Teachers ‘headbutted, spat at and have eyes gouged by kids as young as FOUR’
The horrifying stories were shared by teachers during an education conference in Birmingham
CHILDREN as young as four are violently abusing staff up to "six or seven times a day" - with reports of strangling, spitting and even attempts to gouge the eyes of teachers and other pupils.
The claims were made at an education conference, where staff have lifted the lid on outrageous and shocking behaviour seen at UK schools.
The extreme violence has even forced some teachers to change the way they dress in order to avoid being harmed by students.
Teaching staff across the country have also reported suffering dangerous levels of anxiety when heading into work.
One case heard at the conference focused on a pregnant special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) at a mainstream school in Shropshire.
Kelly Watkins, 38, described how she was repeatedly called into classrooms to restrain and deal with violent pupils.
She said: "In the last two years behaviour in children has increased to an extremely violent level.”
Kelly, who is 18 weeks pregnant, also described being "spat at, bitten and pinched" during her day-to-day work.
She went on to talk about how a nine-year-old pupil tried to strangle her with her own scarf.
Kelly said: "They pushed the scarf up and said they knew what they were doing.
"I had to get a colleague to go and get a pair of scissors to get the scarf off.
"Fortunately we didn't get to that point because I managed to get the scarf off.
“But it was a learning curve for me because after that it was take off anything - scarf, lanyard, cardigan, necklace - anything that might be used as a weapon."
Kelly, who is the only dedicated SENCO at her school, said she was repeatedly called to deal with a four-year-old boy who "scratched, gouged eyes, and pulled hair".
She said: “The last two years have been the worst I've ever had in my [16-year] teaching career.
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NASUWT executive member Russ Walters said teachers were "standing on the edge of a precipice" in terms of pupil violence.
He described how one colleague, an assistant headteacher in Bolton, was put in hospital for a week when he was head-butted as he reprimanded a 14-year-old boy.
Chris Keates, NASUWT general secretary, said pupil behaviour was now “one of the top concerns” raised by teachers about their jobs.”
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