Figures on teacher assaults

[Corianda]

Listening to the local news today (I don’t usually) stated that a freedom of information request had divulged that 1300 public servants had been attacked at work in 2025 in the region - over 1000 of them teachers !!

This is D&Gslloway -a nice rural area.
I am just disgusted that the Gov thinks this is acceptable.

There was then a discussion about they number of primary teachers teaching in secondary schools in Aberdeen - not great.

My point is why does the SNP Gov get away with allowing this - and how badly is it affecting children’s’ futures

Do you acknowledge that the SNP are failing the young people of Scotland by failing to address soaring violence and the dire curriculum for excellence?

I think they have made the best of a bad inherited policy. However, we have just had record exam passes.

The only thing I have a problem with is presumption of mainstream. But there are few choices otherwise because most ASN establishments were closed before devolution.

Inherited policy from whom?

To add- record exam passes when there are so many problems is a bit suspect imv

It was actually the Labour Party that implemented the Curriculum for Excellence. (Personally, I preferred 5-14 even though it wasn't perfect.) I'm assuming that the SNP Government fell prey to the sunk cost fallacy.

However, it was Mike Russell who refused to listen to teachers' concerns about the National Assessments. (There was major concern over National 4 being used as a replacement for General Level at Standard Grade.) His mantra was that teachers had been asked for their feedback.

True. Their feedback was then ignored.

Do you even live in Scotland? Who created the cfe? They also didn't ADD record exam passes. The young people passed them!

The CfE was introduced by Labour but has been acknowledged to be failing by EVERYONE for YEARS. The SNP do nothing about it because they cannot be bothered to redirect money from bribes for voters (higher, more easily accessible Adult Disability Payments, Scottish Child Payment etc) and actually address its failing public services. Yes sadly that would mean stopping the classes encouraging paedophiles to ‘breatfeed’ their child.

Exam results are meaningless in working out if a National education system is failing or not. It’s the PISA results that are meaningful and they have shown how badly Scottish education is plummeting. It’s terrifying. I had to remove one of my children from a state secondary to private school due to constant unaddressed physical attacks and let me tell you the difference in the education provided is utterly staggering. In a classroom where pupils are able to learn and teachers are able to teach kids learn SO MUCH more! So much.

Why can’t the SNP work towards EVERY child in Scotland getting a quality education? Because they’d rather fritter money away on other things.

That’s the whole point of girfec.

Whatever they are trying to do ids failing. Things are getting so much worse so rapidly. The SNP need to stop pretending to be politicians, step aside and let the actual grown ups take over. Any political party whatsoever (with the obvious exception of the Greens) would be more competent.

What on earth makes you think that "the govt thinks this is acceptable"?

Vote them out then.

It’s just an anti SNP thread. Most of it hyperbole.

I wish

Re: the increase in exam passes.

What I did notice over the years was that whenever there was a change in the exam system - whether that was a change in the exam board set-up or the introduction of a new exam - the marking tended to be a bit more lenient in the first year of the new set-up.

This is the first year of Qualifications Scotland being in charge; that might have had a minor impact.

I do know that - overall - the introduction of a significant amount of coursework over the years has made a difference to results.

I understand the arguments in favour of coursework, but it does make it easier for middle class parents in particular to game the system - and that really has no direct link with whichever political party is in power.

I know that the SQA would use Turnitin to check coursework for plagiarism, but that only happened if the marker flagged up a problem and, naturally, it couldn't detect if there had been input from a tutor or some other adult.

Coursework alone wouldn't be enough to get someone over the line, but if you're talking about someone who isn't completely at sea with the subject, then it's often enough to do the trick.

I can think of two instances where coursework was sent to the SQA in spite of protestations from the classroom teacher and PT - they were overruled by the HT. In one case, the work had clearly been completed by a tutor but the candidate's overall performance was so bad that they still failed completely.

In the other case, the candidate hadn't completed the then mandatory units, so failed to get their award.

Yes, there are protocols in place to stop cheating, but as soon as candidates are allowed to complete some of the work at home...

I'm sorry to say that there are also cases of teachers giving pupils too much help with coursework, though such cheating is often picked up.

The only way of avoiding it completely would be to go back to the pre-1980s system of having all work done in the exam or - with orals, etc - under the supervision of an outside examiner.

The bigger emphasis on coursework began with Standard Grade - there was an overlap with "O" Grade for a few years. I recall "O" Grade being used briefly as a "second chance" for pupils who had failed to get General or above for Standard Grade, since Standard Grade didn't allow for resits.

With Higher, the major change came with the introduction of Revised Higher. That in turn was replaced or revamped a few times, but each time a decision was made to keep the "Higher" name - though it was initially suggested that the first iteration of the CfE Higher should be called "National 6".

Having said all that, I acknowledge that some aspects of the newer Highers are more challenging than the old S.E.B. Highers from 40+ years ago. My major concern is the coursework problem. I really do think that it disadvantages children from certain socio-economic groups.

The coursework got my son an A for higher English which he couldn’t sit as he was seriously ill.

Because they’re doing absolutely fuck all about it? Could that be a clue?

Who do you think would, what do you think they would do and did you vote for their education policy?

If you did, what is it?

I voted for Labour in the constituency and conservative on the list. Their policies both acknowledge that violence in schools is an issue and I prefer the conservatives stance of explicitly allowing head teachers to permanently exclude. The SNP seem to be continuing with their failed policy of restorative conversations as opposed to actually taking action in addressing and reducing violence in classrooms.

As for the standards of educational attainment, my child got straight As, averaging 94% over the 5 highers they sat. 34% of their classmates also got 5 As at higher. Quite a few pupils got 100% in a number of subjects. The teachers at the private school they attend are not remarkably gifted, they’re just given a calm, quiet classroom to teach in and well behaved children who are eager to learn. The learning environment is EVERYTHING when it comes to passing exams. Get that right and top grades at Scottish highers are a piece of cake.

Weird to vote both Tory and Labour. 🤔 How are your children doing now? I've actually never heard of pupils who know their actual percentages. Is that a new thing?

Private schools provide the data. It’s needed if you’re applying to Oxbridge. State schools have the data but have other issues on their plate so don’t tell pupils as a matter of course. Like trying and failing to provide basic safeguarding.

The Labour guy provides a proactive local service. My views - esp on education - coincide with the Conservative Party. I don’t just vote for parties because that’s what I’ve always done.

So who did you want to be Govt?

Some state schools do inform children of their percentages for particular subjects. This is particularly relevant with regard to appeals. However, percentages on their own aren't the full story - the band marks are not static, in spite of what the general public believes. (Some posters might be old enough to remember the controversy when a Sunday newspaper got hold of the putative maths bandings one year.)

As you suggest, it's not provided as a matter of course but is provided when requested.

Then there's the difference caused by weighted figures - rarely (if ever) taken into account when newspapers publish their so-called league tables.

In addition, the modern expectation for Scottish schools to achieve x number of grades for x number of pupils has led to a change of practice in many schools and a great deal of pontification over whether it's 'moral' to target pupils.

It also led to headteachers positively encouraging staff to enter appeals for pupils in the hope of increasing grades. However, the appeal system has changed dramatically over the years. It's much more difficult to appeal now, even with an excellent prelim pass. It's still possible to ask for a re-mark, but we no longer have the process that used to exist.

In the past we could use a combination of the coursework which had already been sent to the board together with prelim papers and (to a lesser extent) timed exercises to add weight. We could also inform the board of 'adverse circumstances' on the day of the exam.

Coursework on its own has never been enough for traditional 'academic' subjects, no matter the circumstances, which is why many schools had two prelim diets.

State school here. dad knew her percentages and component marks for Nat 5 and will for Highers once she’s back. That’s pretty common and the information is freely shared to pupils should they ask. I would be surprised if this wasn’t the case elsewhere too.

Yes, the information has been available for a fairly long time.