Assault in school
Teen charged with attack
South Lanarkshire’s head of education confirmed the council is fully committed to providing safe environments for pupils and staff - after a teenager went into a Rutherglen secondary school and allegedly assaulted a teacher.
Anne Donaldson spoke out after a 14-year-old youth was arrested for pushing a teacher at Trinity High School on September 28. The intruder entered the school grounds without permission at 2.50pm and confronted the 29-year-old staff member.
Following the attack the youth, who is not believed to be a pupil at Trinity, fled the scene but was later caught by police and arrested.
He was further charged with assault and breach of the peace.
Ms Donaldson said: “The council is fully committed to the implementation of all possible measures to ensure our establishments provide safe environments for our pupils and staff.
“This was an isolated incident in Trinity High School on September 28.”
Earlier this year it was revealed there have been 9,543 reported attacks on teachers in Scotland since the beginning of the 2014/15 school year, averaging 3.6 attacks per school.
The figures came to light after the Scottish Liberal Democrats made a Freedom of Information request in January.
However, the real number is likely to be much higher as Aberdeenshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Midlothian and North Lanarkshire councils all failed to provide figures.
And the statistics also suggested a worrying upward trend, with 3,572 assaults in 2014/15 increasing to 3,681 in 2015/16.
A spokeswoman for The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the largest teaching union in Scotland, warned schools must provide a safe working environment for teachers and pupils.
She continued: “In the rare instances where violent incidents do occur we would always advise teachers to report the matter formally to management and to involve the police.”
Inspector Robert Bryce, of Rutherglen Police Station, said: “The 14-year-old was arrested in relation to assault and disorder and was subsequently reported to the children’s panel.”