{"id":605504,"date":"2026-09-19T17:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T17:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605504\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T17:34:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T17:34:19","slug":"exclusive-teacher-left-unable-to-lift-her-baby-after-classroom-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605504\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Teacher left unable to lift her baby after classroom assault"},"content":{"rendered":"

A primary school teacher says an assault by a pupil left her ribs so badly bruised she couldn\u2019t pick up her baby \u2013 one of several experiences of violence that have changed how she approaches the job she loves.<\/p>\n

Teresa has spent 25 years teaching primary school children. During that time, she says she has been physically assaulted by four different students.<\/p>\n

One child repeatedly hit her, first while she was pregnant and again after she returned from maternity leave.<\/p>\n

Her account comes as Ministry of Education figures obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act show primary schools accounted for almost eight in 10 stand-downs and suspensions for physically assaulting school staff in 2025.<\/p>\n

Teacher recounts being attacked as assaults on primary school staff soar – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

Among children in Years 1\u20133, those disciplinary actions almost doubled between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n

For Teresa, the impact extended well beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

“I got really quite badly bruised ribs one of the times,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I had a little baby, of course, and I couldn\u2019t pick up this little baby.”<\/p>\n

Teresa was teaching a new-entrant class when the child first hit her.<\/p>\n

“I was pregnant in a new entrant classroom, and I got hit by this child.”<\/p>\n

Extra support was secured. While she was on maternity leave, her principal told her the same child would be in her class when she returned.<\/p>\n

Teresa said additional help initially made a difference. But as the child began meeting goals, some funding was withdrawn.<\/p>\n

“This child was starting to do quite well, but because he was meeting goals, they took some of the funding away, and it all started to unravel.”<\/p>\n

\"Theresa<\/p>\n

Theresa is no longer in a classroom full-time. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

She recalled one incident in which she tried to help the child calm down by going outside to talk.<\/p>\n

“And then he was just banging, banging, banging, hitting me, and so I\u2019m there by myself, and I actually shouted out for help.”<\/p>\n

Another teacher heard her and sought assistance. Teresa said similar incidents happened several times.<\/p>\n

The experiences have made her more cautious about the support available when taking on teaching work. She is no longer in a classroom full-time.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m a lot more picky about the support I’ll get.”<\/p>\n

But she does not blame the child or his mother, who she said was also trying to get help.<\/p>\n

“That kid needed help. The mum was trying to get help.”<\/p>\n

Almost eight in 10 cases in primary schools<\/p>\n

\"School<\/p>\n

School children (file image). (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Education figures record 1469 stand-downs and suspensions for physical assaults on staff across schools in 2025.<\/p>\n

Of those, 1160 \u2013 about 79% \u2013 were in primary schools.<\/p>\n

Among Years 1-3, the combined number rose from 330 in 2022 to 639 in 2025 \u2013 an increase of almost 94%.<\/p>\n

These figures count disciplinary actions, not individual children or every assault. A child can appear more than once, and similar behaviour may be handled differently by different schools.<\/p>\n

Exclusions and expulsions are outcomes of suspensions and are already included in those totals.<\/p>\n

The ministry also cautions that the figures reflect schools\u2019 responses to behaviour and should not be treated as a direct measure of its prevalence. Incidents that do not result in a stand-down or suspension are not captured in the combined count.<\/p>\n

Ministry of Education deputy secretary Geoff Short said the increase in stand-downs for assaults on staff was concerning.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re really concerned that we\u2019ve seen that increase in stand downs, reflecting an increase in physical assaults on staff and we don\u2019t know what\u2019s behind it.”<\/p>\n

\"Ministry<\/p>\n

Ministry of Education deputy secretary Geoff Short. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Later in the interview, he acknowledged the limits of the data.<\/p>\n

“It doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect what actual behaviour may be occurring in schools.”<\/p>\n

‘We need real action at the chalkface’<\/p>\n

\"Arakura<\/p>\n

Arakura School principal Tute Mila. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Arakura School principal Tute Mila said schools needed more practical support to meet children\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

“We need real action at the chalkface. We\u2019re really desperate for funding to have teacher aides in every classroom.”<\/p>\n

She described increasing numbers of five-year-olds arriving with high and complex needs, and difficulties accessing timely specialist help.<\/p>\n

For some children, one-on-one support made a significant difference. But schools could not always sustain it throughout the day.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes we can provide one-on-one support, but it\u2019s never enough for a whole day.”<\/p>\n

Mila said schools were drawing on their own resources to help fill the gaps.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s completely unsustainable.”<\/p>\n

Government points to learning-support investment<\/p>\n

\"Education<\/p>\n

Education Minister Erica Stanford. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the Government was investing in early intervention and learning support.<\/p>\n

“Of course I\u2019m concerned and that\u2019s why we put $750 million into the learning support budget,” she told 1News.<\/p>\n

The Government\u2019s announced measures include more specialists, learning-support coordinators for schools with Years 1-8 pupils, and additional teacher-aide hours building to more than two million a year from 2028.<\/p>\n

Stanford said underlying needs could require help from speech-language specialists, educational psychologists or occupational therapists.<\/p>\n

Teresa believes another adult in the classroom can make a substantial difference, providing support for both the child and the teacher.<\/p>\n

Despite what happened, she hopes the boy who hurt her has received the help he needed.<\/p>\n

“I hope that things have got better for you, and you\u2019ve got the help that you need,” she said.<\/p>\n

“And I hope I was able to play some role in in your education and shaping it for the better.”<\/p>\n

For her, the failure was in the system.<\/p>\n

“No kid deserves that. No kid does deserve that. No parent deserves it either.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A primary school teacher says an assault by a pupil left her ribs so badly bruised she couldn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[84,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-605504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}