Keep schools open late to cut crime, says children’s tsar

SCHOOLS should stay open during evenings and weekends to tackle knife crime, the Children’s Commissioner has said.

Anne Longfield said areas that experience high levels of violence should be placed in “emergency measures”.

Speaking before the education select committee, she said that when it came to tackling knife crime, there was a lot of discussion, but a lack of “urgency” when it came to actually taking action.

“I think we should almost be on emergency measures in the areas of high violence,” Ms Longfield told MPS.

“I would like to see schools staying open in the evenings and opening at weekends. I would like there to be youth workers who are proactively in schools talking to the kids at risk.”

She added that efforts should be stepped up to protect vulnerable children, with family workers “knocking on their doors and talking to their siblings”. Ms Longfield’s comments follow calls from trauma doctors for head teachers to stagger the end of the school day to cut the risk of violence.

Pupils making their way to and from school can become targets for gangs and drug dealers so need extra protection, the head of one of London’s biggest academy chains has said.

Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, a multi-academy trust that runs 46 schools in and around London, described the end of the school day as a “flashpoint” for violence.

“In the past it was always the time children were most likely to be mugged or get into disputes. Now obviously there is a new twist, as it is also a peak time for stabbings,” he said.

Most school leaders at Harris academies patrol outside their schools at the beginning and end of the day to deter trouble makers.

There has been a sharp rise in policerecorded knife crimes since 2013.