A REVISED inclusion policy, renewed lockdown procedures and improved contact with ex-pupils are among measures being suggested by education unions to improve school safety following an incident that allegedly saw a knife-wielding 14-year-old restrained and arrested last Monday.
The teenager—who cannot be named—was due to appear in Youth Court this morning charged with one count of grave and criminal assault and one count of possession of an offensive weapon.
In a letter to parents the day after the incident, head teacher Stuart Hughes said the school was “doing everything to prevent such an incident happening again.”
A small presence of police was installed at Haute Vallée school “for reassurance,” and an audit of site security by the Education Department’s Health and Safety team undertaken.
Recommendations arising from the audit will “be addressed over the coming days and weeks,” Mr Hughes added.
The incident—said to have taken place in the school’s canteen—was described by the head teacher as “isolated”, but can be viewed against a backdrop of rising violence in Jersey schools.
A Freedom of Information request in January revealed thirty-six confirmed exclusions across secondary schools in Jersey for the use or threat of use of an offensive weapon or prohibited item, with twelve of these coming at Haute Vallée.
The data also showed 640 exclusions over the same time period for physical assaults against a pupil by a fellow pupil, while 117 exclusions followed physical assaults against a teacher.
Speaking on behalf of the National Education Union, Adrian Moss said the statistics “show there has been an increase in violence in pupil-on-pupil and pupil-on-staff assaults.”
He said that his aim is to find out what the Children, Young Person, Education and Skills Department” is “planning to do” in order to reduce incidents of student aggression.
“In terms of physical threat, verbal threat, there’s been a significant increase—what is leading the change to that, and what is CYPES going to do about it?” Mr Moss asked.
In a statement provided on behalf of teaching assistants and caretakers by Unite the Union, James Turner said: “This event shows that even in Jersey, where such events are rare, bladed articles are being carried by children.
“This must be seen as a warning to the government that robust measures must be put into place to safeguard teaching assistants, caretaker teachers, pupils, and anyone working within the school environments in Jersey.”
Marina Mauger, for the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, also noted that the incident “raises awareness that what can happen in England can certainly happen here”.
“What Haute Vallée will do now is look at their lockdown procedures and what to do in case of such an event,” she said, adding that Jersey schools also “need to look at the problem of our children who are not attending school and what we’re providing for them”.
“I think that’s an issue,” she continued. “We don’t have a pupil referral unit like they have in the UK, and because of our inclusion policy, we have children in our mainstream schools who would not be in mainstream schools in the UK.”
On the whole, however, Ms Mauger was positive about safety across Jersey’s schools and full of praise for Haute Vallée’s response to the incident last Monday.
“The message I’ve had from teachers at Haute Vallée school is that the response by the leadership team was exceptional, and by the teachers involved.
“Of course, some of them, naturally, are very, very upset—as you can imagine—because it’s a shock: we think we’re so safe in Jersey, and I think this just raised awareness amongst teachers that these things can and do happen.”
Data pointing to an uptick in violence, she said, should be approached with caution.
“School reporting systems have got better,” Ms Mauger observed. “So where things may have been reported verbally, all of these schools have sophisticated systems where these things are recorded.
“To go to school in London, you have to go through a metal sort of false doorway, do we need or want that in Jersey?”
She pointed out that a “big advantage” of the school system in Jersey is that teachers “tend to know” their pupils.
“We’ve got to be level-headed about this – teachers haven’t not gone into school because they’re frightened.
“The staff I’ve spoken to said to me they didn’t think the school could have handled it any better given that no one in Jersey is trained to deal with knife incidents.”
She concluded that “lessons will be learned” but that “fortunately, for us, it’s an incredibly isolated incident.
“People come to Jersey because it’s probably one of the safest places in the world to bring up your children, and we can’t lose sight of that,” she added.
Deputy Rob Ward previously stated that all Jersey schools have “robust site-security procedures, including controlled access, visitor checks, CCTV, and safeguarding policies that reflect best practice”.
“No system can remove all risk entirely but this incident shows that staff acted quickly, confidently, and in line with established procedures,” he added.
“The school safeguarding ethos effectively managed the situation, and I am proud of the way the school managed this situation and kept everyone safe.”
