VERBAL abuse incidents in North Ayrshire schools have more than tripled in the course of a year, according to new statistics.

And a new system for the area's school staff to report incidents in the classroom is set to come into force in a bid to tackle the increase.

Figures provided to the council’s corporate health and safety group show that incidents of verbal abuse in North Ayrshire schools rose from seven in the third quarter of 2021 to 24 during the same period last year.

Councillor Tom Marshall asked the council’s cabinet what was being done to address the problem - amid concerns that teachers are scared to report many incidents over fears that schools may look bad.

He said: “Authorities tend to under-report incidents of violence in schools.

“Teachers, young people and unions met with the Scottish Parliament and told MSPs how they were discouraged from reporting classroom violence.

“There is a culture of fear amongst head teachers who don’t want to report a number of violent incidents because it makes the schools look bad.

“I know that from personal experience, it is very hard to report incidents, and they don’t want to exclude pupils.

“Are head teachers under pressure to reduce the number of violent incidents being reported?”

Councillor Shaun Macaulay, the authority's cabinet member for education, confirmed that a new system for reporting incidents was set to be introduced in the next few months.

He explained: “Teachers and staff are not discouraged from reporting incidents. It’s quite the opposite.

“There is a new reporting system coming into place which will make it easier for all staff to report incidents.

“This will be available on mobiles, tablets and laptops in schools.

"We hope this will encourage staff to report incident and near misses so we can learn and put the support in place they deserve.

“A working group has been convened, comprising a range of local authority and school staff to work in partnership with trade union colleagues.

“This reflects the commitment of the education service to analyse, learn from and respond to incidents which happen in North Ayrshire schools.”