Parents should be responsible for protecting children vulnerable to knife crime once the school closes for the day, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) chief has said.
Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of the education watchdog, added that schools should not be expected to be “quasi-parents” to the most disadvantaged young people in society.
Speaking to hundreds of headteachers in Birmingham, Ms Spielman argued that there have been some “failures of parenting” – including the number of children arriving at school without potty training.
She added that “schools can’t pick up all the pieces” and she said she would press the government for more funding for preventative children’s services.
Speaking after her speech at the Association of School and College Leaders conference, Ms Spielman said children are “most at risk” to knife crime between 4pm and 6pm, when children have left school.
She said: “Children are not a school’s responsibility at that point. It is very much for parents to work out what their children are doing and where, and to what extent they ought to be at home or supervised.”
Her comments came on the same week that Ofsted called for headteachers to be given more information and guidance on how to respond to knife crime.
Some schools have introduced after-school clubs, or have extended their opening hours, to keep children safe off the streets, while some teachers accompany pupils home to ensure they come to no harm.
When questioned whether schools should be opening their doors for longer, Ms Spielman added: “It is something that can work, but you clearly cannot mandate schools to do it without financial provision.
“At the moment, children are their parents’ responsibility once the school day is over.”
Speaking to headteachers at the same conference on Saturday, comedian Lenny Henry said arts education can provide “safe spaces” – like clubs or after school groups – that keep children out of trouble.
He said: “I want to see paintbrushes in their hands, not knives. I want to replace ‘stop and search’ with ‘shut up and dance’.”
