Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Education Scotland report, Approaches to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools, published in February 2023.
The report shows that staff across schools are committed to promoting positive relationships within an inclusive environment and seek to prevent and address bullying.
We take the findings of the report very seriously and have put in place a range of actions immediately to respond. We have begun a review of our national anti-bullying guidance, Respect for All, and have established a working group of key stakeholders to support us in this.
HM Inspectors will undertake a second phase of the thematic inspection which will look at good practice in how schools are responding to bullying. Education Scotland will publish this report later this year. The findings will inform our future work.
We are engaging with the Teachers Panel and with teaching unions to discuss their experiences and how we could better support schools and pupils. The fifth wave of our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research started in February and will provide a robust national picture of current relationships and behaviour. We will use this research and engagement with stakeholders, including the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, to inform the development of further future policy, guidance and support for schools and school staff.