TEACHER Phil Baker says attacks in Swindon's schools are on the rise but pupils aren't the only problem.

He claims abusive parents have been responsible for a string of assaults. And today he was recalling his own experiences at a national conference in front of Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

Mr Baker, assistant head of Headlands School, was called to deal with an irate parent and found himself on the receiving end of a torrent of verbal abuse.

Reception staff were so worried that the father may attack Mr Baker they called the police. Mr Baker, who is also secretary of the Swindon branch of teachers union the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, was today speaking at the union's conference in Cardiff.

He said: "The parent was extremely abusive and made me feel real fear. He stood opposite me with his fists clenched for action. I was very frightened.

"He was ranting and raving, totally out of control. I knew that I was not going to have a reasonable discussion with him, so I had to stay calm.

"If he had been reasonable then I would have invited him into my office to discuss the problem. My aim though was to get him removed from the premises.

"Police who were called to the school wore body armour, but I had nothing but my jacket and my pencil as a shield.

"I was totally shattered by the incident. It was the worst experience I have ever had in my teaching career."

Mr Baker said the trend of parental violence is growing and he fears a teacher in Swindon will be injured unless more is done by the Government.

He said: "This was the first time I felt I might be subject to physical danger.

"After the incident I was very badly shaken and nervous because it made me realise how at risk a teacher cane be in situations like that.

"What we are asking Estelle Morris for is greater protection for teachers."

Ms Morris was due to tell the conference that "feckless" parents are undermining the good work of schools and that yob parents are to blame for the growing crisis of child and teenage delinquency sweeping Britain.

In a controversial speech she was due to tell teachers: "How can we expect pupils to respect teachers if their parents don't?

"There is a hard core of feckless parents who have a corrosive effect on the rest.

"There is a cycle of disrespect starting in school and lasting throughout these children's lives."

The ATL, one of three major teaching unions, has had 155 cases of violent parents reported to it in the last year. If each union has had a similar amount it means that a teacher is being abused by a parent somewhere in the country every day of the year.

The union is further concerned about the impact a rise in attacks is having on teacher numbers, with good members of staff leaving the profession following attacks.