200 ATTACK SON TEACHERS BY KIDS; EXCLUSIVE We reveal toll of pupil menace.

Byline: By BEN TURNER Education Reporter

MERSEYSIDE teachers were attacked nearly 200 times by pupils in just one year.

One teacher was hit with a missile, while others were set upon and injured while trying to control disruptive members of their class.

The number of attacks at Liverpool and Knowsley high schools in 2007/08 has increased since last year, despite a slight overall reduction across the region.

Fewer than one-third of the attacks in Merseyside relate to incidents at special schools, pupil referral units and schools for children with emotional difficulties, where violent episodes are traditionally higher.

Union and education chiefs today admitted their concerns over the statistics, saying they were evidence of a lack of respect for teachers.

They also fear many more cases are going unreported.

Figures requested by the ECHO under the Freedom of Information Act showed there were 155 assaults on school staff by pupils resulting in fixed or permanent exclusions in Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens - 19 fewer than last year.

In Wirral, 16 teachers and 14 teaching assistants have suffered verbal or physical abuse since January.

Cases included a 14-year-old girl who was expelled from Birkenhead's Park high. It followed her conviction for a "frenzied assault" on midday supervisor Jacqueline Nadin, 35, who received bruises to her throat, wrists and legs.

St Helens is the only council which logs details of attacks.

The 18 incidents it recorded last year included a teacher left with cuts after being struck by a missile thrown by a high school pupil.

A primary school teacher was left with "bumps and swellings" while restraining an agitated pupil and another suffered "muscle injuries" dealing with a "distressed" child.

Julie Lyon Taylor, Merseyside NUT executive member, called for schools to ensure disciplinary measures and more resources to manage challenging pupils were in place.

She said: "If staff can be assaulted, it must feel very scary for children.

"There are a number of assaults which are not reported."

Cllr Keith Turner, Liverpool's executive member for education, said: "I am pleased the figures have dropped, but 51 cases is 51 cases too many. We will do all we can to protect teachers."

A Knowsley council spokesman stressed exclusions were only used in serious cases.

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Essential

MERSEYSIDE police are called to violent outbreaks in schools an average 141 times a year, new figures revealed today.

The classroom callouts sparked opposition demands to give teachers greater disciplinary powers to nip violence in the bud.

Merseyside's figure, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, is dwarfed by a nationwide total of more than 7,300 police responses to school premises.

Last year, Cheshire police recorded 128 school calls for attempted or actual violent crimes.

The figures, uncovered by Conservative researchers, also found:

Children as young as five have been suspended for violence and sexual misconduct.

Nationwide, an average 344 children are suspended every day for assaulting other pupils.

Almost one-third of teachers reported they have been punched, bitten or kicked by pupils, and one in 10 have been injured.

REPORTED ACTS OF PHYSICAL ASSAULTS ON AN ADULT BY PUPILS RESULTING IN A FIXED TERM OR PERMANENT EXCLUSION (EXCEPT WIRRAL)

LIVERPOOL

2007/8: 51 attacks on school staff, five resulting in permanent exclusions.

There were nine attacks at primary schools, 34 at high schools, four at special schools and four at pupil referral units or schools for pupils with behavioural difficulties.

2006/07: 57 attacks on school staff, three of which resulted in permanent exclusion.

There were 16 attacks at primary schools, 31 at high schools, five at special schools and five at pupil referral units or schools for pupils with behavioural difficulties.

SEFTON

2007/8: 39 attacks on school staff - 16 at primary schools, eight at high schools, four at special schools and 11 at schools for pupils with behavioural difficulties.

2006/07: 40 attacks on school staff - 16 at primary schools, 11 at high schools, one at a special school and 12 at a school for pupils with behavioural difficulties.

KNOWSLEY

2007/8: 47 attacks on school staff, three of which led to permanent exclusion.

There were eight attacks at primary schools, 24 at high schools and 15 at special schools.

2006/07: 52 attacks on school staff - eight at primary schools, 23 at high schools, 21 at special school and 12 at a school for pupils with behavioural difficulties.

ST HELENS

2007/8: 18 attacks on school staff. There were five attacks at primary schools, two at high schools, 11 at special schools.

2006/07: 25 reported attacks on school staff.

WIRRAL

Wirral council logs all sectors of its workforce on the same database. Figures for 2007 show 23 teachers and 61 teaching assistants were verbally or physically abused and 16 teachers and 14 teaching assistants have already suffered verbal or physical abuse this year.

CAPTION(S):

ORDEAL: Teachers are coming under attack from pupils, our figures show Picture posed by model