By Gavin Mackintosh-
Ofsted boss, Amanda Spielman has indicated that excluding all school pupils who carry knives could be damaging to their future because it fails to take into account the individual problems of particular kids.
In an unusual angle on knife crime, the bright Ofsted chief said British school heads need more guidance on how to deal with rebel children who carry knives to school. Ms Spielman was reacting to the national discussion on the epidemic of knife crime that has become a national crisis, and has sparked plans from the Home Secretary and the police to crackdown on knife crime in Britain.
Spielman said Knife crime and school exclusions are likely to be two symptoms of the same underlying problem. her comments follows comments from police chiefs linked rising knife crime to the exclusion and off-rolling of pupils. Ms Spieldman said Headteachers clearly need more in the way of information and guidance.”
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The chief inspector of schools said there was a shortage of registered provision for excluded children. She added that schools and local authorities need to work together to improve education and other preventative work, to reduce the need for exclusions.
“Exclusions are a necessary and important sanction, but it is not acceptable, or legal, to exclude without due regard for the impact on and risks to the child being excluded,” said Ms Spielman. Ms Spielman said: “There is evidence that points to a correlation between the two, but of course this does not prove causation.
“It seems just as likely that exclusions and knife crime are two symptoms of the same underlying problems, exacerbated by cuts to local authority children’s services.”
The report says schools take an inconsistent approach to dealing with pupils who bring blades into schools. Ms Spielman criticised the implementations of exclusions, almost indicating a causal relationship between exclusions and knife crime.
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She said: “What we found through our research is that exclusion decisions in cases of children bringing a bladed object into school do not always sufficiently take into account the best interests of the child, which have to be balanced against the wider needs of the school community.
“Similarly, we found that schools’ decisions about whether or not to involve the police in an incident can be based on a variety of factors, not always relevant.
“It seems sensible to reflect on whether the child has any known connection to adults with a criminal history, but it is much less relevant to consider, as some schools told us they did, the child’s academic record.
“Exclusions are a necessary and important sanction, but it is not acceptable, or legal, to exclude without due regard for the impact on and risks to the child being excluded,” said Ms Spielman.
Spielman did not say in what way schools should deal with children caught with knives, since the dangers pupils who carry knives pose on other children is an important safety consideration. She was clearly suggesting that school heads take into account the individual circumstances and situations facing pupils who carry knives, and dealing with these in a measured way
Amanda Spielman, said there was a “harmful narrative” developing that exclusions must cause children to join gangs or carry knives. However, she added the issue was “too complex” to be reduced to binary arguments, and that schools cannot tackle the issue alone.
Ms Spielman said: “Schools can and should play their part, and many are.
Knife crime and school exclusions are likely to be two symptoms of the same underlying problems, according to Ofsted.
The chief of the inspections body, Amanda Spielman, said there was a “harmful narrative” developing that exclusions must cause children to join gangs or carry knives.
But she added the issue was “too complex” to be reduced to binary arguments, and that schools cannot tackle the issue alone.
Ms Spielman said: “Schools can and should play their part, and many are.
“But this has to be as part of a broader coalition, with the support of local partners and the police.” Responding to an Ofsted report on safeguarding children in London from knife crime, the chief inspector warned against decisions to exclude pupils for bringing knives into London schools. She said they do not always take the best interests of that child into account.
ABSENCE OF KNIFE SEARCHES
She also said that some schools are not conducting knife searches, or teaching about knife crime, because they worry about how it will make them appear.
Ms Spielmam said: “Many school and college leaders we spoke to 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.”
The report published on Tuesday states dialogue is missing between local safeguarding partners and schools about the purpose of searching, the impact on staff and pupils and evidence of the impact on knife-carrying.
It says: “While some schools told us that they had been offered wands, for example, they did not use them because the wands can only detect metal – as opposed to drugs or other banned items or substances that pupils might bring to school.
“Additionally, some schools were wary of beginning to search children in case it sent the wrong message to parents – that suddenly their children were less safe – or because the school 100 yards away did not.
“This was particularly a concern for colleges, which felt that it would make them look less safe than competing schools in their area.”
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