Time to protect teaching staff
TEACHING has never been a tougher job.
Pay has stagnated, class sizes are too large and discipline is too frequently a problem.
Those who work in our schools – whether teachers, classroom assistants or dinner ladies – deserve nothing but respect and support.
So it’s extremely disturbing to learn of an increase in attacks on teachers at an Edinburgh school.
Staff at Kaimes School walked out in protest in October over safety fears.
Figures show staff were injured by pupils almost 100 times at the school in 2018.
Teachers are vital to forming young minds and ensuring Scotland has the talents and skills the country needs to flourish.
By failing to protect them, we risk driving good people away from the profession and letting down the next generation of pupils.
The figures are a stark illustration of why staff took a stand
CHRIS KEATES ON RISE IN ATTACKS ON TEACHERS
ATTACKS on teachers at a school where staff walked out in protest have nearly doubled in a year.
In October last year, 11 teachers refused to work at Kaimes School in Edinburgh after being subjected to a string of violent assaults by pupils.
Members of the NASUWT union refused to teach eight specific children at the school in the Liberton area of the city but following talks, an agreement was reached and the staff returned after 17 days.
Figures obtained in a freedom of information request have revealed that the number of attacks on staff at the school has rocketed over the last three years.
In 2016, staff were injured 30 times – with one pupil excluded for two-anda-half days over an incident.
The figure for 2017 showed staff faced 53 violent incidents, with three workers requiring hospital treatment.
But it nearly doubled last year when staff were injured 97 times.
Four incidents required hospital treatment and police were called out seven times.
Pupils were temporarily excluded for a total of 35-anda-half days – including eightand-a-half days for an incident on January 9 last year.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “These figures are a stark illustration of why our members took the stand they did.
“As a result of the action taken by our members, positive progress is now being made to seek to ensure processes and practices are put in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of staff and pupils, making clear that violence against staff will not be tolerated.”
In November, officals from the EIS union said that special school workers in Edinburgh are facing “more violence than wardens in a category A prison”.
The union’s staff survey revealed that about half of nursery nurses and pupil support assistants (PSAs) said they witnessed violence on a daily basis and had directly experienced violence at least once a week.
Edinburgh City Council’s Tory education spokesman Callum Laidlaw said: “Teaching staff and classroom assistants in our special schools have one of the most challenging roles in the city. Clearly there is something wrong if these staff do not feel they have the support and structure to feel safe at work and are forced to take industrial action.
“I hope the council will listen to the EIS and review arrangements for protecting our employees.”
A council spokesman said: “A range of actions have been agreed and are in place at Kaimes, which are enhancing both working conditions for teachers and the learning environment for pupils.
“The well-being of staff and learners has been at the heart of the discussions held with the unions over recent months.”