Teachers strike over 'physical and verbal abuse'

Staff at an East Yorkshire primary school are striking after allegedly being subjected to verbal and physical assaults by pupils.

Teachers at Hessle Penshurst Primary School said incidents included name-calling, biting, kicking, window-smashing and chairs being thrown around the classroom.

Steve Scott, district secretary for the East Yorkshire National Education Union, said staff were calling for a behaviour management policy to be put in place.

A spokesperson for the trust which runs the school said the strike was "extremely disappointing" and added leaders have been "proactive in addressing health and safety concerns".

Scott said: "They're called all sorts of names under the sun daily, which no-one should be going to work to hear – especially in a primary school."

He said the physical incidents were "quite extreme behaviours for teaching staff to deal with whilst they're also trying to teach the other 30 children in the room".

He added that staff were asking for a policy that addressed what happened when a pupil was removed from class, and how children displaying more extreme behaviour were reintegrated back into class.

The Consortium Academy Trust has a published behaviour policy on its website that covers its 11 schools.

A spokesperson for the Consortium Academy Trust said: "Penshurst Primary School is a safe and welcoming environment.

"Leaders have been proactive in addressing health and safety concerns relating entirely to learner behaviour.

"A small minority of children require adaptations, with positive work under way to ensure their social and emotional needs are met to support access to learning.

"Behaviour development is a shared responsibility, and leaders have worked with staff to ensure consistent application of policy and procedures, with refinements made where necessary.

"It is extremely disappointing that, despite this collaborative work, strike action has been taken, which we consider unnecessary."

In response to the statement, Scott said: "If members at Hessle Penshurt believe that, there wouldn't be 15 teachers out on strike today.

"They're all seeing these behaviours. They all know that the policy doesn't exist.

"We'd really welcome [the trust] to share this policy if it does, because we'd happily get around that table and discuss it with them."

Update 22 April: This article has been updated to include the Consortium Academy Trust's published behaviour policy

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