Knife arch unveiled at South Yorkshire school in memory of murdered teenager Harvey Willgoose
It's something Willgoose's family have campaigned for since he died
Last updated 8th Oct 2025
A knife arch in memory of murdered Sheffield teenager Harvey Willgoose is now up in a South Yorkshire school.
The 15 year old died after he was stabbed at All Saints High School in Sheffield in February.
His parents have been campaigning for this safety measure to be brought into schools since Harvey died, and speaking today to our Chief Reporter Chris Davis Smith, Caroline and Mark shared that it means a lot:
"I can't tell you how emotional today has been. My mum's been here, and Harvey's friend, and I could see him crying, because it's an emotional day, because our Harvey's done this.
"Well done to Penistone School for stepping up to it, and I just hope that these academies will follow by example, because it's not saying you've got a knife problem, you know, you're actually preventing that. As a family, we can't thank them enough because we do think other schools will follow suit now."
When asked what it means to see progress in their campaigning and the difference it'll make Caroline said:
"We're really emotional and speaking to the kids here, they said they feel like it's reassuring them that they're safe in school. One place that children should be safe is in school, and I feel like we've achieved a lot today. Like I know they're in a safer school now than they were yesterday."
Speaking with students ourselves they said that:
"It's reassuring, though we've not got an issue it means a lot to know we have that extra safety. I think it's nice aswell that parents can send their kids to school knowing it's somewhere safe."
"I think it's a lovely idea because it prevents and stops tragic incidents like what happened in Sheffield."
"I mean it's scary to have a knife arch, but hopefully that'll deter people form doing something and it could save someone."
Well, Paul and Katie Crook the Principle and Vice-Principle of Penistone Grammar School shared that they're proud to be one of the first schools to bring this measure in:
"We are a really proactive, forward-thinking school. We are overwhelmed with Caroline Willgoose's generosity and her shared vision for us. As part of our pledge to keeping children safe here at Penistone and within our community, we want to really utilise this tool to educate our students, our families and the wider community in terms of the dangers around knife crime.
"Whilst we're confident we absolutely do not have a knife problem here at Penistone, we absolutely understand and know that prevention is key. We're immensely proud. Every dream needs a first step and this is the first step to Caroline's vision and Mark's vision, obviously after the death of their son.
"We are always wanting to be one step ahead to make sure that Penistone students continue to be safe and parents send their 11-year-olds up to their 18-year-olds to Penistone, knowing that they will 100% come home at the end of the day."
A 15 year old is awaiting sentencing over Harvey's murder. Read more about the trial here.