WhHAT SHOULD I DO HELP PLEASE

[WarmDreamer]

My grandson had a boy screaming at him trying to provoke my grandson to react as he has adhd we told him if kids do this then the best thing he could do is not to do anything and just walk away (which he done) the other child managed to run back into school and take a knife and ĥe rean at my grandson the teacher saw grabbed him and grabbed the knife the school rang my son and said that he didn't need to come in they were dealing with it the child has been sent home with an internal seclusion my son asked if they had reported this to the police and now the school has stopped any correspondence with my son and his wife he now doesn't want to send his children back to the school as he feels his children are not safe does he notify police himself? Does he send his kids back to school? Does he inform social services ? He really is at a l9ss as what would be the best thing to do I find it hard that the school let's these children do whatever they please some run out of school some swear and throw things around which my sons have done in the past one has already changed school and now is in a special school the other is still waiting for paperwork to be looked at by the special school but I will still have 2 chiĺdren at the school and this happened on primary school the children are 10 years old.

The school dont want to involve the police because the knife was made accessible by them.

My son sadly was involved in knife crime, but the school took responsibility and called the police before they called anyone else.

Call the police ASAP. And the father needs to go to the school Monday morning to find out exactly what they are doing to keep yr DG safe.

Do you know that the school haven't called the police, for sure?

Your son calls 101 says he wants to repirt an attempted assault with a bladed weapon.
He gives his son’s name , the name of the school, the day and approximate time the incident happened.
His home address and phone number too.
Then leave it to the police.

It’s a criminal offence, even if the child is under 10 it has to be investigated.
Im glad your grandson wasn’t injured but must have been terrifying for him.

Rubbish, you are just getting at someone's grammar and writing style. I have read it and understood it as as others.
Bad form to comment like that.

You don't need to know the name of the child. You don't need to know if they are a already known to social services. You don't need to know if they've got behavioural problems. You don't need to know if it's happened before. You don't need to know what their home life is like. You don't need to know their shoe size either. You just need to inform the police.

Everyone is saying how hard it was to read. It really wasn't. What is the point of piling on to say how hard it was to read?

It's simple. Boy goaded, other boy grabbed knife, teacher intervened so no damage done, but clearly distressed. What should they do?

It really isn't.

@WarmDreamer follow this advice, then email the school to say that you need to know how they are going to safeguard your child from further incidents. Just be clear that you're interested in what they will do for your GS, not what they are doing about the other child.

If this was a boy working in isolation then I would have no concerns about sending my child back.

I would report it to the police because although very little will be legally done, the least they can do is speak to the boy and tell him of the consequences.

I worked with SEND kids and a couple of times had the police in to show them how serious some of their behaviour is and if they carried on/did it outside of school then they could get arrested.

Your son and his wife didn’t need to be there for the meeting, as they would have been about the boy.

They can still request a meeting of their own though and in this meeting I’d be asking how they can assure that they can keep your son safe when this boy comes back.

The absolute first thing that needs to be addressed is how a knife was so easily accessible in a school with such young kids.

No it’s not. Your post is mean.

I think at age 10 the police can be involved and the child can be charged, if you wish you to pursue this.

The school will be reluctant to escalate this as they have failed to safeguard.

Absolutely report to the police. Write an email to state that your grandson will not be returning until the child is permanently excluded.

I would talk to the police directly OP if I were your son. They can investigate.

They aren’t allowed to give the other child’s name. They would be breaking the law. You don’t need the name to report it.

11 is the age of criminal responsibility.

Well I hope there is the provision to Home school then and/or pay fines for non attendance because PX ing a Pupil can take months or even more.
And THATS only if all boxes are ticked on a very lengthy and in depth process

It’s aged 10 in England.

I would then deregister my child until the process was completed as there is no way they would be stepping foot into the same building while the child was there.

When did this happen, OP?

If it was Friday, remember no staff are in school or have access to your son's contact numbers over the weekend.

Staff may not be picking up emails, either.

The best bet is to report the incident, keep DGS off school and call them first thing tomorrow morning to demand a face to face meeting.

You cannot be forced to send DGS in if you have serious concerns for his welfare.

Fair enough, you would have to hope that there was a place later when you felt your child could return to the school.
I am not saying its right, I am just explaining how hard it is to PX a child. I sit on PX panels and you would be horrified at some of the behaviour we CAN'T PX for.

It's 10 in England, Wales and NI.

Think it's older in Scotland.

Spot on.

Imagine being a total plonker over an op's (that was incredibly easy to understand) posting style when it's about a kid threatening their GC with a knife 🙄 cringing for those who have done this, you just look very silly.

Op if your DS is waiting for the school/trusting them to call the police I wouldn't. He should definitely call them and go into school tomorrow to discuss how they will keep his DS safe

@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/

#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.

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.