MORE than 300 acts of violence were committed by pupils in Dorset schools in one year.

Some of the incidents involved pupil violence towards a teacher, it has been revealed.

In 2015, 332 ‘violent actual incidents’ in schools were reported to Dorset County Council.

Just over half of these happened in schools in Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester.

In the first three months of this year, another 85 violent incidents were reported to DCC; 41 of these happened in schools in Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester.

The council says the number is not believed to be high in comparison with other areas of the country and that it has a ‘zero tolerance policy’ on violence against staff.

But the figures have prompted fears that computer games and social media are leading to a rise in incidents.

A Dorset County Council spokeswoman said: “Dorset County Council operates a zero tolerance policy in respect of violence against staff in schools and encourages staff to record every event, no matter how trivial.

“Incidents of this nature are more common among pupils with complex needs i.e. at special schools, pupil referral units (PRUs) and children’s homes.

“Nearly half of the reported incidents in Dorset come from our special schools, PRUs and children’s homes. The towns of Dorchester, Weymouth and Portland are home to almost half of all special schools, PRUs and children’s homes for the whole of Dorset, because of their central locations.

“This is why the numbers from these areas might seem high, compared with the rest of the county.”

Dorset has five PRUs, three children’s homes, and five special schools, of which two of each type of establishment are in Dorchester and Weymouth.

The spokeswoman added:”Nationally, there is little or no data to compare these figures to.

“But, we do know that the number of reported incidents in Dorset is not believed to be high in comparison with other comparable local authorities.

“And, according to information from teachers’ unions, the level of violence in Dorset is low compared with other areas of the UK.”

According to a report by the teachers union Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) earlier this year, 43 per cent of staff who completed a national survey said they had to deal with physical violence from a pupil in the last year.

GENERAL Secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), Chris Keates, said: “Where violence occurs schools should operate a zero tolerance approach, sending a strong message to pupils and local communities that such behaviour has no place in schools and will not be tolerated.

“However, in too many schools there is still unacceptable pressure on staff not to report assaults to the police or even to their union so that they can receive help.

Ms Keates added: “Concealing and failing to deal appropriately with violence will only make matters worse.

“Regrettably, there is a potential for violence in schools to increase as budget cuts at local authority level remove specialist external provision to enable schools to access early intervention support for pupils with serious behavioural problems.”

Poundbury resident, Margaret Morrissey, who founded the Parents Outloud group, said: “The figures say it all. I believe they reflect the increased use of social media by children as young as eight, and certainly by teenagers.

“There was a time when mobile phones were not allowed in schools but now I get texts whilst my granddaughter is in a lesson, well did, she has left now.”

She added: “All are fed a diet of TV, films, DVD’s and games, whose sole object is to maim and kill be foul mouthed and aggressive.

“I was one of the people who in the 1980’s campaign nationally to stop this decline and was labelled ‘Mary Whitehouse’, if only someone had listened.”