THE annual survey from the EIS teaching union, highlighting the scale of violence in our schools, should come as no surprise.
Just under two-thirds of teachers surveyed said there were daily incidents of pupil-on-teacher violence or aggression in their school, and these had significantly increased over the last four years. Many of these incidents are linked to pupils with additional support needs (ASN), with numbers more than doubling since 2012, and now amounting to more than a third of children, who are also experiencing an increasing complexity of need. These numbers have been exacerbated by the traumatic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
However, this is set against a background of acute under-resourcing to support their needs, with the number of specialist ASN teachers falling by 546 between 2012 and 2022 as just one example.
READ MORE: Teachers warn of 'significant amount of violence' in Scottish schools
Additional funding is desperately needed to increase support for those with ASN, including specialist teachers, teaching assistants, mental health professionals and educational psychologists.
While we support the principle of mainstreaming, that all children be taught in mainstream classes unless exceptional circumstances apply, this has never been properly resourced. Those with ASN are therefore frequently being inadequately supported, which is also impacting on other pupils.
Violence against any member of school staff or another pupil is never acceptable, and it is critical that with the Scottish Budget being published next month, our schools are given the necessary resources to ensure that they are safe places in which to work and to learn.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition: Kenny Graham, Falkland House School; Lynn Bell, LOVE Learning; Stephen McGhee, Spark of Genius; Niall Kelly, Young Foundations
P KEIGHTLEY’S excellent letter in Thursday’s edition raises the question that many are asking, here and abroad. How can it be the more than half our population are content to be ruled by another nation– and a nation that counts us as an unimportant “region” at that?
At the risk of repeating myself in your letters page, any Scot asking the question only needs to look at our history to see that the end of independence really started circa 1560. Because the reformers sided with England, seeing such an alliance as a guarantee of Protestantism here, the writing was on the wall for Scotland the nation.
READ MORE: The SNP have slowly integrated into the English Westminster system
Religion was a major part of life in Europe. Scotland was no exception, and the zeal with which the power brokers here embraced the new theology (with its support from England) ushered in centuries of entrenched anti-French, anti-Spain, anti-Rome and pro-Union sentiment, the fallout from which we are still dealing with to this day.
Most Unionists I know will never change their minds. Centuries of this “British” mindset have conditioned so many into believing that the Union is somehow sacred. No amount of evidence to the contrary will alter their way of thinking.
Scots have bought into this subservience wholesale – that’s an unpalatable fact, but still a fact. Anyone who thinks that all this is irrelevant ancient history and that our current generations aren’t bogged down with such baggage should think again.
Unionism is cultural as well as political and is built in to the psyche of so many Scots, as the 2014 referendum result showed.
Jim Butchart
via email
READ MORE:
THE Great Climate Fight on Wednesday was a brilliant programme, the second of two on Channel 4 with the presenters Mary Portas, Kevin McCloud and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. For those who missed it I strongly recommend viewing it on catch-up, as I will view the first.
They showed how the politicians could easily meet net zero but have no interest in doing so. The presenters left no stone unturned in their efforts to reach them! In fact Kevin McCloud’s interaction with Michael Gove showed how politicians prefer to have “soft” interviewers to give us what we are normally fed!
Paul Gillon
Leven
THE prospective loss of jobs at Ineos in Grangemouth is likely to be a disaster for the area. However, I cannot think of a reason why the Scottish Government won’t finance (or at least persuade others to finance) the generation of green hydrogen on the site. Scotland generates so much energy the grid can’t cope with it. The generation of green hydrogen would be a sensible way out of this dilemma.
READ MORE: SNP urge bold action on climate from UK Government ahead of COP28
Exporting hydrogen to England would be a source of income for Scotland. The alternative – importing refined petroleum products from abroad – makes no sense in business terms. I can understand why Ineos is no longer interested in refining unwanted products from unsuitable stock, so why not re-tool and produce hydrogen? Whatever happened to joined-up thinking, and why do our politicians have so little knowledge of practicalities?
Tony Kime
Kelso
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel