1 in 7 secondary teachers ‘attacked by their pupils’

March 20, 2005 The Times
GERALDINE HACKETT, EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

ONE in seven secondary school teachers claims to have been physically assaulted by pupils at some point in their careers, according to a study to be published this week.

Teachers report being punched, kicked, splattered with eggs and spat on in the study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
The findings are likely to concern ministers who face growing evidence that classroom discipline has not improved even though almost £1 billion has been spent on various initiatives since 1997.

The study of 300 teachers also found 72% of respondents had considered leaving the profession because of bad behaviour by pupils.
In one incident last week, children at the Woodlands primary in Leeds were reported to have thrown chairs at teachers, flung trays at dinner ladies and kicked, shoved and spat at staff.

The ATL wants ministers to provide greater protection for teachers. Ministers are considering a crackdown on pupils taking weapons into schools. Head teachers may be given powers to search pupils without their consent. At present, they have to call a police officer to do so.

One ATL member, Jo Redmond, has been awarded £92,500 damages after attacks by pupils at a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Redmond was punched in the jaw, hit with a fire extinguisher and cut when she attempted to take a weapon from a pupil.

According to a recent report by the Audit Commission, the government’s efforts to reduce truancy and improve behaviour have had almost no impact.

David Bell, the chief inspector of schools in England, reported last month that poor behaviour had been found in 10% of secondary schools and the level of disruption had almost doubled over two years.

• Bradford will this week come under fire for having some of the worst schools in Britain. The city, which was at the centre of race riots between gangs of white and Asian youths in 2001, has 10 failing schools.

A report from the Office for Standards in Education is expected to say some schools are not improving at a satisfactory rate. It will state that the local education service has improved since 2001, when it was rated as failing, and is now satisfactory overall. But it will criticise standards in some schools.