Assault on a teacher

[Messie]

Permanent exlusion (expulsion) is a complicated and even expensive consequence and may well result in an even worse child being put into the school to fill the place

[Bri w]

Assault is a criminal offence. If there's proof why would the school set itself above the law with its own internal policies? I'd give the Head the option of informing the Police, or I'd do it myself - but I'm an awkward, stroppy bu99er.

Ralph, from my experience in 2 different schools (and like others have said) they all deal with it in their own different ways so best to follow the school procedure whether that sucks or not.

I have had recent dealings where I required the advice and backup of the unions (nothing to do with pupils though) and they were fantastic and very supportive - but I thought long and hard before I contacted them over how that would be perceived by the school. Schools (not all) don't want you to involve the unions if it can be helped as it can get a little messy. You can also be seen as a 'trouble maker' if you have gone 'running' to the unions, even if you have no choice. For me I had no choice but to involve the unions and explained to senior management why I had involved them as they themselves had not followed correct procedures.

It was all resolved. As I had explored all avenues with the school and given them opportunities to not involve the unions there was no bad feelings at all - I had been open with them all the time.

In my school, any incidents of intimidation, violence or abuse directed towards teachers are immediately dealt with by either isolation from the rest of the school, short term suspension (up to 3 days) or permanent exclusion. Like others have said, permanent exclusion of pupils can be difficult for schools as there has to be a concrete case against the pupil after a serious incident and witnesses. Having said that, no teacher at my school has been assaulted since I have been there but we are told if any teacher is then the pupil will be exluded. Plenty of pupils have been suspended for verbal abuse, so the school does follow up it's policies.

It sounds like your wife's schools behavioral policy is not that well carried out or supported if incidents like this have happened before and have not been dealt with. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal your wife can do about this apart from go and speak to the relevant senior staff at school to find out what they are going to do about this pupil and asked to be kept in the loop.

Me personally I would contact the unions asap to inform them I have been assaulted but ask that they not get involved yet and ask for some advice on how to proceed. I did this with my issue and they were very helpful giving me advice about how the school should be dealing with it so that when I need them to get involved, they had most of the facts. Also, if your wife has an injury she may need to get it documented for further investigation and possible assault compensation, and the unions will advise on how best to document and record the evidence.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you need anything else.

Pass on my best wishes to your wife as I'm sure this has been a pretty awful experience.

Al

[Quiff Wichard]

all the best to S hope you spoiling her GWS

Thanks for all the advice and good wishes guys, I shall pass it on and we'll see what comes out in the wash tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Messie

Permanent exlusion (expulsion) is a complicated and even expensive consequence and may well result in an even worse child being put into the school to fill the place

So that makes it all Ok then. Blow the expense and complications - sod the effect on the poor little hooligan (sorry - child) - get back to real discipline and support the teachers. The "child" is not the victim here - it is the teacher.

[Messie]

No, it doesn't make it all OK

Take a deep breathe, count to ten and accept that there is always a lot more to a situation such as this than immediately meets the eye.

I, and no-oe lse here, is making any sweeping asumptons about who is or isn't a 'victim' - well, apart from you. And no-one is saying that teachers don't have support.

Originally Posted by Bri w

Assault is a criminal offence. If there's proof why would the school set itself above the law with its own internal policies? I'd give the Head the option of informing the Police, or I'd do it myself - but I'm an awkward, stroppy bu99er.

That is precisely what I'd have thought. Here it must be reported, if not by the individual, then by the school.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

So, phone calk from my wife. A secondary student has slammed a door into her back today wbile she stood in the doorway. She is suffering neck and back pain. Violence against teachers seems to be a common occurrence in tbis school and IMO the school has a poor history in dealing with it and tends to come down in favour of the student and fails to support the teacher. The occurrences just in my wifes department of 5 teachers alone, include a pregnant teacher being pushed into the wall and another being stabbed with a pen. In neither case was the student expelled or even te.porarily suspended.

Any thoughts on what the next steps should be are welcome please, particularly from those who work in education (how wouldit be dealt with in your workplace?). We dont have much confidence the school will sort the issue in a satisfactory manner (expulsion IMO) but of course will go through that process first.

Involve the police, go to the teachers union? All thoughts welcome.

Place the responsibility on her employer to look after her welfare, it is their problem to deal with the student as they see fit.

Explain to her boss that she is going to see a doctor and is considering discussing with a solicitor, that should catch their attention.

My comment was based on the 1st post - no need to count to ten - I am well aware of how to investigate assaults and other crimes. In general terms many reported incidents tend to show that teachers and other professions are left at a disadvantage. I don't necessarily expect you to agree with my comments but this is a relatively open forum, and I doubt that my necessarily brief comments are at completely at odds with the world at large.
I hope that the teacher here has no serious or permanent injury after what may have been a deliberate or reckless incident. I also would like to see that the culprit was properly and effectively dealt with. It is this last point that I sadly believe is often missing.