Some schools may be considering CCTV cameras to protect staff from rampaging parents.

The Australian Principals’ Federation says schools should put security cameras in their foyers and other meeting areas to protect principals and teachers from physical attacks and threats from angry parents.

Principals’ Federation president Chris Cotching said incidents of parental threats and violence against school staff are reported every day.

“The worst example is where someone's actually been physically punched in the face, where they've had stitches... you won't hear this sort of stuff publicised. [There are also] cases where principals are followed home.”

Monash University recently conducted a survey on the subject, finding school principals were five times more likely to face threats of violence than the general population and seven times more likely to face physical violence.

Mr Cotching says it is not just about having something to use against attackers, CCTV footage can clear up all ambiguity in altercations.

“When a principal sometimes defends themselves or tries to manage the situation when they've got a violent person in their foyer ... what would often happen is that the person who is the aggressor will then make a formal complaint that the principal had man-handled them or behaved inappropriately or done something,” he said.

“So the poor old principal is then the subject of a complaint process about their misconduct because they've allegedly man-handled somebody out of a foyer area, which we know is nonsense but has to be investigated.”

The Principals’ Federation says it will talk to education departments about creating some kind of CCTV policy.