Attacked teacher says some pupils are just unteachable

The woman, who has taught for 21 years, blamed social breakdown for creating a generat ion of "unteachable" children.

The teacher, who works at a comprehensive in south London but asked not to be named, said the experience had left her scared to confront misbehaviour in case she is assaulted again.

She said the problem had increased over the past decade.

"Behaviour is going downhill and what teachers and the general public expect isn't now what students expect," she said.

"There has been a massive increase in immediate aggression. I think it's a breakdown in society, a breakdown in discipline at home. We have students coming in Year 7 (age 11) who are unteachable in this way."

Delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference starting today are expected to vote in favour of a new drive to improve discipline in schools, including extra help from the Government.

The 160,000-strong ATL released a survey of 813 of its members which showed that three out of 10 had faced "physical aggression" at work and one in 10 had suffered actual physical harm.

One in 12 had taken time off work after physical assaults by pupils, 12 per cent had required medical treatment and a third had suffered from stress and other mental health problems because of badly behaved pupils.

The London teacher, a member of ATL, was attacked when she took a class of pupils she did not know while covering for an absent colleague.

She asked the teenage boy who attacked her to take off his coat and sit down. After he responded aggressively, she told him to leave the room whereupon he shoved the door in her face, causing her injuries.

The teacher said: "I've been teaching for 21 years and it has really knocked my confidence. In a way, his behaviour was nothing unusual to what I deal with on a daily basis but I now don't want to confront students who are misbehaving."