The Scotsman

Rise in primary school assaults raises alarm

● Teaching unions demand more help for pupils with additional needs

- By DAVID BOL

Teaching unions have called for “urgent action” following an increase in the number of assaults on staff at Edinburgh primary schools.

The number of injuries suffered by staff in primary schools reported to health and safety experts increased by 42 per cent from 2016 to 2017.

Last year there were 883 injuries sustained by staff through assaults and violence in Edinburgh schools, including 423 at primary schools. There were 1,574 injuries to employees of Edinburgh City Council overall last year, including 944 assaults – 90 per cent of which took place at schools.

The council put the primary school increase partly down to better reporting of injuries from assaults, but concerns have been raised in particular over support for staff teaching pupils with additional needs in mainstream schools. The

0 Last year there were 883 injuries sustained by staff through assaults and violence in Edinburgh schools council predicted the number of primary school pupils in the city with additional support needs will rise from 31,108 this year to 32,245 by 2022.

A council report states “it is becoming increasing­ly chal- lenging to operate within the resources available”.

Teaching unions have called for more support for staff.

Educationa­l Institute of Scotland (EIS) Edinburgh local associatio­n secretary Alison Murphy said: “This issue needs to be acknowledg­ed and addressed so that schools can support staff, improve the situation for pupils in classes who are frequently having their education disrupted and, very importantl­y, make things better for pupils with profound additional needs who are not getting the specialist support they need and deserve.”

The report by Susan Tannahill, the council’s senior manager for health and safety, said 60 per cent of overall injuries to council employees resulted from violence and assaults. NASUWT union general secretary Chris Keates labelled the statistics the “tip of the iceberg”, saying: “The increase in the number of teachers being injured in the course of their work is extremely worrying particular­ly as the council states the majority of these injuries were due to violence and aggression from pupils. Findings published by the city council showed a 16 per cent drop in the overall number of reportable injuries to council employees from 2016 to 2017.

There has been a slight drop in injuries to school staff over the same period, but injuries to primary school staff have increased by 42 per cent.

Council education convener Cllr Ian Perry said: “We treat injuries to our school staff very seriously and will always support them when incidents occur … to support our staff we have introduced a far-reaching training programme in schools.”

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