Teachers and support staff have been subjected to 222 instances of both verbal and physical abuse in the last year.

However, the council says the majority of the incidents have been attributed to children with special support needs.

Cross Arthurlie Primary School and St Thomas’ Primary school in Neilston were highlighted, with increases of 35 and 31 respectively.

There was also 342 accidents and incidents in East Renfrewshire Schools in the last year, covering everything from trips and falls to sports related injuries.

The report, delivered by East Renfrewshire Council’s (ERC) director of education Mhairi Shaw, said: “The increase in violence to staff incidents can be partly due to pupils with additional support needs, including challenging behaviour adapting to a new school environment and taking time to settle in.

Out of the 342 incidents reported, 272 involved pupils.

These included 27 pupils hit by moving or falling objects, 13 coming in to contact with sharp objects, 20 hit by stationary objects and 33 involved in playground incidents.

An additional 64 pupils were also injured or involved in incidents while taking part in curriculum sport activities in the schools.

Overall there were nine pupils taken to hospital over the 2014/2015 year, while seven members of staff were off work for more than seven days due to injuries.

Of the violent incidents to staff, 182 were physical, and 40 were verbal.

And 18 staff were affected by slips, trips or falls in the workplace.