Critics hold two fingers up to class abuse advice

NEW guidance to curb rising levels of classroom violence has been branded “pathetic” as it includes using eye contact and hand signals to deal with abusive pupils.

- By David Walker

For violence, teachers are urged to “laminate” a set of bullet points.

Pupil aggression and assaults are becoming a more regular occurrence, with recent surveys pointing to an increase in violent incidents.

Assaulted

Teaching union Nasuwt found more than 90% of teachers had been subjected to verbal abuse, and 44% to violence or physical abuse.

In the past 12 months 80% of those who responded to the survey had been threatened with a weapon by a pupil and 37% had been assaulted with a weapon.

Despite these shocking statistics, SNP Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth still advocates for exclusion as a “last resort.”