evidence: More than a quarter of education staff in Northern Ireland have been physically assaulted by pupils, a union claimed today. [...] ATL branch president in Northern Ireland Andy Brown said: "It is totally unacceptable that poor pupil behaviour continues to be such a widespread problem in schools and colleges, and shocking that over a third of staff have experienced aggression from students’ parents or guardians. [...] Incidents of physical attacks were far more prevalent in primary schools with 48 per cent of staff reporting pupils being physically aggressive, compared with 20 per cent working at secondary level.