2 day suspension for vile attack

[Poptart22]

My 13 year old niece was physically attacked at school by her ex best friend. The bully had threatened that she was planning to do this a week earlier, which we informed school of and pleaded with them to keep her safe, however the attack happened on school grounds a week later.

Some other pupils filmed the attack in which my niece can clearly be heard saying several times she did not want to fight, and did not retaliate once. The attack was vicious, she was repeatedly kicked and punched before eventually the teachers arrived.

My niece had to attend A&E. Police were informed who advised she can press charges, but we haven’t yet. However they went and warned the bully to leave her alone.

School suspended the bully for a measly 2 days. She has returned and continued harassing my niece, commenting on her weight and laughing about the attack.

To make matters worse my niece is a looked-after child in the care of her grandparents, with an already troubled and traumatic past.

I wrote a very angry email and attached the vile video of the fight to the headmaster asking why the attack was able to happen on school grounds when we warned them, why the punishment was so weak (in my opinion), and requested that the bully be excluded.

Today I received a phone call from the safeguarding officer advising ‘teachers can’t have eyes in the back of their head’ and that the punishment is pretty standard, as ‘fights happen all the time’. Also tried to put some blame on my niece for failing to report all ongoing incidents of harassment.

In my opinion, if the bully had been properly punished, the harassment would not be continuing.

Im planning on requesting a meeting with the head, since he hasn’t bothered responding to my email.

Where do I stand on this?

My niece is terrified to go to school and completely humiliated.

(I am dealing with this on behalf of my mother who is in her 70’s and struggling to cope).

@noblegiraffe
I get your point, but if I was beaten up, I wouldn't then have to face my attacker every day at school?

I get kids fight, but this poor girl was beaten up, it was recorded, probably doing the rounds on social media and she'll be scared and embarrassed. Yes, the police should be involved but surely the school have a duty of care to the girl who was attacked as well?

I would point out to the safeguarding team that this is not a fight as your daughter did not retaliate in any way. It is an attack.

I would press charges with the police, particularly as it is ongoing.

What a horrible thing for your niece to have experienced!
I work in a secondary school in a pastoral role.
In situations like this where we have been advised of threats towards a young person, we would always offer the young person a safe space during interval times e.g. the school library where there are usually adults around all the time. The young person making the threats would be spoken to and warned to stay away from anyone they are in conflict with and their parents advised of the conversation. I would also alert all teaching staff to tensions in the peer group and ask for any concerns to be reported to me. I would also always advise the young person being threatened to report any incidents of concern so that they could be dealt with promptly and I would do regular check ins with the young person for a few weeks to make sure things were settled. I've had situations where even with all of these interventions, it has not prevented situations from escalating.
What has happened to your niece is awful and I would urge you to pursue it with the police. As a PP has said, it is exceptionally difficult to exclude pupils permanently and schools are not equipped to deal with criminal behaviour.

Schools do absolutely have a duty of care towards all pupils but what would you have liked to see the school do to keep your niece safe that they haven't done?
Behaviour in schools is an increasing challenge as I'm sure you're aware. At the end of the day, our young people are humans and even with the best of interventions from the school there is every possibility that this incident would have occurred somewhere/anywhere because they were determined for it to happen. I appreciate that it did happen in school and this has to be balanced with what would be reasonable for the school to have done.

This is gold.

Thanks ever so much.

I will be using this in my further dealings with the head.

FWIW I’m all for pressing charges, but my poor mother was afraid to in case of retaliation from the girls parents (she’s in her 70’s and the girls mother is quite unsavoury). I will try and persuade her to change her mind.

@noblegiraffe and I bet you wonder why the dreadful parents don't have the respect for teachers as you would like.

I expect schools and their leadership teams to set standards. It is regrettable they do not know what acceptable standards are. The teaching profession could and shoukd have rallied against this ethos if no consequences. It would have made their lives more bearable.

This sort of nonsense went on at the holy grail school our dd attended for two years. It was why we moved her to the independent sector. It was why anyone who could afford to did.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

One person usually gets beaten up in a fight, especially if they can't or won't fight back.

What should the school do, realistically? It's just a fight, nobody got seriously hurt. They can't exclude every kid that fights. If OP's niece had fought back and won, should she be excluded too?

OP - I would recommend supporting prosecution if you have the video evidence. But understand that it could cause further problems for your niece down the line.

I'd also recommend getting her in a gym to learn how to look after herself - not some Micky Mouse 'self defence' course, a proper MMA gym (or BJJ which doesn't involve striking) - she'll get fit, it'll boost her confidence through and she'll make a bunch of mates.

My Dad had me in a gym from seven years old. Not the most typically girly thing (especially back then!) but I have never been physically bullied as a child or adult and I put all the confidence in my personality down to it too.

I hope things get better for your niece x

I agree with that, and also that the child probably doesn’t meet the threshold for a permanent exclusion. However, a poster upthread shared that in their experience, there was a whole process of reintegrating that child back in to school following the suspension as well as the involvement of parents. There should be a process and repercussions beyond just a two day holiday as that child would probably view it.

And this. It wasn’t a simple ‘fight’. The fact that there is a video circulating of the attack, I would be asking for whoever made it and shared it to also be punished for bullying as that’s what that is.

OP the police are the next step here.

Whilst individuals don't press charges in the U.K. - it is the CPS that makes that decision- I hope you find a resolution that keeps your DN safe.

Schools have to follow procedures and it's very difficult for them to permanently exclude a child. They have to jump through hoops with the local education authority, as well as a mountain of red tape. Look on the school's website for their Behavioural Policy, it will give a detailed procedure on the processes they have to follow. You can go to the Governors, and the Local Education Authority too. Your niece needs to keep an account of every incident that happens at school. Yes, go to the police, make a report and ask them to charge the other girl. She's had a warning by the police which she's ignored. Perhaps being formally charged with assault, might make her realise it's not a big joke.

You seem to think that it is in the headteacher's power to exclude whoever they like.

It isn't.

The head could want to permanently exclude this pupil for one fight and it not be upheld by the governors. Or it can go to an independent review panel.

If the child has SEN then it is even harder to exclude them.

And there are plenty of parents out there campaigning because they don't want schools to have the ability to permanently exclude in any circumstances.

That's an entirely reasonable expectation and would certainly happen in my school.

Some schools have managed to permanently exclude violent pupils, only to have parents appeal the exclusion, and high court judges rule that the child should be let back into the school. How do you think schools have any power in that climate?

It is not a fight if one party is not participating at all. That is just an attack. Even if someone is trying to avoid it, and then defends themselves, that is not a fight.

Our last incident like this didn't quite get to the high court - but the PEX WAS overturned on appeal.

That's in spite of cctv evidence, evidence of history of similarly violent assault, the fact that the victim was hospitalised.

Doesn't sound like a fight - more that op's poor niece was attacked

Police
Meeting with ht, dsl and safeguarding link governor
Ask what risk assessments have been put in place
Make sure everything is done via email, not phone call
Does your n or mother have proof they reported the harrassment?
Contact the LA safeguarding officer, too or if an academy the ceo of the trust

Not accurate.
P ex can happen for a serious one off breach of school behavior policy

Ask for a copy of the school Behaviour policy

This js how to complain to a school:

1. Press charges and let the police deal with it as a criminal matter.
2. Find the complaints policy, behaviour policy, bullying policy and safeguarding policy, all of which should be on the school website.
3. Write a formal complaint under which ever stage is the first. You can meet with the head, however some schools unless you’ve raised it as a formal complaint and made that clear, will make you start again. Use and quote the policies especially where they haven’t been followed. What do you want as a resolution? You won’t get the other pupil permanently excluded, but moved to the other half of the year, out of each other’s classes, better support for your niece, changes in policies are all possible. Investigating the videoing and sharing and dealing with those pupils as well as well as some education around this would be a possible outcome you might want.
4. If you are not happy with the response, then escalate as per the policy. It is usually Head, Chair of governors, governor panel 1, governor panel 2, then usually DfE, but it can vary. Don’t try and escalate before each stage has been dealt with.
5. Your aim is to be a polite persistent pest, follow up meetings or phone calls with an email saying on X date, we discussed A and B, and we agreed that you would do E, F and G by Y date.

I would also have a contact your niece’s social worker and make sure they are aware of the situation.

It 'can'. Presumably for an incident like a stabbing or some other serious crime? But not for a fight/attack where there are no serious physical injuries.

It was an attack. It is not a fight if someone cannot or won't fight back. It is just abrutal assault.

My dd was attacked at school, and then her older sister by the same person trying to get at my dd for the second time.
We contacted the police, the girl was suspended for nearly two weeks and after that she left her well alone. My dds weren't the only she attacked over the years.
The police spoke to her at home I believe but it was enough to scare her and she was very quiet for the last six months of secondary school

I know what the situation is vis a vis how hard it is to exclude nowadays. It has arisen because educators have supported the anything goes mentality rather than digging deep for some common sense.

Young people like the aggressor here, are destroying opportunity and learning for the majority and the teaching profession coasts along allowing it to happen.

When I was at school, grammar in the 1970s, a girl was caught stealing. They were expelled. Guess what? Theft wasn't a problem at the school and I never remember fighting. It did not happen because there would have been permanent consequences.

The current status quo is the child of the Liberal left stronghold in our state schools.