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Assaulted at work

F

foamy

Sheinhardt Wig Company
this morning at work i had to restrain an 11 year old boy who got very violent and aggresive towards another pupil.

whilst i was restraining him he told me to let go and when i didnt he said he would break my fingers.

he started to bend my fingers back and twist them whilst thrashing around and kicking my shins.

Now 3 of my fingers really hurt and my knees, shins and shoulders ache. i am also really worried that my weak wrist will play up as a result of being under stress.

If it was any other job the person who 'assaulted' me would be dealt with very seriously (and probably by the police) however the pupil has been excluded for 2 weeks which i dont think is much of a punishment as it is essentially 2 weeks holiday. After this ordeal i'd quite like 2 weeks off!

i'm finding it really hard to maintain a professional manner as it's made me so angry
:mad:
 
foamy said:
this morning at work i had to restrain an 11 year old boy who got very violent and aggresive towards another pupil.

whilst i was restraining him he told me to let go and when i didnt he said he would break my fingers.

he started to bend my fingers back and twist them whilst thrashing around and kicking my shins.

Now 3 of my fingers really hurt and my knees, shins and shoulders ache. i am also really worried that my weak wrist will play up as a result of being under stress.

If it was any other job the person who 'assaulted' me would be dealt with very seriously (and probably by the police) however the pupil has been excluded for 2 weeks which i dont think is much of a punishment as it is essentially 2 weeks holiday. After this ordeal i'd quite like 2 weeks off!

i'm finding it really hard to maintain a professional manner as it's made me so angry
:mad:
Click to expand...
Oh fuck, that's awful! :eek:

(((Foamy)))

Knowing something about where the place of work you're talking about, I can quite imagine...is there anything in Health & Safety that covers these kind of situations? AN has had a couple of recent scrapes too, so I'll have to ask her what she thinks...

Take care of yourself! :(
 
That's shocking.

When I was at school and bullied I used to point out that if someone came up to me on the street, or if I had a job and a workmate had treated me the way the bullies did then I would be well within my rights to bring charges against both the bullies, and the school for taking no action. I'm glad to see that they've suspended him at all, as the way they dealed with me was sending a message round every class in my year group telling people they were banned from speaking to me :eek: but didn't tell me they were going to do it.

It makes me so angry the way kids in schools get away with anything that would be taken seriously if they'd done it outside of school and then they use the excuse 'but everyone has a right to an education. We can't just expell them...'
 
Fuckin hell you need to go and see your senior about this foamy. :mad:

You shouldn't be putting up with this it's not acceptable. :(

(((Foamy)))
 
Write a letter stating that you think the punishment to be insufficent and send it to your head, and to your local LEA. Demand an explanation of what the school is going to do to prevent that happening again and state that you don't want the child in your class ever again.

Then take some ibuprophen, put some peas in a towel and apply to wrist, then keep it elevated above heart height.
 
:mad:
Is the child over 14? Bring charges against it. Get it sent to prison or something?
I hate children.
 
You can file a compaint with the police if you want and it will be investigated and the kid will probably be arrested, Pig reckons it's unlikely the CPS would charge him but he would get a youth warning if he has no pervious.
Really sorry to hear this. :(
 
Stobart Stopper said:
You can file a compaint with the police if you want and it will be investigated and the kid will probably be arrested, Pig reckons it's unlikely the CPS would charge him but he would get a youth warning if he has no pervious.
Really sorry to hear this. :(
Click to expand...
That would be :cool:
I like the idea of children realising they can be held to account for their actions.
 
Shit, hope you're okay now.

SS's idea sounds like the best. I'm not the best person at giving advice about this kind of thing, but it might be a good idea to tell the kid's form tutor/head of year/headmaster exactly what you'll be doing (don't let them talk you out of it though).

PM box is open if you need it!
 
The school could take a very dim view of you approaching the police.From what they have done so far it seems like a case of them wanting to smooth things over, but you have been the victim of common assault. If they do give you grief then you must go to your union. But there are "what ifs" here. What if he assualts a teacher in the future, but it's far more serious?
What if he's allowed back and assualts you again, or another pupil.

Some could argue that "he's only 11, has a right to an education etc etc."
Why should teachers have to put up with this shit?
I am appallled that the school has been so lenient, if it had happened in my son's school it would have been permanent explusion.
 
another kid (who is on the autistic spectrum) got suspended for 5 weeks for 'assaulting' a member of staff.i dont really understand why they have gone easier on this ked
:confused:

i am actually opposed to his suspension being external - i would rather he had an internal suspension in a 'sin bin' where he would have to come into school an hour early (like we do) and stay an hour late (like we do) without seeing or speaking to anyone. not getting two weeks to watch day time tv and go to the shops.

the reason i object to the exclusion is that while he is away the teachers will have to send work home to him which is extra hassel and when he comes back he will havemissed 2 weeks work which causes agro hen ou're teaching and a kid has been away.

i also dont think he should be allowed back into school without taking anger management and undergoing psychological report.

my dept were also banding round the idea that he would come back to my class (he wasnt IN my class at the time but i do teach him IYSWIM)

i was told his mum is very sorry but i want it in writing from him - he should realise what he's done.

i really dont want to involve the police - he is only 11 but i think he needs helpmore than anything - they need to sort out his issues before they unleash him on the staff!
 
You want to keep an eye on this situation and watch that the little lowlife doesn't do you for assault or something. These little scroats are pretty knowledgeable about the law and you've got to remember the 'my little Johnny' factor where the parents come up the school whining that 'my little johnny is an angel.......' etc etc etc :rolleyes:

I got up to all sorts of naughty shit at school but we never ever physically assaulted a teacher -- mostly becuase in those non pc days (I know, I know but what over way can I describe it) teachers would most definitely fight back (and they needed to at my school) :rolleyes:

I've done some teaching of year 10 and 11's never ever again.
 
perplexis said:
:mad:
Is the child over 14? Bring charges against it. Get it sent to prison or something?
I hate children.
Click to expand...

Yes, because all the children are the same and behave exactly the same way...

like robots or something... :rolleyes:

Hope you're ok foamy, it's really bad you had to deal with this, but try not to let it put you off your job...
 
Iemanja said:
Yes, because all the children are the same and behave exactly the same way...

like robots or something... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
<shrug>
*sigh*
I don't have to like children, surely? AFAIK, I don't. Having taught 5-8 year olds for 2 years showed me that!
I was maybe a bit over the top, but that's just self-expression.
I'm sorry if I caused offence.
 
perplexis said:
<shrug>
*sigh*
I don't have to like children, surely? AFAIK, I don't. Having taught 5-8 year olds for 2 years showed me that!
I was maybe a bit over the top, but that's just self-expression.
I'm sorry if I caused offence.
Click to expand...

Where did I say you have to like children?

I'm not offended, it's your loss...

children are people, they're all different, you're the one missing out by thinking they're all creatures to be hated.
 
foamy said:
i'm finding it really hard to maintain a professional manner as it's made me so angry
:mad:
Click to expand...


This is the sort of thing that REALLY annoys me, you should be able to throw such little shits out of a window with no comebacks.
No-one would have got away with attacking a teacher when I was at school.
The teacher would have decked the bastard, (and on rare occasions did).
 
perplexis said:
:mad:
Is the child over 14? Bring charges against it. Get it sent to prison or something?
I hate children.
Click to expand...

It's the parents you should be hating.

Show me a kid like the one foamy describes and I'll show you pigfuckers as parents. The parents should be charged. If parents took some responsibilty for educating their kids in just basic manners and respect, Teachers jobs would be so much easier.

This kind of shit really makes me angry.
 
Sorry to hear this. Teachers have to put up with too much shit these days it SHOULD be ok to use reasonable force to defend yourself without being had up on an assault charge..

I know what you mean about the suspension being seen as 'just a nice holiday'..

Schools shouldn'tm have to deal with violent pupils imo they probably need a smaller, better supervised setting than a mainstream school.. but they're closing all the special schools so :rolleyes:

Was a bit alarmed to hear abut the AS boy being suspended for 5 weeks. I don't think that's helpful and if the school can't deal with him he should definitely be somewhere smaller that better suits his needs.
 
god - i missed this!

First thing tommorrow speak to your union rep at your school. The one thing about teaching is it is one of the few properly unionised professions. The unions have had cases like this in the past and have gone to localised industrial action when a teacher in your situation was expected to teach the child when he returned. Taking some time off for stress might make it clearer to your SMT/SLT that this was a big deal in your book. Certainly you need to have your fingers checked out / x-rayed.

You need to reiterate very clearly when you take this further that you were intervening because you have clear belief that this child was going to cause injury to the other - say it every single time. Otherwise they (school / parents) can start the whole "shouldn't have touched the kid" stuff.

Your HOD should be batting for you too - they are your line manager and represent your concerns to the SMT - have they been sympathetic?

You are an NQT and the school has a big responsibility for you in your probationary year. As a very minimum they should make sure you don't have to teach this child, and should give you a formal explanation as to why this child got only 2 weeks exclusion.


Lastly (((((((((((((((((((((((foamy))))))))))))))))))))))
you've a really challenging school there, and i admire your ability to do it at all. Twas a school like that which drove me to leave teaching first time round.
 
foamy said:
my dept were also banding round the idea that he would come back to my class (he wasnt IN my class at the time but i do teach him IYSWIM)
Click to expand...

that is shocking - can you refuse to teach him?

The kid is basically getting 2 weeks holiday - it isn't like 11 year olds have stacks of coursework to be getting on with - he's probably sat at home playing on his xbox as 'punishment'.

Isn't there any way you could perhpas get the teachers together on this one (via your union(s)) & as a group all refuse to teach him? - surely they'd have to move him to a different school if this happened.
 
Spanglechick's advice seems really spot on.

Also under Health and Safety your employer has a duty of care to its employees whilst at work - i.e they must ensure your safety at all times.

Have a look at this website from the Health and Safety executive. If you look at the document you will see that violence against teachers by pupils from teachers is specifically mentioned so it might be worth a shot to say to the school in writing that unless this pupil is dealt with appropriately and action taken to prevent violent incidents from either this or any other pupil then you will have no choice but to inform the Health and Safety Executive of this incident. Make a written record of the incident, and see your doctor to get an assessment of any injuries however minor. Note any verbal abuse done as well (this counts as violence). The HSE seem to be having a big crackdown on workplace violence at the moment (it's rising a lot, unfortunately) so even an informal chat with a Health & Safety Inspector might be worthwhile.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/88-1.htm

They also publish a book called 'Violence in the education sector' which is priced at £7, which may be worth buying - i've bought a couple of HSE publications and they're normally pretty good. You can even buy direct from them now.

Hope this helps, and hope you're feeling better.
 
They should start expelling kids properly again - fuck what it looks like on the school's record.

This suspended for a few months/temporarily excluded stuff is nonsense :mad:

Hope you're feeling OK Foamy :)
 
tobyjug said:
This is the sort of thing that REALLY annoys me, you should be able to throw such little shits out of a window with no comebacks.
No-one would have got away with attacking a teacher when I was at school.
The teacher would have decked the bastard, (and on rare occasions did).
Click to expand...

Oh yes. I know that in the past some teachers really overstepped the mark but there were a few kids who really deserved a kicking. I remember one little arsehole of about 15 who was playing up in chemistry in the next classroom to mine (putting sulphuric acid in a squirty bottle and chasing the girls round the class with it threatening them with it) the teacher told him to stop and put the bottle down - little thug refused and attempted to attack the teacher with a lump of wood that was in the classroom. Teacher grabs little thug and throws him at the door with such force that the door flew open and teacher and little thug burst into the adjacent classroom where I wasstill grappling and landing punches on eachother. Little thug really calmed down for a long long while after that. Head teacher backed the teacher to the hilt and basically told the parents who whined about it to fuck off.

Not saying we shoudl go back to those dayhs completely but from my experience at teaching the pendulum has swung far too far the other way.
 
zed said:
It's the parents you should be hating.

Show me a kid like the one foamy describes and I'll show you pigfuckers as parents. The parents should be charged. If parents took some responsibilty for educating their kids in just basic manners and respect, Teachers jobs would be so much easier.
Click to expand...

Too fucking right. The funny thing is t he kids who were the offspring of local faces were a bit mouthy but knew when to stop. it is the offspring of the pigfuckers who caused the most problems.

zed said:
This kind of shit really makes me angry.
Click to expand...

Makes me angry as well. When I was teaching (I took over a class from a teacher who had had a nervous breakdown) I was shocked by just how much the little shits were allowed to play the victim and their knowledge of the law. It didn't help that when we had kids where the socialworkers and other stickybeaks were involved the kids were given no guidance in the area of personal responsibilty. There whining of 'but I'm a victim of.....' was totally believed and backed up even when it was plain that it was total bollocks.
 
well, back in school today despite thinking i shouldnt come in....

i have decided to speak to one of the union reps (not my union as the rep for it is the head of my dept whose fault it was that the violent kid was unattended at the time of attack) and to spaek to the headmaster about the boys punishment.

i will also refuse to teach the pupil again so long as i am here and will pusg to have him excluded from the department on health and safety grounds.

i dont feel too bad today, physically, very sore muscles and creaky shoulders and atill a bit worried about my wrist.

thanks for your helpful comments though - i'm liking the idea of a squirty bottle full of sulphuric acid!!!

:D
 
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