
During strike action, staff will refuse to cover classes for absent colleagues or undertake any additional duties such as extra-curricular clubs, trips or study classes.
Rod McCready, NASUWT National Executive Member for East Dunbartonshire, said: “The refusal to undertake cover will help to protect members from abuse and violence because there is typically no established relationship with pupils in such classes. In a school where there is a culture of abuse and violence from pupils, our members are not willing at the present time to put themselves at further risk by taking such classes.”
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said: “We have been seeking to engage in negotiations with the employer for some months now, but we have not seen any evidence to date that this issue is being treated with the urgency or seriousness it deserves. We are calling on the employer to engage meaningfully with us as a matter of urgency to ensure that effective measures are put in place to address the behaviour problems that have been identified by our members.”
Ann Davie, Chief Executive of East Dunbartonshire Council, said: “We are aware of the planned action by NASUWT members at Kirkintilloch High School. We have fully engaged with the school management regarding NASUWT staff concerns and we are currently in discussions with the union to try to resolve the issues they have brought forward.”
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