280,000 pounds compensation

Teacher attacked

A teacher who was assaulted by a pupil and forced to leave her post at a special needs school has been awarded more than a quarter of a million pounds in compensation.

Sharon Lewis, 31, was attacked by a 13-year-old boy who leapt on to her back, forcing her to fall and hit her head on a window.

She spent four days in hospital with neck and back injuries and still suffers post traumatic stress disorder after the incident in 2004, the Times Educational Supplement reports today.

Miss Lewis, who has been unable to return to teaching, has been awarded £280,000 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority after the attack at Woodlands school in Nottingham. It is one of the highest known payouts made to teachers,

She said: “I'm not angry at the pupil who did it. I'm angry at a system where encountering violence is now an expectation of the job.”

The pupil involved has a record of violent behaviour and had previously attacked another member of staff. All pupils at the school have severe and complex behavioural problems or learning difficulties.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the teaching union NASUWT, said: “Sharon's life has been turned upside down. She can no longer practise the career of her choice and the profession has lost a talented teacher.”

She added: “No one should ever have to go to work with the expectation of being assaulted.”

Source - BBC