EXCLUSIVE | WATCH: Highland teachers to get new advice on knives in class
Schools to get new guidance within weeks after incident in Inverness.
Last updated 2nd Jun 2017
New advice will be given to Highland schools within weeks, to help teachers deal with kids who are bringing knives into the classroom.
An Inverness school reported an incident to the police on Tuesday, after a pupil carried a blade onto the site - although no one was hurt in the incident.
Speaking exclusively to MFR News, the council's director of care and learning, Bill Alexander, says staff "should be alert."
He told us: "Most authorities would not write to parents about incidents. If there is a significant incident we will, but we also know that just writing that letter can heighten concern.
"We take a lot of care in terms of what we put into those letters. There are also some things that we can't say in relation to the situations of individuals - individual children, other children who might be involved, and families.
"Certainly engagement with parents will be a key aspect of our refresh strategy."
"Most authorities would not write to parents about incidents. If there is a significant incident we will" HIGHLAND COUNCIL
Along with Tuesday's incident which hit the headlines on Wednesday this week, the issue of knives in schools continued to remain in the news as it was reported that a 14-year-old boy was charged after taking a knife into an Aberdeenshire secondary school on Monday.
Yesterday the region's new police chief, in another exclusive interview, said that he would draw on lessons learned from the death of Aberdeen schoolboy Bailey Gwynne, who was killed by a fellow pupil after the stabbing tragedy two-years-ago.
Our reporter Bryan Rutherford told Chief Superintendent George MacDonald: "Parents will rightly be wanting to know from the new boss of policing in the Highlands what his view is on this particular issue. How you feel about how much of a problem it actually is, and what you will be doing to try and reduce that risk."
He replied: "It's a concern for me. I've come from the North East of Scotland. The issues with knives in schools are well publicised there. I take a lot of knowledge from that area, and we've already had some discussions this week about the approach that's being used elsewhere in the country, and replicating that here."
"There really aren't significant concerns in Highland, but we should not be complacent" BILL ALEXANDER
Bill Alexander added: "Following the horrific incident in Aberdeen city a couple of years back the report into that incident, and general concern about weapons in schools, we undertook a review of the situation across our schools.
"In terms of the nature and the frequency of incidents there really aren't significant concerns in Highland, but we take the view that we should not be complacent.
"In a few weeks time we'll be launching a refresh strategy, not because we have significant concerns, but because we don't believe that we should be complacent, and we should be alert to any anxieties, and any issues about young people in school with weapons.
"When we do republish our strategy, it will give advice to schools about prevention - how you might respond to situations, and how you might work with the police, with social work colleagues, and others in response to such situations.
"The primary issue is about education, and that's an ongoing matter - talking to young people about crime, about violence, about weapons, about how they should deal with it, how they should support others."