Concerns have been raised over violence and aggression faced by teachers and school staff in Renfrewshire classrooms.
The issue was discussed during Thursday’s meeting of Renfrewshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Policy Board.
Councillor Gillian Graham said staff continued to experience violence in schools despite work being carried out to support them.
She said: “Teachers and education staff are still experiencing violence in the classroom. I believe that it is regularly measured, and it seems to be a national picture, but we support the trade union’s call for resources to underpin a range of interventions.
“I know that you are talking about a range of interventions, but we are asking the Scottish Government to look at some kind of resources for staff, teachers and schools to try to deal with violence and aggression.”
John Trainer, Renfrewshire Council’s Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice, said the local authority had introduced systems to ensure incidents were formally recorded and monitored.
He said: “In Renfrewshire, we have become very comfortable with acknowledging the number of violent reports that come through our business world system. We introduced a policy, alongside our trade union colleagues and a number of colleagues across our establishments, to not hide away from what is happening.
“Part of that policy is about how staff members across the system record incidents when they happen. That allows us to look centrally at trends around that and to see how we can offer support.”
Mr Trainer said incidents are reviewed weekly by senior education managers to identify patterns and decide what support schools may require.
He added: “They can then contact the heads of establishments to discuss pastoral support, health and wellbeing checks or wider supports that are required, perhaps through our health and safety team, to look at some of the health and safety aspects in an establishment.
“We are also looking at the inclusion side of things. We are looking at our education officers who might support around additional support needs, inclusion, training and interventions.”
Councillors were told the issue was not unique to Renfrewshire and reflected challenges being seen nationally.
The board did not approve any new actions, with existing support systems remaining in place.