My heart hurts

I found out this morning that my son is being bullied at school. Two of the boys in his class hit him, spit at him and destroy crafts that he makes in class. He has been crying in his sleep and not telling me why. It finally came out this morning over his bowl of porridge that this is what is bothering him. I asked him if he has told his teacher and he told me that it is pretty hard to talk to his teacher once class has started. In the end I know that telling the teacher is only a band aid solution. No one likes a tattle tale right? So I also told him that next time these boys bother him, that he should very loudly tell them to stop it or behave themselves. This made my son more upset. He says that his teacher really doesn't like it when he speaks loudly. He agreed to tell them softly. I sent my son to school this morning with nothing more than two phrases as protection against being bullied. I feel  helpless and my heart aches.

Update: I just spoke with my son's teacher. She read the note I sent in with him and spoke to him about it. She let him know that he can approach her any time something like this happens and also she let me know that she has spoken to the boys in question as well. She also told the other teachers that are in the classroom what is going on and they will be keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure this type of behaviour does not happen again. The one thing she said that made me happy is that my son is doing very well right now and she would hate for his progress to be derailed so she is going to do her best to prevent the bullying from happening again. I am very comforted by her sincerity.