Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to take action against violent behaviour in Scottish schools after a video of a horrific attack on a female pupil emerged. The footage shows a girl at Waid Academy in Fife launching an aggressive assault on another girl, punching her and kicking her in the head as she tries to cover up while lying on the floor in the classroom.
The 14-second clip – filmed on Monday – only stops when a teacher enters the room and shouts at the girl to stop.
The school initially said it was dealing with the incident “internally” but it has now been reported to Police Scotland, along with another fight which took place on the same day.
The incident was first reported in The Courier and raised by North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
Mr Rennie said: “Last evening I watched a social media video of one pupils attacking another at Waid Academy in my constituency. To be frank, I wish I hadn’t, I can’t get it out of my head.
“It was an ugly scene. Earlier this year, Heather Hughes, then president of the EIS, warned about increasing violence in our schools. I’m supporting staff, the council and the school locally but what action is the government taking across the country?”
The First Minister said she had not seen the video but promised to watch it because “I think it is important that we do have a full understanding of issues like this”.
She added that “violence is never acceptable and safety of pupils and staff is paramount” and said Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville had met council chiefs to discuss the issue.
Head teacher Scott Duncan said he had written to parents to reassure them after the video emerged and insisted that “appropriate and proportionate consequences are always put in place”.
He said: “We don’t tolerate behaviour of this kind in our school and I can’t stress enough that this kind of behaviour is not indicative of the vast majority of pupils at Waid Academy.”
Inspector Murray Gibson, community inspector for North East Fife, said: “We have become aware of two incidents involving pupils at a school in Anstruther, which both took place on Monday, 16 January.
“Officers have liaised with the school and will be carrying out further enquiries into these incidents. We will continue to work closely with our education counterparts throughout this process.”