School staff in Highlands suffering average of almost 8 assaults a day, GMB Scotland survey reveals
School staff in the Highlands are suffering an average of almost eight physical or verbal assaults every day, official figures have revealed.
Records released by Highland Council reveal 1477 incidents of violence, threats or verbal abuse were reported by school staff in 2023.
The figures mean an average of 7.7 incidents are reported every day across the 190-day school year.
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GMB Scotland, representing school support staff, obtained the data under Freedom of Information.
It said the reported incidents confirm the scale of the crisis but remain only “the tip of the iceberg”.
In total, more than 44,600 incidents were reported by local authority staff across Scotland last year with city councils, like Glasgow and Edinburgh, recording more than 4000 incidents.
Lesley-Anne MacAskill, the union’s organiser in Highland Council, said pupil support assistants, janitors, catering workers and other non-teaching staff must be better protected.
“These figures are shocking but sadly no longer surprising,” she said.
“Violence against staff in our schools is clearly at crisis levels but official records are still underestimating the scale of that crisis. These reports are the tip of the iceberg.
“From what our members tell us, the incidents of violence and abuse that are not being reported, recorded or investigated could far outstrip those that are.
“For every one reported, another one or possibly two is not.
“That must change as a matter of urgency and staff must be given the time and encouragement to report incidents properly and should expect those incidents to be properly investigated and acted on.”
A survey of GMB members has revealed two-thirds of incidents are never recorded while three out of four victims said they receive no feedback if they do report an incident.
The union is piloting a poster campaign in schools in five council areas to bolster reporting systems.
The posters included a QR code to allow members to quickly and easily detail incidents to the union immediately.
If effective, the posters will be rolled out in other council areas including the Highlands.
Ms MacAskill said: “Staff are too often expected to carry on working after an incident of physical or verbal abuse and told to report it when they have spare time, which is never.
“Details will be lost and many staff members, who may have been shaken but unhurt, see little point in spending time on a report that, they suspect, will end up filed and forgotten.
“The posters will give staff the opportunity to easily and quickly to tell us what is happening to detail the scale of the violence and abuse being endured by school staff.
“No worker should go to their work in fear and feel relief if they arrive home unhurt.
“No one should be asked to go to their work to be punched, kicked, bit, spat on, and expecting to suffer verbal or physical abuse.
“Our members do not feel the authorities are tackling or even recognising the violence in schools but are instead glossing over it and allowing it become normalised.”
The GMB Scotland survey of almost 800 school support staff, across janitorial, catering, admin cleaning and classrooms revealed 68 per cent of workers fear the crisis has worsened over the last three years.
Almost half (47 per cent) of the support staff taking part do not believe local authorities take the issue of violence against workers seriously while 63 per cent have had no training in de-escalating potentially violent situations.
