The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Violence against school staff statistics

23/01/2002

The results of the annual survey on incidents of violence against Local Authority school staff in 2000-2001, were published today.

Violence, in this context, includes physical violence, verbal abuse and damage to personal property.

In August 1997, Local Authorities were asked to begin to report and monitor incidents of violence in schools in Scotland. Information on incidents in primary, secondary and special schools was collected for the first time in Autumn 1998. It is now collected annually each Autumn, and has included reporting on incidents of violence in the pre-school sector since Autumn 1999.

The information collected refers to the number of separate incidents reported, rather than the number of individual members of staff involved in at least one incident during the year.

The main findings are:-

• During 2000-2001, the total number of violent incidents against Local Authority school staff which were reported was 4,501, of which 35 per cent occurred within the primary sector, 33 per cent in the secondary sector, 30 per cent in the special sector and 2 per cent in pre-school centres of education.

• Two-thirds of the incidents reported involved teaching staff. Of these, 3 per cent were incidents which involved both teaching and non-teaching staff.

• Around 7 per cent of all incidents were notified to the police. The proportion of incidents reported to the police in special schools is less than half that in primary and secondary schools.

• The total number of violent incidents recorded per 100,000 pupils was 569. The rate per 1,000 teachers was 60.

• 98 per cent of incidents were recorded as occurring in school hours, with 48 per cent taking place in the classroom.

• Two-thirds of the incidents reported involved physical violence. Of these, 36 per cent also involved verbal abuse. Verbal abuse alone made up the majority of the remainder with damage to personal property taking place in under 1 per cent of the incidents.

• In 92 per cent of all incidents reported, the perpetrator was a current pupil of the school. Where this information was available, 59 per cent of these incidents involved pupils with special educational needs (SEN). In 5 per cent of all incidents, the perpetrator was recorded as a parent.

• In total, 278 working days were recorded as being lost by school staff as a direct result of the 4,501 incidents of violence that were reported in 2000-2001. However, this total does not include figures for 2 of the 32 authorities, accounting for 4 per cent of all pupils, which were unable to provide this information.

In June 1997, the then Scottish Office issued a circular (No 5/97) to Local Authorities in Scotland, informing them of a formal requirement to report, record and monitor incidents of violence against school staff. In circular 5/97, an incident of violence was defined as:

'any incident in which any employee of a school is seriously abused, is threatened or is assaulted by a pupil, parent, member of the public or any other persons in circumstances arising out of the course of his/her employment. This includes physical attack and threatening behaviour with or without a weapon, and intentional damage to personal property'.

This reflects the fact that violence is not restricted to acts of aggression that may result in physical harm but incorporates behaviour, including the use of gestures and language, that may cause the victim to become afraid or feel threatened or abused.

The Scottish Executive collected and collated information from Local Authorities for the first time in 1998, and again in each August since.

It should be noted that:

• This is the fourth year that the survey has been run. The numbers of incidents reported in these four years have been:

1997-1998 743*

1998-1999 1,898

1999-2000 3,083

2000-2001 4,501

*Information not available from authorities covering 20% of pupils

• However, it is not valid to make comparisons between these annual totals, since the reporting procedures within Local Authorities are still bedding in. Those Local Authorities which reported the largest increases in the number of incidents of violence against staff this year have indicated that these increases were largely due to improved reporting procedures, and greater awareness of the issues, rather than representing 'real' increases.

• As with all such surveys, there is likely to be an element of under reporting within the overall figures. This factor is expected to diminish with time as the violence reporting procedure becomes more firmly established within each Local Authority.

• School staff may have different responses to incidents, and despite the definition, what one member of staff may report as a violent incident, another may choose not to report.

• In reporting the summary information for 2000-2001, there was no requirement for Local Authorities to record separately those multiple incidents that involved the same perpetrator, or whether more than one member of staff was involved. Similarly, incidents perpetrated by more than one person are not recorded separately.

• Where an incident was notified to the police, this does not imply that this incident was recorded as a crime by them.

• A pupil with SEN is any pupil with special educational needs who has a Record of Needs, or any other identified special educational needs (including undergoing assessment for possible recording). Note that this categorisation, for the purposes of this survey, is made largely at the discretion of the school.

Each Local Authority has established its own system for collecting information about violent incidents from its schools, based on guidelines issued by the Scottish Executive. While work is ongoing to increase consistency in reporting, some of these systems have proved to be more sensitive than others in recording the number of incidents that have taken place. Separate breakdowns of 2000-2001 results are therefore not available for individual Local Authorities due to the different reporting systems used. Figures from different Local Authorities are not generally comparable.

Incidents of violence against local authority school staff,
by sector, 2000-2001 Table 1

Incidents of violence against local authority school staff,
by location and time, 2000-2001 Table 2

Incidents of violence against education authority school staff,
by type of incident, 2000-2001 Table 3

Incidents of violence against education authority school staff,

by type of perpetrator, 2000-2001 Table 4

Incidents of violence against education authority school staff,

perpetrated by pupils, 2000-2001 Table 5

* = not applicable

This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

Enquiries

Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Dave Sorensen, Statistician, The Scottish Executive Education Department, 1-A Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 0322 or email dave.sorensen@scotland.gsi.gov.uk