A 14-year-old boy who suffered serious head injuries during an alleged assault in a science lesson is in stable condition in hospital, Nottinghamshire Police said today.

The boy, Jack Waterhouse, was rushed to hospital after the incident on Wednesday at the All Saints’ Roman Catholic School in Mansfield, where paramedics found him lying in a pool of blood at the entrance to a classroom in the science block just after 11am.

A teacher, Peter Harvey, 49, is being held on suspicion of attempted murder. He is also being questioned about alleged assaults on two other children, a boy and a girl also aged 14.

Police have until 8.15pm tonight to charge him or request more time for questioning from the courts.

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

Police said today that he was still in a stable condition.

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

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.”

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.”

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