One in 10 school support staff has experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour from pupils, a union survey has suggested.

Pupils masturbating, taking pictures of support staff’s private parts and smacking their bottoms are among cases raised by GMB members.

More than 4,600 school support staff responded to the question ‘Have you experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour from pupils (including verbal comments, innuendo, inappropriate touching and the taking of inappropriate pictures - sometimes known as ‘up-skirting’)?

More than 10.5 per cent said they had, rising to more than 11 per cent among classroom-based staff.

Cases cited by GMB members included:

• Male pupils photographing female staff bottoms when bending to pick things up off the floor.   
• Pupils masturbating in the classroom.     
• Use of inappropriate and sexually suggestive terms by pupils to staff including being called “babe”, “beautiful”, “my MILF”, “a prostitute”, and “a pervert”.       
• Pupils telling staff to perform sexual acts, and saying “this is what your husband likes”.
• Boys exposing themselves and making inappropriate comments and gestures.
• Students smacking female staff on the bottom or touching their breasts.     

Karen Leonard, GMB national officer, said: “Our members love their jobs and enjoy positive, professional relationships with the vast majority of pupils, and are dedicated to supporting children and young people.

“However, some tell us that an unacceptable proportion of students use inappropriate language to each other and to staff regularly.

“No one should have to put up with being sexually abused while at work - and that includes our members in schools.

“These testimonies from our dedicated school staff make very tough reading and bring home the difficult situations many of our teaching assistants, school administrators, lunchtime supervisors and others experience every day.

“It’s not surprising many are left stressed, intimidated and even with mental scars.”

She called for school to have “proper policies, guidelines and principles to support staff when these incidents do take place”.