‘Teacher not prevented from reporting attack’

A teacher attacked by a parent was never dissuaded by the school authorities from making a complaint to police, the Education Ministry has said.

The ministry was reacting to reports in the wake of an incident last week when English language teacher Nadine Piscopo was attacked at school by a parent.

The parent, a mother of a teenage boy, was conditionally discharged for two years by the court and barred from speaking to Ms Piscopo.

However, the court allowed the mother to go to school and attend parents’ day.

In the aftermath, Ms Piscopo, 26, claimed the assistant head teacher had tried to persuade her not to report the matter to the police.

But a ministry spokeswoman said the assistant head had only asked Ms Piscopo and her father – who accompanied her to school after the incident – to wait for the headmistress to finish meeting the parent before filing a report.

“The assistant head categorically denies trying to dissuade Ms Piscopo from filing a police report.

“He simply told them that if they wanted to get the full picture of how the school was handling the case before proceeding to the police station, they had to wait a little while until the parent had left the premises,” the spokeswoman said.

She explained Ms Piscopo left the school immediately after the incident and returned some time later with her father while the school head was speaking to the parent.

Ms Piscopo’s father sought legal advice and, rather than waiting for the head to finish the meeting, his daughter filed a report at Qormi police station.

The school later filed its own report after seeking legal advice, the ministry spokeswoman said. “In the rare situations when such incidents occur, schools inform the police and lodge a report.”

She said the school administration was fully empathetic with Ms Piscopo and tried their “very best” to show this concern in practical terms.

Ms Piscopo had complained of lack of support from the school administration after the incident left her shaken.

The ministry insisted that, the next day, the school head and the assistant head spoke to Ms Piscopo again.

They also commented positively on the fact she immediately returned to school, the spokeswoman said.

“The school head emphasised to Ms Piscopo that they were all there to support her all the way, including testifying in court about the incident,” she said, adding that the college principal even went to the school to speak to all the staff.

The college principal, the director responsible for human resources and a member of the school administration met Ms Piscopo, the ministry noted, offering legal advice and counselling.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com