6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to tackle violence in schools and the impact that this is having on both pupils and staff. (S6O-02947)

No teacher, member of staff or pupil should have to suffer abuse in our schools. The series of summits that I held with a wide range of stakeholders on behaviour in schools concluded in November, and the behaviour in Scottish schools research, which has been published, provides an accurate national picture of behaviour in Scotland’s schools.

In my statement to the Parliament on 29 November, I confirmed that a multiyear plan is in development to tackle instances of challenging behaviour through working with local authorities, trade unions and others. The plan will be published as soon as possible.

I welcome that update and the different points that the cabinet secretary made in relation to progress. I fully agree that no one in our schools should feel unsafe or suffer abuse of any kind. I am pleased that the final stage of the series of behaviour stakeholder summits has taken place.

What particular attention is being given to tackling gender-based violence in our schools, which affects both pupils and staff? What engagement has there been with expert organisations such as Zero Tolerance, White Ribbon and SHE—Social, Health and Education—Scotland in my constituency?

I am very concerned by the findings in the BISS research in relation to increased misogyny in our schools, which, as has been pointed out, was found to affect both pupils and staff.

In the coming weeks, we will publish a national gender-based violence framework for schools, which will support them in preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

We will also continue to work very closely with key stakeholders, including those that Ben Macpherson mentioned, on the gender-based violence in schools working group, which we jointly chair with Zero Tolerance and Rape Crisis Scotland. That work will ensure that the framework not only supports schools in tackling gender-based violence and sexual harassment, but supports everyone in our schools so that they are protected and cared for and have their rights and needs respected.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

There are a number of supplementary questions. We have a little time in hand this afternoon, so I will take them all, but that is not an invitation to go on for overly long. I ask again for brevity.

I have been inundated with correspondence from constituents who are raising concerns about the widespread violence in Fife schools. In Fife, 71 per cent of teachers who responded to a recent Educational Institute of Scotland survey reported experiencing violence on a daily basis, while officials said that members had been hospitalised due to physical attacks. It is concerning to see that we now have teenagers in Dunfermline engaging in attacks outside the school grounds. Such violence, including gender-based violence, has to stop. I am sure that the cabinet secretary accepts that any delay in dealing with the matter will allow violence to escalate and embed. When will the Government’s plans be implemented to support our teachers and parents?

T he member raises a number of important points. She commented on some specific cases that I have not been sighted on, but if she wants to share any further detail with me, I would be keen to see it.

We will use the national research that has been published through the BISS research to inform our decision making around the national action plan. We must be cognisant, too, that we need to trust teachers in our classrooms to deliver the learning, teaching and behaviour that we expect in our schools. Yesterday, I visited two schools in Glasgow that are working to embed strong relationships to support better behaviour across the board.

We are working at pace on the plan with the Scottish advisory group on relationships and behaviour in schools and with the wider range of partners that I mentioned in my response to Mr Macpherson. In December, I met teaching unions, following my update to the Parliament, to discuss our response. We expect to publish the plan early this year. I am more than happy to write to Roz McCall with more detail on that. She will understand that, as cabinet secretary, I require the buy-in of and co-production with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, given that it runs our schools. I recognise the urgency of the issue, as the member intimated in her question.

In just the past few weeks, I have met a pupil support assistant with a broken wrist and a teacher who is off on long-term sick leave because of stress, both as a result of violence in the classroom. The education secretary knows that there is some disappointment and a degree of anger that the message from the statement in December was that teachers need better training. That cannot be the answer—they need more in-class support and more specialist support. I urge the education secretary to look again at the issue of boundaries and consequences, because I think that we have got that out of kilter. Will she look at that again to make sure that we get it right?

The member made similar suggestions in a debate at the end of the previous term. I tried to intervene on him at that time, but he did not allow me to do so, if he recalls. That was not the message from my statement to the Parliament at the end of term. My statement very much recognised the challenges, but we also need to be cognisant, as a Parliament, that the Government does not run our schools directly. We trust our local authorities, such as Fife Council in the member’s constituency, to support their school staff on the ground. The Government also has a responsibility here, which is why I introduced the national action plan, but that has to be done in conjunction with local authorities.

The member has given a number of examples, and he has talked again about consequences. I have been very clear that the national action plan will set out some of that in more detail. The feedback from headteachers at the BISS research events included a call for more of that to be set out at national level. I am keen to give that clarity so that headteachers understand the options that they have at their disposal. However, we need to be careful not to patronise the profession, which very much recognises how to develop and deliver good-quality learning and teaching and how to set boundaries for our young people. As part of that process, teachers also need support from their local authorities. That is why local authorities and COSLA must be key to the development of the national action plan and to the SAGRABIS work that I mentioned in my response to Roz McCall.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

In order to get in the next supplementary questions, I will need a bit more brevity in both the questions and the responses.

Thank you for your indulgence, Presiding Officer.

The cabinet secretary will know that non-contact time is crucial in addressing the conditions in schools. Does she have the report that she commissioned on delivering that? If she does, when will she be able to share some of the detail with the Parliament?

I very much agree with the member on this issue. I do not yet have that report from my officials, but I am happy to write to the member as soon as I have received it, because I recognise the ask for additionality in relation to class contact time.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

That is the example to follow.

What support can the Scottish Government offer to Northfield academy, in my Aberdeen Donside constituency, given that Education Scotland inspectors recently stated that more needs to be done to make pupils feel safe?

As the member will know, I visited Northfield academy back in August to understand the action that it was taking to address some of the concerns at the school. Undeniably, a number of challenges remain, but I am advised that the leadership team at the school is committed to driving improvements for pupils and staff alike.

Although decisions on the specific support that might be needed are matters for local authorities and schools, as part of our commitment to ensuring that schools are safe and consistent environments for all, we are working on the national action plan that I mentioned in previous responses.

Specifically in relation to Northfield academy, I have requested from my officials an update from the interim chief inspector of education on any additional support that we might be able to provide the school and the local authority at this time.

Given the extent of the problem, does the cabinet secretary think that it would be worth while to encourage schools to get the debate on this issue going at a local level—with the involvement of parents, pupils, teachers and all staff in the schools—to try to resolve it at a local level and engage people on the problem?

The member makes an interesting and positive suggestion. Yes, I think that it would be worth doing that.

Over the past few months, a number of pieces of research have been published on behaviour in Scotland’s schools. At the turn of the year, research was published on attendance and the integration of home and school during the pandemic. That is part of the challenge, so it would be worth while pursuing the member’s suggestion about a local approach to re-engage families with the school. I would be more than happy to work with the member on that issue.