Guest Author: Dr. Amy Grosso
This is the first of a two-blog series delving into a recent report from the London Peer Action Collective (PAC). This blog will address child-on-child abuse and violence in schools, while the second will highlight best practices and effective information recording during the exclusion process. The PAC is a youth-led initiative through The McPin Foundation designed to empower young people with lived experience of violence to identify what changes are needed to make their communities safer and transform these insights into meaningful action.
How Common is Physical Abuse in Schools?
Child-on-child abuse in schools takes many forms, with physical bullying, such as hitting, kicking, or pushing, being a common example. This type of abuse creates a distressing atmosphere for everyone within the school and may escalate to more serious incidents of violence. The Youth Endowment Fund’s ‘Education, Children and Violence’ report defines violence as “the use or threat of intentional physical force. It can include murder, physical assault, sexual assault, harm (or the threat of harm) with a weapon, and robbery.“
The findings in the report revealed that 20% of children missed school due to feeling unsafe, and 18% struggled to focus because of violence or its threat. Alarmingly, in Autumn 2023, 67% of teachers in English primary and secondary schools reported witnessing physical assaults between students in the previous term. Such experiences, whether direct or indirect, heavily impact students’ wellbeing and the overall school environment.
The Role of Safeguarding in Addressing Child-on-Child Violence
Guidance from the Youth Endowment Fund emphasises the crucial role schools play in addressing youth violence. Schools are widely regarded as safe spaces, with 85% of children feeling safer in school environments than in other public areas, and 61% believing their teachers actively protect them. To uphold this trust, schools must encourage attendance and provide opportunities for students to build social and emotional skills.
Safeguarding is another key strategy for reducing student violence. By identifying early signs of struggle, schools can intervene before issues escalate. Many students who turn to violence are already facing underlying challenges, which can often be recognised and addressed early.
How Technology can Support Interventions to Reduce School Exclusions
Implementing digital safeguarding solutions can also improve preventative measures. By tracking patterns of behaviour over time, schools can identify at-risk students and intervene earlier to address potential issues before they escalate.
CPOMS StudentSafe provides schools with powerful tools to effectively manage student behaviour and address concerns. Its categorisation feature links specific incidents or behaviours to designated areas of concern, such as bullying or mental health. This offers a comprehensive chronology of a student’s challenges and a holistic picture of their wellbeing, allowing safeguarding professionals to identify early warning signs and proactively offer appropriate support or interventions to prevent school exclusion.
Furthermore, tools like CPOMS Engage can facilitate secure information sharing between the local authority and education settings, ensuring staff are well-prepared to respond promptly to any alerts provided by the police or other agencies. Ultimately, leveraging technology not only facilitates stronger decision-making in critical moments but also contributes to creating a safer and more secure school environment overall.
The Importance of Recording Violent Incidents in Schools
Technology plays a critical role in managing and documenting violent incidents in schools. During such situations, headteachers are often required to make swift, well-informed decisions while ensuring that all formal procedures are adhered to. Digital systems can significantly aid this process by having evidence gathered all in one place to facilitate faster, data-based decision making and to document the rationale for outcomes, such as exclusions.
The Premium Cases and Forms module as part of StudentSafe empowers authorised staff to connect individual cases directly to broader initiatives, such as pupil behaviour plans, and provides a secure and efficient method of school exclusion evidence gathering to support the rationale for interventions. By creating these links, schools can better evidence their actions, ensure alignment with strategic goals and support coordinated efforts to address complex student needs. This streamlined and integrated approach helps foster a supportive and informed environment for both students and staff.
To discover how CPOMS software can support your school’s efforts to address the challenges of child-on-child abuse and youth violence, book a free demo today.
