1 in 5 teachers hit by a pupil

Not great for recruitment

The school system as it stands now is just not fit for purpose anymore... its a victorian system of industrial child storage, and it isn't meeting anyone's needs anymore. If we were designing schools from the ground up now, we'd never start by putting 30 children in one room all day, it's madness!
Schools are underfunded pressure cookers, with underpaid overworked staff, and stressed unhappy children. Attendance rates are plummeting, as children who can vote with their feet, and teachers are doing the same.
But it's easier to blame parents, or leadership, or SEN, than think about changing the status quo!

Your comment is clearly despicable as well as stupid.

One of my teachers was a bullying asshat, so my being punched in the stomach by a pupil 30 yrs later was karma? No response required.

In a thread where pregnant woman have documented that they have been punched in the stomach or pushed down the stairs or where a pp has described how her colleague has suffered a life changing brain injury, you want to mention karma?

I won’t tut at you. I will tell you that your post is disgusting.

Ex teacher here.
I think primary schools are , to a point, expected to put up with stuff that secondary won't stand for. My dh is a ht at primary school. Every year they wonder how long some of the y6 kids will last at secondary, often only days

For kids with SEND/ND we are TOTALLY failing them. These kids are not being assessed (easily 3yrs wait) so rarely get the correct support, but are still expected to be in school and expected to cope, and when they can't, teaching/school staff are in the firing line!

BTW From personal experience as a carer I have witnessed several senior leaders (from the same 'good' secondary school) talk to kids like they're crap. Teaching staff on the whole were great but for the leaders it seemed to be power/control situation.
I WILL back the school if the kids misbehave. BUT I will also call out the school if I feel THEY are not doing /behaving as they should be. Kids are accountable and staff are accountable.

@Westernesse
Spot on. 👏

The unprovoked teacher bashing here is absolutely insane, love to see people who think they can do my job better than me but probably wouldn't even survive the PGCE which has a 50% drop-out rate.

wonderingwhatlifemeans: "Someone said earlier that we are training abusers and I do worry that this is the case. Yes these children have experienced trauma of some kind in their lives and often DV but they are learning that if they are really violent they get a treat and the person they have abused has to watch them get that treat."
I see this sort of thinking from a lot of the older TA's I work with. Middle aged, middle class mums who started the job when it was just washing out paint pots and were doing it for convenience and pin money. Now I know I'm stereotyping a bit, but they refuse to accept that the job has changed, they refuse to do any positive handling training (which is mostly about de-escalation and how to avoid holds) have no interest in changing their approach or mindset even when it causes the problems but worse of all, they take it personally.
Any adult working in schools that thinks a traumatised child should be further punished instead of being shown love and care needs to give their head a wobble. They're not being taught that violence works, teachers are trying to show them that there is a better way.

is there lead in your drinking water

so you believe people should pay the price for sins that arent theirs? there is no such thing as karma otherwise people wouldnt be born into war or poverty

Yes of course current teachers are responsible for the crimes of past teachers.

I completely agree. When we teach children that it’s just fine to attack someone in a position of authority then what hope does a future partner have.

You can report him, nothing will happen - it would already have been reported as it is a serious life changing injury.

I agree he shouldn’t be in a regular school with other children and teachers who could also fall victim. Not ok.

Exactly my point in another thread. Look beyond the behaviour when it presents to get support/medication in place before they get have such an impact on others or get excluded. It’s all wrong and unacceptable. What is it going to lead to charge? I dread to think.

I have never personally been hit or assaulted in any way during my 25 years primary teaching. I do teach younger children though and am quite stocky so maybe that has been why. I have witnessed children attack their LSAs by punching, kicking, biting etc. Then SLT get involved and take the child off. The next thing is they are getting to play basketball with a male teacher while the LSA has to watch after filling in the injury form.

Someone said earlier that we are training abusers and I do worry that this is the case. Yes these children have experienced trauma of some kind in their lives and often DV but they are learning that if they are really violent they get a treat and the person they have abused has to watch them get that treat.

Oh and now we get children shouting 'I'm angry!' When they don't want to be in class doing any kind of work. Then what happens? Usually Lego, or an iPad, or my favourite, 'Let's go and bounce on the trampoline to get some of that energy out.'

I honestly feel so sorry for the other children witnessing this. Some who see that violence gets rewards so starting behaving in the same way or those who spend their school days honestly terrified of the noise and flying chairs, pencil pots and other classroom equipment.

They investigated YOU for bruising his knuckles? OMG britain is a joke. You can't write this!

He should be locked away forever before he kills a woman. Criminal age of responsibility should be waived in such instances.

If my 9 yo son inflicted that kind of injury on someone I would report him to the police MYSELF!

This is truly horrifying. My mother was a teacher. She taught in a high school in an area notorious for gang violence in the '80s (not the UK) and literally never had to contend with anything remotely like this.

That’s horrendous. Stories like that should not exist.

Racist insults
Constant swearing
Pushed past onthe stairs when I was heavily pregnant and just laughed when I fell
Worst one - tried to break up a fight and ended up stepping into a punch which fractured my cheekbone - I was then suspended without pay while an investigation took place as the student complained that I was the cause of his bruised knuckles. Thank goodness for my union and my casualty X-Rays. I left teaching in the UK after that and am now 15 years into my international teaching career where I get to actually teach children - not just supervise them.

@GoodnightAdeline A year old can be surprisingly strong, and a hard whack to the head can cause brain injury.

OMG. How on earth did he manage to inflict that kind of injury? Absolutely shocking he is still at the school.

@NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy That is horrific