Daily roundup 25 September: School stabbing, child psychiatrists, and knives

A school welfare officer has been seriously injured in a stabbing at a school near Scunthorpe. The BBC reports that the 61-year-old woman was attacked at about 9am at Winterton Community Academy. Humberside Police said a 16-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is being questioned by officers. The woman is being treated in hospital for "serious but not life-threatening injuries".


The number of NHS psychiatrists helping troubled young people in England is falling despite growing demand for support, official figures have shown. The Guardian reports that the total number of psychiatrists working in child and adolescent mental health services fell from 1,015 full-time equivalent posts in May 2013 to 948 in May 2017. The Royal College of Psychiatrists described the statistics as "deeply concerning".


Children as young as 13 are being sold knives by shopkeepers, an investigation by Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police has found. The Telegraph reports that spot checks in London found 50 shops to be selling kitchen knives, razor blades and cleavers to underage children. Trading Standards said it is working to support more responsible retailing of knives, with initiatives including a "challenge 25" policy.


The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has launched a major fundraising drive to extend the reach of his youth trust - saying it has never been so important to support young people. The Yorkshire Post reports that the archbishop's Youth Trust supports young people to "change the world for the better" and has supported more than 50,000 pupils in 450 schools since 2008. It has launched a major fundraising drive to raise £375,000 to extend its leadership courses for young people living in the top 20 per cent of the most deprived areas across the North of England.


Treatment for children with complex needs is among a list of services earmarked for cost-cutting plans considered by the NHS to plug a funding gap. The Guardian reports that the plans, by South Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group and released following a freedom of information request, show that waiting targets for non-urgent operations are also due to be relaxed as the health service seeks to balance its books in the current financial year.


Schools should ban mobiles with internet if they want to keep children off their smartphones, a head teacher has said. The Telegraph reports that Alice Phillips, head teacher of St Catherine's School in Bramley, has hit out at "wretched" parents who buy their children unlimited data packages because they want to be their "best friend". She has asked that parents buy their daughters WiFi-only devices so that the school can control their internet use.