WhHAT SHOULD I DO HELP PLEASE

I'd make it very clear there is a serious safeguarding concern and I would want to know details of how they were going to make school safe for your grandson before sending him back in.

Try to play it down to your grandson, you don't want him to think all school is scary.

I'd keep him home for now until your son speaks to the police and gets their advice.

Has your son been threatening to the school or staff or demanding the other child's name?

I'm wondering why they've gone cold on him.

I understood perfectly what you were saying. Ignore others who were being snobby. Anyway, more importantly, yes I would reportbto police and no I wouldn't send child back to school. Not sure about reporting to SW as I've no real knowledge of what role they could play, unless child already has SW help.

Thankfully its not my call.
I would not allow my child in any environment where I was worried for their safety though.

Trust me I do believe you. We’ve had all sorts my kids have had to deal with, and the school always seems to side with the child with clear behavioural issues due to them alms or always being “at risk” of children, despite them being a risk to others!

Im just saying I wouldn’t risk this and would draw the line at a knife being pulled!

Not really
You have to convene a panel of at least 3 Governors to uphold it and have a HUGE paper trail, you also have to have written statements from various stakeholders and parents have to be allowed to participate.
If proper procedure isn't followed the child cannot be PX'd

No it doesn’t. You can perm ex incredibly quickly if there is just cause.

For goodness sake. Your son needs to step up and be a parent. Go into school first thing in the morning and demand to see the headteacher!!

So we would call the police as soon as one child grabbed a knife. Secondly, we would check that your DGS was physically okay. The kids would be kept separate while evidence/information was gathered. Parents would then be called. No names would be disclosed. The child who grabbed the knife would be suspended. We would cooperate fully with the police. We would write up the incident, but certainly wouldn't be speaking with parents over the weekend about it or on a Friday night. Once the kids were safely home and my report logged, no I wouldn't be continuing the conversation in my free time.

When you say they have stopped responding, when did it happen. If it was Thursday and emails were on Friday there won't be a response until Monday

I am no expert but I would not be sending my child into that school again. I would notify the police, even if you don’t have a name.

I would get your son to put it in writing to the school and the local authority that they are unable to provide a safe learning environment and as such his child cannot attend.

It’s unacceptable that this happened at all, and the way the school have handled it is wrong too.

What a nightmare for you all OP, your poor grandson.

It’s not, it’s not punctuated well but it’s far from impossible as is quite evident by the many other people who have responded. Perhaps your reading skills are not at a high enough level to cope with it, or perhaps you were just trying to shame someone in a traumatic situation?

Clearly you have had a bad experience and I am sorry about that. But it is not everyone’s experience of every school. Schools have a duty of care towards all pupils, including those whose home upbringing and behaviour is outside the norm. Schools really don’t go out of their way to “protect” such children, very often they are managing their behaviour, or at least trying to , with very limited resources and support. Behind the scenes they are probably moving heaven and earth to get the child into a school where their needs can be met in the hope of diverting their poor start into something resembling an education.

All children however difficult, challenging or even downright obnoxious have a right to privacy so the school will not discuss the child with other parents. They also have a right to education.

OP - I’d complain directly to the chair of governors.

there needs to be an investigation if a child has managed to take a pairing knife from the school kitchen.

I suspect the school has gone quiet because they are very worried about the outcome

Instead of offering advice, you’re trying to shame her about either her son not knowing what to do or whether or not she should be asking here? Ok.

Well said.

Your son needs to report this incident to the police and make a detailed log of all correspondence with the school. Don’t let them try and brush this under the carpet. I would also be contacting ofsted, the local authority and the board of governors.

Hang on! The police refused to get involved because it was a school issue?!
Where was this?

You do not need the child’s details to make a police report. The police would contact the school. Most schools in this situation would advise the parent to report it themselves.

My ds had a knife pulled in him in a classroom. School were useless and police refused to get involved as school issue.

if you don’t feel your children/grandchildren are safe then remove them and ring them in sick under safeguarding.

I did and got my son moved to a different school where he thrived. (My ds has asd)

In your son's position, I would:

• report the incident to the police.
• complain to the DfE and to Ofsted that my child had been exposed to harm, and
• refuse to send my child back to school until I'd had a meeting with the school and been satisfactorily assured that they would safeguard my child better in future.

Given the current focus on attendance, the school will be very upset about the child being absent and that alone should put pressure on them to act.

Depending on whether I was satisfied with the school apart from this incident, I would also start looking at other schools. It's pretty shoddy really that a child was able to get hold of a sharp knife.

#1 The grandson most likely knows the child's name so that is a moot point.
#2 The school board should be notified of the incident immediately and a referral to a different school made even if out of the area.
#3 A report of attempted assault with a deadly weapon should be made with the police. This kid could have killed your grandson if he stabbed him in an artery, or blinded him if in the eye, or disfigured him permanently in the fact. This is nothing to play about.

Personally I do not understand why your son, his wife and the grandparents (you!) are not at the school raising holy hell! That child is a danger to your GS as well as the other children in the school. Every time he gets upset he is going to want to kill somebody? That's not even halfway normal thinking. This kid needs to go to the juvenile detention center. He can get free counseling there and meet kids who will let him see that he is not even a little bit as tough as he imagines.

@WarmDreamer if this incident happened on Friday, it’s unlikely you will hear anything until tomorrow.

With my parent hat on, I would keep my child at home until a meeting between myself and the Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) had taken place. During that meeting I would be seeking reassurance over what steps have been put in place to ensure my child is safe in their care.

With my school hat on, please understand that schools are bound by GDPR and confidentiality rules, and quite rightly so. If your son wants to report to the Police, he doesn’t need the child’s details, just the name of the school. The Police will then issue a request for information form and the school is duty-bound to release the child’s personal information including address and parent/carer details. It’s unlikely the Police will do more than visit the child for an educational chat, unless there is a history or similar incidents or the child’s home life is cause for concern, for example. At the age of 10, the Police are unlikely to pursue a criminal charge, but it’s likely that the child will be referred to a programme to support them to make far better decisions going forward.

I would avoid discussing the incident with your DGS, but I would spend time looking at the school’s policies which they are obligated to share on their school website (at least those that are statutory policies). If your son is not happy with the school’s response, follow the school’s complaints policy.

There is no doubt that this is a serious incident, and had the teacher not intervened, it’s dreadful to think what could have happened. This is where the school’s policies will be tested, to make sure they are robust and protect all parties concerned.

Worryingly, primary aged pupils are increasingly found with knives, yet they don’t have the emotional intelligence to understand the dangerous consequences of carrying a knife. They see the headlines on the news, and across social media, and feel they need a knife for protection, without fully understanding how risky this is.

https://knifecrimematters.org/children-as-young-as-four-bringing-knives-to-school-sparks-call-for-urgent-action/

https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/disclosure-2023/october-2023/knife-crime-offences-schools-nurseries-january2018-september2023/

https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/behind-the-knife-crime-statistics-understanding-children-who-carry-weapons/