Black eyes, broken bones, verbal and emotional violence and threats to kill…

These are just some of the deeply disturbing incidents that teaching assistants (TAs) have suffered while doing their job working in the classroom.

These stories were told to me and my colleague, Dr Jenny Birchall, as part of a research project that we published this week based on interviews with 16 teaching and classroom assistants working in mainstream schools across the UK.

This followed an earlier survey, which showed that more than 50 per cent of TAs had experienced at least one incident of physical violence from a student in the previous year - a rate that is much higher than for any other section of the school workforce.

For many, the experiences left physical injuries, some of which resulted in chronic conditions and long-term pain. Furthermore, all described subsequent feelings of anxiety and depression, and a loss of professional confidence.

Two TAs had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their experiences and one had left the profession entirely.

Just as concerning was the lack of support from their teaching colleagues and senior management team following the incidents.

The TAs were often expected to go straight back to work following an incident, often with the same child or young person who had just attacked them. The overwhelming sense was that violence against TAs in mainstream schools was normalised.

So, how can schools do more to prevent violence and support their staff if it does occur?

Drawing on our findings, we have identified a series of key recommendations for schools: the first set outlines recommendations for good practice after a violent incident and the second set outlines recommendations for a broader cultural shift in schools.

How schools can tackle violence against TAs

Recommendations for good practice for schools after each violent incident:

1. Record every incident

One of the more alarming findings was that violent incidents towards TAs were not always logged by schools.

All incidents should be recorded in CPOMS or a similar safeguarding software system but, sometimes, incidents were minimised in ways that TAs felt would not have happened if a teacher or senior manager had been targeted.

Aside from ignoring their health and safety obligations, schools that fail to record such incidents facilitate a culture where violence towards TAs is seen as acceptable.

2. Don’t expect TAs to work with the student immediately after an incident

Many TAs were expected to continue working with the student responsible straight after a violent incident occurred, and this meant that TAs had no time to process the painful experience or to restore their relationship with the student.

This is potentially harmful for the staff member and the student.

3. Encourage TAs to seek medical advice

Following on from the two previous points, a “business as usual” approach to such incidents meant that TAs who may have needed medical advice were not encouraged to get it, despite the severity of some of the injuries.

4. Provide access to psychological support

Stress, anxiety and depression were commonly reported by TAs following an incident, and a lack of school support exacerbated these feelings.

The long-term consequences of this were staff absence, lack of motivation and, in some cases, leaving the profession.

5. Investigate the incident and involve the TA in decision making

Often, violent incidents were ignored, even when witnessed by other school staff.

When an investigation was undertaken, TAs often felt disenfranchised from the process, including the outcome. For example, TAs might be told of a student suspension and return date, but given no input into the decision-making process.

This exacerbated a feeling of worthlessness and that their opinion was of little value.

6. Avoid accusing or blaming the TA

TAs reported that senior managers often said things following a violent incident that insinuated that they must have done something wrong to trigger it. This is clearly unfair, and adds to the stress and trauma already experienced.

7. Enable TAs to take leave on full pay if experiencing physical injuries or psychological harm

Lack of financial support was a concern for TAs, particularly given their low rates of pay.

This meant that TAs continued going to work despite needing time away to recover from their injuries, leading to a long-term impacts on their mental and physical health.

Recommendations for wider institutional change in schools:

8. Value the important role that TAs play in teaching and learning

TAs felt that there was a feeling of “us and them” between support staff and teachers/senior managers.

This division was demarcated by a sense that the TA role was not valued, and that this contributed to the normalisation of the violence towards them. Indeed, some TAs were told that it was “their job” to manage students’ violence.

Clearly, there needs to be a wider culture shift to address this “us and them” division, which is damaging to the inclusive school ethos that many schools advocate.

To this end, a specific training fund for TAs could be established within schools to help ensure that these staff members feel valued and worth investing in (many of the TAs reported that their training requests were turned down by senior managers due to costs).

9. Develop a clear and unambiguous policy on student violence, and develop whole-school training to address it

Both the policy and the training should be developed collaboratively with all members of the school, including TAs.

This includes the development of risk assessments, where TAs’ valuable knowledge and expertise could be usefully applied.

This would ensure that all staff members are responded to in the same way, regardless of status. Both the policy and the training should be regularly reviewed.

10. Consider the use of restraint carefully 

Schools should think carefully about whether restraint techniques are appropriate and, if they are to be used, then the whole school should be trained in using them, with opt-outs available for any staff member (including TAs).

Many of the TAs felt that restraint techniques were ineffective and sometimes counterproductive. It is also questionable whether they are appropriate in schools that should be engaging in trauma-informed practice.

Many of the TAs also did not want to be trained in restraint - often on health or other grounds (for example, risk of retraumatisation) - but were given no choice by their senior managers and were told they had to do it.

Ultimately, it is important that schools act responsibly after a violent incident towards any school staff member, and the steps outlined above suggest what could be done better.

However, a more fundamental cultural shift within schools is also needed to prevent these worrying levels of student violence, which disproportionately target low-paid women, who experience low status within the school hierarchy.

Schools have a social responsibility to address this urgently.

Dr Amanda Holt is a reader in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Centre for Equality, Justice and Social Change at the University of Roehampton