A science teacher is being held on suspicion of attempted murder after three schoolchildren were allegedly assaulted during a lesson, leaving a 14-year-old boy with serious head injuries.

Last night the boy was named by Nottinghamshire Police as Jack Waterhouse.

Peter Harvey, 49, is also being questioned about alleged assaults on the two other pupils, believed to be a boy and a girl, also 14.

Police were called to All Saints’ Roman Catholic School in Mansfield after paramedics found the teenager lying in a pool of blood at the entrance to a classroom in the science block just after 11am on Wednesday.

It is believed that Jack was hit with a weight block used in science experiments. The teacher was arrested.

The boy was taken to King’s Mill Hospital but his condition deteriorated that afternoon and he was moved to a specialist unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. The county council said that his condition had improved slightly overnight.

The other children in the class were being interviewed yesterday with their parents present.

Yesterday afternoon police were granted a further 28 hours to question Mr Harvey.

Detective Superintendent Adrian Pearson, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Obviously, the whole class is traumatised. People send their children here from great distances because of its academic record and what happened is very much out of character for the school. The school, the teachers and the parents are absolutely shocked. It was a full, lively classroom and I can understand the trauma to all the staff.

“We have a full picture of what has taken place and so the welfare of the child and his family are the main concern.”

The Mayor of Mansfield, Tony Egginton, said: “It’s exceedingly sad. We don’t know the full details but it does seem bizarre. It’s very concerning and I feel for the parents of the other pupils. All Saints’ is a very reputable school and it has performed extremely well. For this to happen is a bitter blow to its reputation.”

Senior teachers and police officers stood outside the school gate yesterday morning ushering pupils inside.

Outside the school, which is in a rundown area of Mansfield, with boarded-up houses lining the street around it, Claire Tonks, 23, was dropping her nephew at the school and said: “It’s a good school and I can’t believe it.”

Neighbours of Mr Harvey claimed that the teacher had recently taken two months off work owing to illness. All Saints’ School would not confirm this. It describes itself as a “lively, Catholic comprehensive school with a very special, warm ethos”. The school, which has about a thousand pupils, became a Performing Arts College in 2002. It was given a satisfactory rating after its last Ofsted inspection.

Messages left on the Rate My Teacher website by former students gave Mr Harvey glowing reviews.

One, written in 2006, read: “I was never a fan of science, so it was a miracle I had Mr Harvey. He’s absolutely hilarious and inspires confidence in even the least scientifically-minded.”

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads