UNPRECEDENTED details have emerged of the verbal and physical abuse towards staff in York schools.

Teachers and teaching assistants have been headbutted, punched, scratched and verbally abused in incidents across the city, a report released by the City of York Council under the Freedom of Information Act has shown.

The files show there have been 53 serious incidents reported to the council by primary, secondary and special schools since September 2008. The total figure is likely to be significantly higher overall, as schools are not required to report every incident to the council.

Incidents deemed to be deliberate physical abuse, rather than accidentally or unknowingly causing injury, include a member of teaching staff being headbutted in the chin when they asked a pupil to go to see the head teacher and another being pushed into a shelf before the pupil began throwing “tables, chairs and anything else he could get”.

One staff member was “punched in face by pupil during a physical outburst” and another was headbutted when trying to stop a fight during playtime.

A report of verbal abuse reads: “[Staff member] verbally abused by pupils. Pupils out of lessons and causing disruption around school. This happens on a regular basis and the pupils are not dealt with severely enough, leading to their persistent rudeness and failure to attend lessons. This has put [staff member] under a lot of pressure and stress.”

Another employee reported receiving an abusive phone call accusing them of “serious offences” and said they put the phone down when the individual began swearing.

In primary schools there have been 18 incidents since September 2008, including one incident of verbal abuse, five physical assaults and 12 “injuries caused by person” – when the injury was accidental or carried out by someone with learning difficulties who does not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

In secondary schools there have been three serious incidents of verbal abuse, one physical assault and seven injuries caused by a person reported to the council. It is likely that overall figures of verbal abuse and physical assault kept in schools will be significantly higher. In 2006 shocking figures obtained by The Press revealed that education staff were assaulted by pupils more than 170 times in a school year.

In response to the detailed incidents, Ian Donnachie, the regional officer for the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: “We are clearly concerned about any assault on any member of staff employed in a school. Teachers are entitled to work in a reasonably safe environment and we would expect schools and the local authority to take all reasonable steps to protect staff.”

Kevin Hall, assistant director of City of York Council, said: “The good behaviour of children and young people in York Schools has been consistently acknowledged in school Ofsted inspections, and incidents of assault are very rare in York. Head teachers and Governors take any such incidents very seriously and work with the local authority to ensure a positive learning environment in schools across the city”.