Unfounded allegations from school pupils put teachers at risk - union

Schoolteachers are vulnerable to unfounded allegations from pupils when enforcing behaviour rules in the classroom, a union has warned.

Teaching union NASUWT said schools and education authorities need to protect staff and offer more support.

In some cases allegations can result in criminal charges, the union said ahead of its conference in Aberdeen.

The Scottish government said school and local authority procedures had to meet the needs of staff and pupils.

A motion at the NASWUT conference notes with "concern and great sadness" the death of a Borders teacher - which was reported as suicide - while she was awaiting trial for an alleged assault on a pupil.

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Mike Corbett, NASUWT's officer for Scotland, called for more guidance from the Scottish government.

"As we've emerged from the pandemic the feedback that we get from members is that pupil behaviour issues are certainly more challenging," Mr Corbett told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme.

He said it was difficult to pinpoint reasons but some children were no longer "recognising the same boundaries".

He said: "There's no doubt that in schools across the country there's definitely more issues in terms of challenging pupil behaviour and that is something that we want the Scottish government to first of all acknowledge and then help us to address.

"If you have more of those challenging pupil behaviours being displayed and teachers having to intervene - whether that is to take a mobile phone from a child or intervene in a fight - that then opens up teachers more to potentially false or malicious allegations."

He said it was "right and proper" for teachers to be suspended while investigations were carried out, but teachers were often left with no communication with the school explaining what was going on.

'Clear concern'

Mr Corbett said they also wanted to encourage parents to be more supportive of teachers and school when they are alerted to their children's behaviour, and "not immediately jump to a litigious approach".

The union will be asking Education Minister Jenny Gilruth, who is to visit the conference on Saturday, to "accept that things are not back to normal in schools" after the Covid lockdowns.

An increase in swearing at teachers and physical assault of teachers since the start of the pandemic has been recorded by NASUWT.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT's general secretary, said investigations, even into unfounded allegations, could be "devastating and often career ending".

He said: "There is clear concern from teachers that they do not always receive the backing they need from school leaders and employers in implementing school policies on behaviour."

A Scottish government spokesman said that support for dealing with allegations "should be offered through local authorities, line management and staff welfare structures".

"Schools and authorities must have procedures in place that meet the needs of both staff, children and young people and must ensure that any local procedures for handling allegations dovetail with local disciplinary and child protection procedures," the spokesman said.