By Graeme Paton, Telegraph.co.uk

Almost 180 staff were forced to spend three days at home or working outside the classroom following a serious physical assault, it is disclosed.

At least one-in-10 attacks involved teachers working in nursery or primary schools.

Many resulted in “major injuries”, including broken bones, dislocations, burns or even loss of sight.

It is feared the true scale of assaults may be significantly higher amid claims only a fraction are ever reported for fear of harming a school’s reputation.

The latest disclosure was made in figures published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Bob Spink, the independent MP, who obtained the data in a Parliamentary question, said: “Teachers can hardly draw breath without being attacked or falling victim to a false allegation. All political parties pay a lot of lip service to the issue of discipline without carrying it through. If head teachers and governors were allowed to focus on getting discipline right then many other problems in our schools would be a lot easier to solve.”

According to figures, 176 school staff suffered injuries “involving acts of violence” in 2007/8, the latest available data. The school year is normally 190 days.

This included 17 injuries suffered by nursery or primary teachers and 33 staff who worked in special schools.

In total, 26 attacks resulted in major injuries and 150 kept staff away from ordinary duties for three days or more.

The figures came from data collected by the Health and Safety Executive.

Earlier this year, a teacher was awarded £280,000 in compensation after being attacked by a pupil at a Nottingham special school. The 13-year-old jumped on her back – placing her in a headlock – causing her to fall and injure her back and head. Sharon Lewis, who was 26 at the time of the assault in 2004, was forced to quit the profession after suffering nerve damage and post-traumatic stress disorder.

It came as research by the NASUWT union suggested nine-in-10 physical assaults in schools were never reported.

The Government insisted behaviour in schools was improving.

Vernon Coaker, the Schools Minister, said ministers were introducing new requirements on schools to record incidents of bullying between pupils and verbal and physical assaults on staff.

“We will also consult on whether schools should also be required to report these records to their local authority, and whether they should be required to record and report these incidents by type where the incident is motivated by a particular form of prejudice [for example] as racist, homophobic bullying incidents,” he said. ”

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