Concerns after 'significant' increase in physical assaults in Clackmannanshire schools

Clackmannanshire Council’s annual Health and Safety report revealed that staff reported 421 incidents of physical assault in 2023/24.

According to the report 90% of the reports, or approximately 379 incidents, occurred in Clackmannanshire schools.

“[The report] quite worryingly highlights that the highest types of incident were physical assaults,” councillor Forson said.

“Those statistics are quite stark to me and when I read the information above, it said 90% of these are taking place within education establishments. That’s quite significant.”

She added: “I know there’s been some national attention around this, but seeing in Clackmannanshire is quite concerning.”

Council officers agreed that there is a “continual need” to address these issues, but they also highlighted that the increased reports partially come from an increased emphasis on reporting.

“There has been a further increase in the number of incidents reported, which is due to regular promotion of the need to and benefits of reporting,” the report explained.

Additionally, officers said that “physical assault” can be anything from a child with coordination issues hitting somebody to full on attacks at staff members – or anything in between.

“The number of more serious assaults are, thankfully, relatively low,” officers said.

“And 40% of incidents within our educational establishments take place in sections dedicated to our Additional Support Needs pupils.”

It’s harder to quantify, but officers said that a “significant proportion” of other incidents involve other pupils with Additional Support Needs who are supported in various other educational settings.

Another officer added: “The other areas that we do see high numbers of reports, Early Learning and Childcare establishments. I think that is a change in behaviour with young people in these stages coming out of Covid. That’s not been a quick fix, but we’re really committed to work with our families and children.”

Councillors and officers also emphasised that this is not an issue specific to Clackmannanshire – local authorities across Scotland are also reporting higher levels of school violence and aggression.

“We’ll continue to see high numbers, I think, because we’ll continue to record incidents and we’re really committed to doing that,” health and safety officers concluded.

“But it is something that is a continual need for us to address.”

The Council has also said it is taking part in a national project with the Health and Safety Executive to look at reasons for this trend and possible control measures to reduce the number of incidents both locally and nationally.