I WRITE further to your report on the high level of violent attacks on staff at the Edith Borthwick School and Cllr Ray Gooding’s response to the matter.

If I have understood the statistics reported correctly, it appears staff at the 19 special needs schools in the Essex area endured a total of 126 assaults.

Of these, 107 took place at Edith Borthwick and 19 took place at the other 18 schools.

In other words, staff at Edith Borthwick school are 100 times more likely to be assaulted than if they worked at one of the other schools.

Assuming the students at all the schools have similar extra educational needs, these figures are simply shocking.

The comments made by Cllr Gooding are indeed rather relaxed and very surprising.

Instead of taking the view that some explanation must be found for this astonishing state of affairs, he simply says Essex County Council does not recognise the events as described by staff at the school.

I suggest Cllr Gooding’s attitude to these events provides no comfort to the staff who are dealing with this on a daily basis.

I also suggest he should perhaps begin an immediate investigation into these matters in order to resolve the problems without delay to avoid further serious injuries or worse taking place.

The purpose of the article was not about the students themselves but to highlight the predicament the staff find themselves in on a daily basis and the lack of support they receive, as indicated by Cllr Gooding’s statement.

Alan Rees

Convent Lane, Bocking