Knife in primary school.

[Dollop1245]

Posting on behalf of a friend who is looking for some guidance.

Her DD attends a village primary school (although it is a larger village school). A pupil who is known to have physically injured pupils previously (a younger pupil had his nose broken) was caught with a knife in school. He scratched a wall and showed it around threatening if people told.

This has all got out through parents and pupils as the school has a policy not to inform parents as it was dealt with internally.

Does this seem like protocol - is my friend being unreasonable thinking they should have been informed and told that it had been dealt with?

The school will absolutely have a protocol for things like this
the school will be aware the community will know and assume a letter will go home if needed
it sounds shocking

The school should have reported this to the police ( although child under criminal responsibility age) and to SS because clearly there is an issue here.

It’s completely protocol! Why would school inform the parents of every Tom dick and Harry about the behaviour and subsequent punishment of another child?

The school should have reported this to the police ( although child under criminal responsibility age) and to SS because clearly there is an issue here.

Sorry posted twice???

It’s not typical to share that kind of information with parents.

Essentially, one child’s behaviour and the subsequent response of the school is their private information and shouldn’t be shared publicly.

The school should have clear policies on how they safeguard all pupils, and how they manage behaviour, and these policies should be available to the public.

In the local authority that I work for, possession of a knife would usually result in a permanent exclusion; however there may an alternative sanction in exceptional circumstances.

If the school believe that the child is likely to harm themself or others then a risk assessment should be completed, and suitable adaptations / safeguards put into place; but again, this information would be private, and not available to other parents.

Get her (and the rest of the class parents) to contact the school about it and ask how they are going to ensure the safeguarding of the other kids. Sometimes schools don't seem to take this thing seriously at all and would rather downplay it and sweep it under the rug (looking at you our local primary school). If they are fobbed off take it to the head and then the governors.

There will be a policy that they cannot tell you about the specifics of another child's issues and whatever actions the school are taking to address them.

It might have been sensible to send out a message about the incident in general terms, reassuring parents that behaviour/safeguarding etc policies are being followed and that the safety of all children is a priority.

I would contact the school and let them know that this incident is known about and is being talked about amongst parents and pupils.

If it was your child would you want all parents informing?

if parents need to know anything they will be told, but often parents want to know from noseiness!

it has been dealt with by school that’s all they need to know

They absolutely should have informed parents, if for no other reason to stop silly stories doing the rounds.

When my little sister was in primary one of the kids who had some behavioural difficulties managed to get hold of some child scissors and ran around the room and jabbed a teacher in the leg with them. The next day the head held a special assembly for parents at home time to explain what had happened. By that time the story had done 20 rounds of Chinese whispers and had the kid stabbing the teacher with a knife, an ambulance being called, the teacher nearly dying… 7 year olds being reliable reporters as always 😁

Im not saying this didn’t happen at your friend’s child’s school but they absolutely should communicate the facts so parents have an official version of events. They don’t need to explain what has happened re the kid who did it, but they do need to explain what happened, and ensure that parents know their children are safe and that measures have been taken to ensure it won’t happen again.

I think parents should be informed!

What if their kids hang out with this kid?
What if he goes to sleepovers?

What kind of 'knife'? Kitchen, camping, zombie??

You don't mess with knife crime. You take no chances

I would want reassuring that the kid is searched before entering school on a daily basis. But that won't happen in todays snowflake world

This child needs to be expelled. But no doubt his 'right to an education' will trump everyone else's safety.

Parents have ultimate responsibility for protecting their child. In not telling the parents you are limiting their ability to exercise that responsibility. What if the parent thought the school were a bit flakey but there were no other convenient options so they think the school is probably ok? They might keep they child there, but had they known about the knife it might have changed the parents view entirely.

A child with a knife could be anything from a dining room knife, to a craft tool, to a penknife to a 12 inch machete. I've know all these in my experience of advising schools. If you trust the school enough to send your child there trust them to do the appropriate thing. The police should have been notified, social services if already involved with the family or other concerning behaviours, but no I wouldn't expect parents to be notified. What were you planning on doing with that information?

O goodness - children and knives - every child has one in their hand in the canteen, you know!

This is all whispers and rumours. It has nothing to do with your friend and she won't be told anything

i would expect to be informed only if my child had been threatened or had been shown the knife