To think that this physics teacher should be reinstated

[ReallyTired]

www.expressandstar.com/news/2014/02/01/wolverhampton-teacher-sacked-for-shooting-pupil-with-pellet-gun/

Richard West is the sort of mad scientists that schools need to make physics exciting. Its unfortunate that a child got hit with an air rifle pelet, but the child was not seriously hurt and there is always an element of risk with any practical experiment.

If Mr West does not get reinstated I hope he comes and work at my son's school.

definatly bring him back. even with great risk assessments accidents happen.

science can be so dull with the wrong teacher and super with an exciting one. sure he was devestated.

Endo yes! a goat. To this day I have no clue what the lesson was supposed to be about. The goat went nuts and trashed the classroom within about 30 seconds of the lesson starting, while we stood around either hysterically squealing or pissing ourselves with laughter

at my sisters huge school in Kent they have a farm on site and have a shotgun. this is kept in her office in a secure box. knowing my sisters bloody dreadful eyesight and quick temper I do sometimes worry.

loving all these lab accident stories - we've all seen the one with the magnesium, bet that doesn't happen now.

freakin - sounds like it is your English teachers that weren't much good...

as for Mr West - a good telling-off and then back to work.

I loved my biology teacher, he bought science to life.

We need more teachers that inspire the pupils they teach.

We don't know if the teacher followed school proceedures for when an accident does happen in a science practical. Prehaps a formal reprimand was in order if he had not logged the accident in the accident book and sent the child to matron.

I feel that instant dismissal for carrying out a well known experiment is wrong. I do not want science teachers to become too scared to do any interesting practical work.

An air rifle isn't a fire arm, at least make your opinions well informed before you put them online.

I think Mr West probably feels bad enough.

The fact that he has insprred such support from his pupils suggests to me that he should be re-instated

inspired

Very interesting thread as I was on a "Health and Safety in the lab" course just yesterday and we were discussing this very case! The course leader said that according to guidelines, it is perfectly acceptable to bring an air rifle into the lab, and fire it as in the velocity experiment described above...

...HOWEVER there is a strict risk assessment to be followed, namely the gun must be attached to a plank, which should then be attached to the bench. All pupils should be a safe distance behind the teacher.

Not sure why this teacher was sacked if he followed procedure really.

NB. I personally would not be comfortable doing this experiment, and I say that as a teacher who blows things up all the time!

I swallowed poison by accident in a biology lesson once.

Did you have it in your mouth on purpose?

I used to nick mercury to play with in the cloakroom. One day it rolled down a crack in the concrete floor and I couldn't get it out again. Boy was I worried but there was no investigation - phew!

Our science teacher made napalm. Funnily enough even in the 70s he got sacked.

You're not allowed to play with mercury any more.

But can still set fire to magnesium.

My science teacher took us on a walk and found an electric fence which he used to demonstrate how the electricity would pass through us if we all joined hands and then the boy at the end touched the fence.

You're not allowed to play with mercury any more.

I don't think we were then We certainly weren't allowed to take it out of the labs but it was so tempting just sitting there on the shelf!

In my defence, it was probably the only time I broke the school rules apart from the time I skipped Latin to go and watch the White Helmets who were doing a display on the boys' school field and our head had decided that the girls didn't need to see it. I came clean about it and wasn't sanctioned

LadyIsa that's exactly what I thought.

Not our science teacher, but one of my classmates nicked some magnesium or something, and blew up a toilet.