CYP Now - Schools and knife crime: Inspections Clinic

Rising levels of youth violence have shone a light on what schools are doing to keep children safe and educate them about the dangers. Jo Stephenson reports on the findings of a London research project.

Earlier this year, Ofsted published findings from a research project in London looking at knife crime in schools and other education settings. A key message was that children are, by and large, safe in schools, stresses Ofsted's regional director for London Mike Sheridan. "Children aren't being attacked in the corridors and we don't have huge numbers of violent incidents - they are the exception rather than the rule," he says.

However, what the research did show was a complex picture, including when it comes to the thorny question of whether school exclusions lead to knife crime. While there is a correlation, it is way too simplistic to suggest that excluding a child from school increases their likelihood of getting drawn into knife crime and gangs, says Sheridan.

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