Union tells of 39 violent pupils it will not teach

A teaching union has published a dossier describing the violence of 39 children that staff refuse to teach – the worst-behaved pupils in England and Wales.

All 39 are still in 27 schools, despite having committed acts of violence against teachers or fellow pupils last year.

Most have been returned to school against the wishes of their teachers after the governors or an independent appeals panel overturned the head's decision to expel them. In one case, a 15-year-old boy with a history of violence and disruption brought a replica gun into his London school and tried to sell it to classmates.

In another incident, a teenage boy attacked a pregnant science teacher while forcing his way back into her lesson after being sent out of the laboratory. Once in the class he overturned chairs and turned on the gas.

Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), said fewer incidents were reported in 2002 than in the previous year but that he was extremely concerned about rising violence.

"It is significant that the reasons for pupils' exclusion have become much more serious – involving the use of weapons and imitation firearms," he said. "This points to a greater willingness of some youngsters to resort to violence in a way that they would not have done five or 10 years ago."

In all 27 schools the union has balloted its members on industrial action in the form of refusing to teach the pupil.

In the West Midlands a teacher was taken to hospital after a teenage pupil threw a stone at her, while in Yorkshire a 15-year-old boy left his female teacher covered in bruises after a violent attack.

Another 15-year-old at a West Midlands comprehensive got drunk on a school trip and attacked two teachers before being restrained by four others. The boy spent the night in the cells after attacking the police but was returned to school after the headteacher's decision to expel him was overturned by an appeals panel.

Staff at a Yorkshire comprehensive complained about six pupils who were violent towards staff. A survey of teachers found that 94 per cent had suffered verbal abuse and 44 per cent had been assaulted. One pupil attacked a teacher three times in a year.

In Wales, a school reported serious violence and disruption centred around five pupils. The youngest was aged five. After months of punching and kicking his classmates, the boy was expelled for attacking his teachers.

An eight-year-old boy at a West Midlands primary school shouted at his teacher, kicked him in the shins and falsely claimed the teacher had assaulted him. The boy was expelled after his classmates supported the teacher but was reinstated by an appeals panel.

In 2002 the union authorised 32 ballots of teachers who refused to teach violent pupils. This was a fall on 2000 and 2001 when there were 61 each year.

Meanwhile, the law lords will rule tomorrow on the cases of two boys that will test the right of teachers to prevent unruly pupils returning to mainstream lessons.

The pupils were taught in isolation after members of the NASUWT refused to readmit them to lessons when appeal panels returned them to school after they were expelled.

Cherie Booth QC, the Prime Minister's wife, represented one of the families in a legal challenge that attempted to overturn earlier rulings in favour of the union.