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Teachers at the recent annual conference for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) in Gateshead complained that they are being verbally and physically abused by both students and parents, but most of the cases go unreported.

Jovan Trkulja, a language supply teacher in Tottenham, North London, told the group "On a good day, some of us are verbally assaulted on an almost hourly basis in our work". He has been knocked down by students and hit with a brick at the back of his head.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) says that a large part of the £7.6 million compensation that they paid out to teachers last year was for assault. Last year a teacher in Preston, Lancashire was awarded £850,000 for injuries she received. The Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) awarded teacher Linda Curtis £10,000 last year for shoulder injuries she received ten years ago when she was attempting to break up a fight between students. Another teacher received £129,600 compensation when a student threw a brick at her. ATL had 39 cases of assault reported to them lat year. These 39 were all cases of serious assault that required compensation. But NASUWT says compensation is just "the tip of the iceberg". Teachers are being kicked, punched, pushed and beaten.

Teachers are discouraged from reporting assault. "There are lots of cases where teachers are assaulted and they will not report it. They will be dissuaded from reporting it by the school because it doesn't look good," Jim Quigley, NASUWT's legal officer told Times Online.

Also teachers fear peer perceptions. On the NASUWT union website, member Paul Murray said, "We need to move away from blame culture. Teachers do not want to report these incidents because it is seen to be a sign of weakness and that they can't do their jobs properly. It is not a sign of weakness to be punched."

NASUWT is recommending that children who attack teachers get threatened with court action. Also, there should be a national registry where such attacks are recorded and a system should be put in place for dealing with the reports. Students are also attacking ancillary staff such as cleaners and dinner workers.

The government seems to have another opinion. Jacqui Smith, the Schools Minister, told the Times Online, that according to OFSTED, student behaviour was "satisfactory or better" in 94% of the secondary schools and 99% of the primary schools.