Scotland's first minister defends new guidance on tackling pupil behaviour

Scotland's first minister has defended guidance issued to schools on how to deal with violent and aggressive behaviour from pupils amid criticism a stricter approach is required to "restore discipline".

The Scottish government published new guidance earlier this week following calls from teachers for help to tackle the issue.

In her foreword, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said that exclusion should only be used as a "last resort".

The guidance aims to focus on improving outcomes by "reinforcing positive behaviour and working to reduce the likelihood of negative behaviour occurring in future".

It comes after a survey by the NASUWT union in March found 83% of members believed pupil violence and aggression had increased in the last year.

At First Minister's Questions on Thursday, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives said violent and disruptive behaviour in schools "is getting worse".

MSP Russell Findlay added: "A small minority of pupils prevent the majority from learning in peace and in safety.

"Some teachers feel unsafe. Many feel unsupported. The SNP's naive and weak approach fails absolutely everyone."

The Scottish government said the new guidance had been developed with input from headteachers, teaching unions, local government and educational psychologists.

Mr Findlay said it was "complicated and confusing", branding it "49 pages of tedious, hand-wringing nonsense".

He also criticised some of the suggested measures, including giving "violent pupils laminated bullet points, telling them to think about their behaviour", and tackling unsafe behaviour by having "a conversation to jointly problem solve with the child".

Mr Findlay added: "And it also says that disruptive pupils should be allowed to leave class two minutes early, which to me sounds like a reward rather than a punishment."

The MSP said his party had "long argued that a stricter approach is necessary to restore discipline in schools" as he called on the first minister to empower teachers to be able to do so.

He continued: "We believe in exclusions for violence because they protect staff and pupils, and because they work."

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In response, John Swinney agreed that disruptive behaviour in schools was the product of a "minority of pupils".

But the first minister added: "I don't think for a moment that Mr Findlay's presentation of the guidance is in any way, shape or form representative of what is actually there."

Mr Swinney argued the guidance had been designed to de-escalate and resolve situations to ensure the youngsters are well supported to "fulfil their potential".

He explained: "Because if young people are unable to participate in their education, they are unlikely to go into good outcomes in our society, and we will simply repeat the difficulties that we've seen for many years of young people who do not go on to positive destinations."

Mr Swinney said there had been 11,676 exclusions in 2022/23.

Although lower than what was recorded in 2018/19, the first minister said "it is still a very high level of exclusion of young people from our schools".

Mr Swinney pointed to a summit he recently hosted in an attempt to curb school violence, where he said none of the attendees pushed for increased exclusions.

He said: "So, what we are getting from Russell Findlay today is a demonisation of young people and a failure to address the mechanisms and the interventions required to solve a difficult issue in our society."

Mr Findlay - a former crime journalist - has repeatedly criticised the SNP's "soft touch justice regime" and in recent months raised the issue of organised crime gangs "grooming" vulnerable youngsters as they face a "reduced risk" of being jailed due to the nation's sentencing guidelines for under-25s.

Mr Swinney said exclusions can have "negative consequences", explaining: "If a young person is excluded from school, they are not in the safe environment of school.

"They are therefore likely to be out on the streets and therefore potentially able to become involved in some of the criminal activity that Mr Findlay himself has put to me within the last fortnight at First Minister's Questions as being a risk to which young people are exposed."