Shetland Islands Council responds to school violence statistics

The safety and well-being of pupils and staff is the council’s “highest priority” after more than 600 ‘violent incidents’ were reported in local schools last year.

Shetland Islands Council’s (SIC) director of education and children’s services Samantha Flaws said “any incident involving aggression or violence is taken seriously and responded to appropriately by schools”.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information shows that there were 645 violent incidents reported in Shetland schools in 2025/26 – 465 in primaries and 180 in secondaries.

This is likely to include a range of incidents recorded as violence.

The total figure was greater than some other local authority areas in Scotland, including the Western Isles (167) and Inverclyde (195).

The figure for 2025/26 was less than the previous year of 2024/25, which reached more than 1,000, but much higher than the number reported in the years prior.

Responding to the figures, Flaws said the SIC continues to support “positive relationships, inclusive practice and early intervention to help ensure our schools remain safe, respectful learning environments for all”.

“Incident reporting also helps us identify trends and areas where additional support may be required,” she added.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Morven-May MacCallum, who represents the Highlands and Islands, said the number of incidents recorded in Shetland’s schools was “very concerning”.

“Despite constant promises, SNP ministers have failed to get on top of school violence,” she said.

“All of this is having an impact on teachers, children and parents, who feel like they are facing an uphill struggle.

“Solutions are desperately needed, which is why the Scottish Liberal Democrats have laid out plans to recruit 2,000 new pupil support assistants. That’s how we can give teachers and children the extra help they need.

“The Scottish Government must also deliver on a mobile phone ban in classrooms to remove distractions and tackle poor behaviour.”

Responding to Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton in parliament recently, first minister John Swinney said: “Poor and violent behaviour is not to be tolerated in our schools, and we must address it through the various intervention mechanisms that are available to us.

“The government regularly engages with our local authority partners and the teaching trade unions to devise behaviour codes for our schools and to ensure that they are applied.

“The government is taking steps to ensure that that is the case and that the resources are in place to implement those codes.

“The government takes a variety of interventions, and we will continue to work with our local authority partners to ensure that they are applied in the schools of Scotland.”