MORE than 40 per cent of Swindon school support staff have experienced violence from pupils in the past 18 months, a new survey shows.

GMB, the trade union that represents staff including teaching assistants, caretakers, office staff, bursars, librarians and cleaners, released the figures yesterday from a survey they carried out with their members - with 42 per cent reporting violent behaviour against them.

GMB branch secretary Andy Newman said: “We are calling on the council and academies in the town to introduce a zero tolerance policy to prevent violence against school staff. We need to prevent this rising tide of violence in the interest of staff safety, and to provide an atmosphere in schools conducive to learning.”

The trade union initiated the survey after a GMB member allegedly had their finger dislocated by an eight-year-old pupil.

The survey showed that in mainstream schools 42 per cent of staff had suffered violence, 25 per cent had been spat at, and 46 per cent had suffered verbal abuse.

In special schools for pupils who need additional support, 94 per cent of staff had suffered violence.

Members of GMB will hand in a report to Swindon Borough Council today and plan to have a meeting with council officials on Wednesday to discuss how safety policies can be improved.

Andy said: “We are extremely concerned that 25 per cent of staff are afraid or apprehensive at work, but when they report incidents or concerns to schools management, half of our members report that management’s response is inadequate.

“We are also concerned that a number of pupils who would be better educated in special schools are now in mainstream schools, which is not fair to them, and not fair to other pupils and staff. Of our members in mainstream schools, 92 per cent report that there are pupils in the school who they feel need to be in a special school.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We routinely offer guidance to schools regarding how to manage pupil behaviour and each school has its own policy for dealing with behavioural issues.

“We are aware of the survey the GMB has sent to its members, but the union has not shared any of the questions or the feedback with us so we are not clear about the exact nature of the concerns from support staff.

“We have though agreed to meet the GMB next week to discuss their concerns.”