FOUR school staff are assaulted every working day in the region.

Last year, more than 867 staff, including teachers, classroom assistants and caretakers, were attacked in Greater Manchester's schools, according to figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request.

Local representatives from the National Union of Teachers said they had dealt with 16 criminal injury cases.

One teaching assistant described how a pupil routinely lashed out at staff and fellow pupils.

She said: "We could expect to be kicked, punched, spat at or hit one or two times a day."

Bryan Beckingham, secretary of the NUT Oldham branch, said: "This is a growing problem. Our members are reporting aggressive incidents to us on a weekly basis and some are scared to go into the classroom, particularly when they have been the victim of a serious assault.

"It can affect their whole life and while very serious incidents are fairly infrequent, more minor physical assaults are happening on a regular basis even in junior and primary schools.

"We carry out an annual survey of violence and disruption in the classroom and that shows the problem is really quite serious. Where we cannot gain the necessary support from headteachers on this, we are prepared to take industrial action to protect our members."

Earlier this year, a male secondary school teacher from Oldham revealed 273 incidents of abusive or threatening behaviour in a classroom diary kept over an 18-month period.

It highlighted one incident in which a pupil, who jumped on the teacher's back and repeatedly punched him on the neck, was excluded for three days.