Home » Education & Family » Teachers at Aberdeen school balloted over pupils’ ‘violent’ behaviour
Education & Family

Teachers at Aberdeen school balloted over pupils’ ‘violent’ behaviour

Teachers at an Aberdeen school are being elected over what a union has described as violence against employees.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said there were serious concerns about the safety of Northfield Academy staff.

The union said violence or the threat of violence is unacceptable and not enough is being done.

Aberdeen City Council said it was “disappointed” at news of the vote.

The local authority said work had been done in recent months to address concerns.

A vote in a single school on such an issue is considered very unusual.

EIS Aberdeen Local Association joint secretary Heather Collie said teachers are used to dealing with student indiscipline and have encountered a variety of challenging behaviors throughout their working lives.

  • Read more stories from North East Scotland, Orkney and Shetland

She said it’s never a pleasant part of the job, but it’s a “reality” that teachers are trained for.

“However, what will always be unacceptable is when challenging behavior escalates into violence or threats of violence against a teacher erupt,” she said.

“Unfortunately, violence against teachers, both physical and verbal, perpetrated by a very small percentage of students, has become far too common at Northfield Academy.

“For this reason, Aberdeen EIS has requested a statutory industrial action vote for our members at the school and approved by the EIS Emergency Committee.”

The EIS said a recent consultative vote at the school showed strong support for a move to industrial action.

“Considerable efforts have been made to address the concerns expressed by the union since the dispute was filed in June,” the local authority said in a statement.

The council said staff were looking at ways to have a “bigger voice in school improvement”.

The statement said: “The school has launched an innovative pilot project to support students who find it most difficult to engage with education and has provided the school with significant additional human resources and expertise.

“Northfield Academy is a school where every staff member and every student is valued – where inclusion and opportunity are at the heart of education – and we hope to work with fellow unionists to resolve the issues raised so we can continue to have a positive one.” place of learning for all.”

The election ends on November 18th.