Three teachers in hospital after Johnstone High School disturbance

Police were called to Johnstone High School

Three teachers and a 14-year-old pupil have been injured in a disturbance at Johnstone High School in Renfrewshire.

Police were called at about 10:45 after a former pupil entered the school.

Three female teachers aged 59, 48 and 34 were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley with minor injuries to be checked over. The 14-year-old pupil also suffered minor injuries.

Police said a 16-year-old girl had been charged and would be reported to the Scottish Children's Reporter.

A video showing a girl appearing to strike a teacher is circulating among pupils at the school. No weapons were involved in the incident.

Renfrewshire Council said the school continued to operate as normal and senior staff were providing any support needed to staff and pupils.

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The parent of a Johnstone High pupil told BBC Scotland that there had been "ongoing issues with violence and vandalism over a number of months".

He added: "The toilets are now permanently closed to all pupils, as they have been completely vandalised and taken out of use on numerous occasions.

"I have total sympathy for the headteacher, who I believe does an excellent job in very difficult circumstance."

Earlier on Friday, the NASUWT teaching union said an increase in "challenging" behaviour in schools across the country since the pandemic meant teachers were often having to intervene in fights between pupils and called for more to be done to protect staff.

The union's Mike Corbett said: "While the full circumstances of this incident are yet to be made public, we have raised repeated concerns about the vulnerability of teachers to violence and verbal abuse from pupils.

"Teachers have reported to us that the prevalence of poor behaviour appears to have increased since the pandemic and that in too many cases they do not feel adequately protected at work."

Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, has previously said it has received reports of rising numbers of violent incidents in schools.

Several social media videos of fights between pupils have also been highlighted in the media.

In November, teachers at Bannerman High in Glasgow announced 12 days of strike action over violent and abusive pupil behaviour.

The following month, teachers at a school in Aberdeen also voted in favour of industrial action over pupil violence against staff.