NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates issued the stark warning during her speech at the teaching unions’ annual conference in Glasgow last week.
Teachers and pupils in UK schools are increasingly at risk of violence in schools, according to NASUWT’s general secretary Chris Keates.
Making the remarks during her address to the unions annual conference last week, Keates said schools were failing in their duty to record and address all incidents of serious violence and disruption.
She went on to say the correct procedure for risk assessments was not always carried out on pupils who regularly display high levels of aggression, and that even when an assessment was made the details were not always shared with the appropriate staff members.
Keates said:
Where a pupil is known to exhibit violent and disruptive behaviour, a risk assessment should be undertaken and action taken to support the pupil to address their behaviour and to protect other pupils and staff.
However, there are too many cases where schools and local authorities fail to act on reports of serious disruption and violence and fail to provide both pupils and staff with the protection and support they need.
The NASUWT is continuing to challenge those schools and local authorities which leave teachers recklessly exposed to violent pupil behaviour.
NASUWT’s national official for Scotland, Jane Peckham, added:
Pupil behaviour is one of the top concerns that teachers raise about their job. Yet evidence shows that teachers are not receiving the support they need to tackle these issues.
The NASUWT believes there should be a zero tolerance policy of violent behaviour in schools. Failing to deal with this problem will only make matters worse and endangers pupils and staff.
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