Teachers and parents of pupils at Bucksburn Primary School near Aberdeen are calling for shamed school nurse, Mary Clark to be reinstated, following her suspension last week for allegedly swearing at a child.

Mrs Clark had served as school nurse at Bucksburn for twenty seven years, and had "an unblemished record" up until the incident on 11th July, when it is said she called one ten year old pupil "a venomous little b*stard". 

Mrs Clark apologised for the incident, claiming she was caught off guard when the boy - who cannot be named - deliberately bit her thumb as she attempted to reset his dislocated jaw.

Once the boy told his parents what happened, they lodged an official complaint with the school, leaving the board of governors with no choice but to suspend Mrs Clark (59) pending a full investigation.

Since then, teachers, parents, and even pupils themselves, have leapt to their nurse's defence, many recalling times the Aberdeen born spinster went "above and beyond the call of duty" to help a child in distress.

SILENCE

"My Timmy hadn't uttered a single word since his father died," one parent told us.  "Six years of silence, then he fell and scraped his knee and was sent to see Mrs Clark.

"Five minutes later, out he comes, chatting away no problem.  It was a miracle."

Another parent, whose conjoined twins were seperated by Mrs Clark in a fourteen hour operation in 1991, echoed the sentiments, insisting that one small slip-up should not overshadow the "nearly three decades of first class service" which the nurse has provided.

Bucksburn headmaster, Laurence Brown (44), has expressed his sympathy for Mrs Clark, but points out that swearing at children during school time is unacceptable behaviour.

"Of course, I appreciate everything Mrs Clark has done for us here at the school," Brown said, "dealing with everything from bumped heads and nosebleeds to little Larry Loudon's chemotherapy and subsequent bone marrow transplant, and while I'm 100% satisfied with the triple heart bypass she performed on me last August, I'm afraid I'm not 100% satisfied with the way she has conducted herself in this instance."

Added the head: "Obviously the investigation is ongoing, but I'm afraid Mrs Clark may very well have to be dismissed."

We approached Mrs Clark for her comment on the suspension and investigation, but she was performing an emergency trachaeotomy and was unavailable to answer our questions.