The survey of 814 teachers, school managers and support staff found that common attacks ranged from threats, pushing and shoving, to punching and kicking.
Of the third of staff who said they had dealt with physically violent pupils, one in four said the violence had been aimed directly at them.
More than half of those surveyed (57 per cent) believed incidents of violence had increased over the past five years.
One of support staff member, at a secondary school in Wales, said: "I had a female student threaten to kick the smile off my face, in front of a whole class."
Three-quarters of school staff blamed the increase in violence on a lack of positive role models at home, while just under two-thirds blamed family breakdown.
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