Teachers need clearer guidelines and training on how to deal with violent and abusive pupils, a union spokesman said today
The call for more support for teachers faced with incidents of unruly pupils follows the resignation this week of Hilary Mynott, the head of Lyons Hall County Primary School in Braintree, and deputy Chris Webb following allegations they taped a pupil's mouth shut while on a school holiday in Wales in June.
They were both suspended from the Deerleap Way school following a complaint from Sharon Scott that her ten-year-old son Ryan was gagged with sticky tape and sat on.
An inquiry was launched but disciplinary hearings have been cancelled following the pair's resignations.
A spokesman for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said he could not comment on the specific incident involving Mrs Mynott and Mr Webb but said teachers in general needed more help to deal with unruly pupils.
"Generally in incidents of disruptive, abusive or violent pupil behaviour, we are seeing an exponential increase in occurrences where teachers feel they are not in control."
He said teachers should be given support and training in the guidelines of what was acceptable ways of dealing with these situations.
Published Wednesday October 16, 2002
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article