Scottish Government to update guidance for teachers facing violence 'in weeks'

The Scottish Government is to update guidance for teachers facing violence in classrooms “in weeks”.

Education secretary Jenny Gilruth was responding to questions about what action she and the Government are taking to address rising aggressive and disruptive behaviour in schools across Scotland.

“I’m very clear consequences are an essential part of a supportive learning environment, and I’ll provide more information on our approach when we publish that guidance in June,” she said.

“Teachers must be supported in our schools. I take this issue very seriously, having come from the classroom myself.”

Scotland

Far-right movements ‘fuelling racist and violent behaviour in Scottish schools’

Union leader will tell annual conference that racist, misogynistic and anti-immigrant rhetoric is trickling into schools across the country.

The announcement comes around eight months after the Scottish Government published its national action plan to address violence in schools. Now this will be updated with further guidance on options available to schools to deal with disruptive pupils.

“Teachers in Scotland can already take range of different actions in responding to disruptive behaviour,” Gilruth said.

“At its furthest extreme, exclusion does remain an option to Scotland’s teachers.”

Scotland

School violence: ‘I had a chair thrown at me and a child threatened to stab me’

There were 4,651 violent and aggressive incidents reported in Fife primary schools last year.

Gilruth said the updated guidance on classroom consequences – including exclusion – will be published before Parliament’s summer recess in June.

Although Gilruth would not be baited into “prejudging” the guidance, she said staff “need to be empowered” about exclusion as “an option for them to use”.

‘Extremism and far-right ideology having detrimental effect on Scottish young people’

The education minister also said the rise of extremism and far-right ideology in wider society “is having a detrimental effect” on Scottish young people – and on behaviour in schools.

The statement from Jenny Gilruth on Thursday echoed recent warnings from a teacher’s union leader that the influence of far-right movements is turning some Scottish schools into a “battleground of blame and violence”.

Gilruth specifically named increasing reports of gender based violence against female teachers and staff as an area of concern for the government and COSLA.

“Research from [the NASUWT and EIS teacher’s unions] about violence on female staff echoes our own research,” Gilruth said.

“And I have to say, as a female politician, it is sadly also reflective of the types of experiences encountered by women in politics in 2025.”

She added: “Gender-based violence should not be tolerated in our society and an important conversation is needed about this.”