A six-year-old boy has reportedly been expelled from a primary school in Essex after he brought a knife into the playground.
The child had the knife in his book bag and showed it to a fellow pupil at Westborough Primary School during the incident in September.
He is no longer a pupil at the school, according to the Southend Echo.
A spokesperson added that the incident was handled immediately and that the small knife was not used to threaten anyone.
"This was an isolated incident where a six-year-old brought a small paring knife into school in his book bag," Tonya Brook, the school's headteacher, said.
"He showed it to another child. It did not come out of the bag. A member of Senior Management was on the playground to deal with the issue immediately.
"The child was subsequently removed from the school.
"All relevant parties were informed."
An anoymous parent told the Southend Echo: "I was horrified. My initial reaction was one of anger and fear for my child because you do worry about your children going there and you don't expect a six-year-old to bring a knife to school.
"I understand there is scaremongering but with an incident as serious as this, I do think all parents should have been made aware so that we could decide what measures to put in place for our children."
