Colleagues are being kicked, bitten and spat at, says Cork teacher

Teachers are being “kicked, bitten, spat at, sworn at, threatened” and not given adequate supports afterwards, a Cork teacher has said.

A motion passed at the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation’s annual congress in Killarney calls for immediate and comprehensive reform of the assault leave scheme for teachers, amid high levels of physical aggression being experienced in schools.

The motion also calls on the Department of Education to invest in behaviour hubs and nurture rooms to help schools manage behaviours of concern and to provide whole school de-escalation training.

An INTO survey in May 2024 revealed that 58% of teachers reported experiencing physical aggression in schools such as scratching, punching, biting, and the throwing of objects, but only 6% of teachers affected availed of assault leave, though 41% of those injured required medical treatment beyond first aid.

Speaking on the resolution, Cork-based central executive committee (CEC) representative Edel Polly said: “We're seeing levels of physical and verbal abuse in primary schools that are not and would not be tolerated in other workplaces.

“Teachers are being kicked, bitten, spat at, sworn at, threatened and in many instances expected to walk back into the classroom next day as if nothing happened.

“This is not about difficult behaviour this is about a broken system. This is about a lack of engagement, understanding and care” by the government, she said.

Another motion passed at the congress calls for pragmatic solutions against the increasing demands on principals, proposed by the Cork City South East branch.

Áine Corrigan, principal of Star of the Sea primary school in Passage West, said that the motion calls on the union’s CEC to use all means possible, up to and including industrial action, to achieve more support.

She said: “We are committed to our schools and communities. But commitment cannot continue to be mistaken for limitless capacity.

“Principals do not want special treatment. We want fair treatment, realistic expectations, and structures that make the job sustainable – so that schools are led well, staff – all staff – are supported properly, and children benefit.” 

Principal of Scoil Iosogáin in Farranree, Feargal Hurley, added: “Every day, school leaders are balancing instructional leadership with an ever-expanding range of responsibilities: compliance, HR, finance, procurement, safeguarding, wellbeing, and increasingly complex school communities. In many cases, we are also leading significantinclusion provision and managing major projects alongside that work.

The motion “is about ensuring that we have the capacity to do our jobs well. Because when we support school leaders, we strengthen our schools-and ultimately, we better serve the children in our care,” he said.