Behaviour and relationships in schools

New research published

Thousands of head teachers, teachers and support staff have shared their views on pupil behaviour and relationships in Scotland’s local authority schools.

The fifth edition of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) report found staff perceived the majority of pupils to be behaving well.

The report noted a deterioration in some pupil’s behaviour since the last research was conducted in 2016, thought partly to have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and instances of poverty and destitution. The research also identifies a number of emerging trends in behaviour, including in-school truancy, vaping, disruptive use of mobile phones and misogyny. 

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth discussed the findings of the report as she chaired the third Behaviour and Relationships summit yesterday, bringing together teachers, union representatives, local authorities and other stakeholders.

The research comes as a further report by Education Scotland shows the impact the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis has had on attendance levels for some pupils.

Ms Gilruth said: “We commissioned this research to provide us with the clearest possible picture on behaviour and relationships in schools. It builds upon my own extensive engagement with teachers, school leaders, support staff and local authority colleagues to fully understand how our pupils are interacting with each other and their teachers.

“It is clear from the responses that most teachers report good behaviour amongst pupils – this provides some important nuance to this issue and must be at the forefront of our plans to tackle the instances of disruptive behaviours. Young people must not be demonised, and poor behaviour cannot be generalised.

“Our young people have faced a huge amount of disruption in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has been compounded by the current cost of living crisis – this is not unique to Scotland.

“Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will set out to Parliament our plans to engage with local authorities and schools to ensure a plan of action is taken forward to tackle instances of poor behaviour at the root as soon as possible.

“I plan to engage directly with young people on this matter to ensure their voices are front and centre – as well as with teachers and school staff, to ensure they are fully supported in responding to these challenges.”

The Scottish Childrens Services Coalition (SCSC) is an alliance of organisations that support children and young people who have additional support needs.

SCSC responded: “This report noting a perceived decline in pupil behaviour, especially since 2016, should come as no surprise.

“Many disruptive incidents are linked to pupils with additional support needs (ASN), with numbers more than doubling since 2012, and now amounting to more than a third of children, who are also experiencing an increasing complexity of need. These numbers have been exacerbated by the traumatic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost- of-living crisis, with us also facing a mental health emergency.

“However, this is set against a background of acute under-resourcing to support their needs, with the number of specialist ASN teachers falling by 546 between 2012 and 2022 as just one example.

“Additional funding is desperately needed to increase the support available to those with ASN, including specialist teachers, teaching assistants, mental health professionals and educational psychologists.

“While we support the principle of mainstreaming, that all children be taught in mainstream classes unless exceptional circumstances apply, this has never been properly resourced. Those with ASN are therefore frequently being inadequately supported, which is also impacting on other pupils.2

“Violence against any member of school staff or another pupil is never acceptable, and it is critical that with the Scottish Budget being published next month, our schools are given the necessary resources to ensure that they are safe places in which to work and to learn.”