A SEVEN-year-old child warned a teacher they would stab them in their pregnant belly, a conference has heard.
The Ulster Teachers' Union (UTU) today revealed it is to work with police in a concerted bid to combat "horrifying" levels of violence in the classroom.
The UTU annual conference in Newcastle will hold a one minute silent protest to mark the 808th day without Stormont before hearing about issues including risk assessments on violent five-year-olds, violence, classroom health and safety shambles and a "kids in care crisis".
It will also hear a call for criminalisation of online abuse of teachers while members will discuss pay, the inspection process and workload.
UTU deputy general secretary Jacquie White said the union welcomed an invitation from the PSNI to work with it to halt "obscene levels of violence which teachers encounter daily".
She said it must stop "before there is a real tragedy".
A shock report by the ICTU found one in five education workers were physically abused once a week.
Ms White asked delegates: "Why is teaching the only profession where an almost acceptable level of violence seems to be tolerated?"
"The incidences we encounter in our profession are horrifying and in any other setting would trigger an immediate response yet teachers are expected to take it as part of their job, regardless of the impact it has on their mental and physical well-being," she said.
"One teacher was told by a seven-year old that he would ‘stab her pregnant belly’ because he didn't want to do literacy.
"In another incident a senior teacher of 30 years' experience was pinned to a wall, studded with coat hooks, by a P7 boy simply because he got in his way. In another instance a pregnant teacher with two physically and verbally abusive children in her P2 class was told there was no funding for extra help - she would just have to hold the boys' hands at all times to ensure they were behaving."
The PSNI said abuse of any kind whether physical, verbal or online was unacceptable.
"Police officers are committed to investigating offences, supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice. We are mindful of the impact that abuse can have on family and work life," a spokesman said.
"We would therefore encourage any member of teaching and teaching support staff who has been subjected to abuse to report it to police. We would also welcome the opportunity to work with the education sector to try and prevent incidences of abuse."
