Schools fear talks on knife crime will cause ‘reputational damage’
SCHOOLS are failing to educate pupils about knife crime and are removing metal detectors at the school gate as they are afraid of “reputational damage”, a report by Ofsted has found.
Head teachers also fear their institutions will be seen as a “problem school” if they are seen teaching children about the risks of grooming and exploitation by gangs, according the schools watchdog.
In a report about safeguarding children from knife crime, Ofsted described how one college had “abandoned the use of knife arches” as it deemed them “detrimental to students and to the reputation of the college”.
Inspectors conducted in-depth interviews with heads at 29 schools in London and made a series of recommendations that could be applied nationally.
Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools, said many schools were trying to educate children about the dangers of knife crime and the risks of grooming and exploitation by gangs.
“However, some are concerned that if they do this they will be seen as a ‘problem school’, and subsequently avoided by parents,” she said. This was “particularly a concern for colleges, which felt it would make them look less safe than the competitors in their area”, the report said.
However, Ofsted said searches, if sensitive and without bias, could be a successful deterrent.
The report also found that gangs were persuading pupils to take knives into school with the sole purpose of triggering an expulsion; once excluded, a pupil was more likely to drift into gang life, it said, although Ms Spielman warned that while there was a correlation there was no evidence for causation.
The report comes as the National Police Chiefs’ Council said police should have extra stop-and-search powers. The Government has been asked to amend rules to include previous knife crime convictions as part of the “reasonable grounds” an officer could use to stop and search a suspect.
At present, the so-called Section One rules prevent officers stopping and searching unless they have genuine and reasonable suspicion they are likely to find a knife or weapon on a suspect.
It comes as a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed in Ipswich on Monday night had to call his own ambulance as his attackers ran off.
Police are questioning five men in relation to the incident. The youth was taken to hospital and Suffolk Police said yesterday his injuries were “fortunately” not life-threatening.
Two boys, aged 16 and 17, two 18-yearolds and a 20-year-old were arrested the same evening in connection with the knifing.
On the south coast a mother saw an 11-year-old boy brandishing an eightinch kitchen knife in broad daylight in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on Saturday.
Appealing for witnesses, Chief Inspector Anita Turner, said: “We will not accept knives being carried on the streets of Eastbourne. This incident is being rigorously investigated.”