A 16-year-old schoolgirl has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a welfare officer was stabbed at a secondary school.
The victim, a 61-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening wounds in the attack at Winterton Community Academy in North Lincolnshire at just before 9am on Monday, Humberside Police said.
In a statement, the force said the schoolgirl, a student at the academy, was being questioned by officers and that pupils did not witness the incident.
Winterton Community Academy (Nigel Roddis/PA)
The attack happened in a school office while children were in classrooms, local paper the Scunthorpe Telegraph reported, quoting Chief Superintendent Christine Wilson at the scene.
Winterton headteacher Gareth Morris said: “We are keen to reassure parents and the community that this is an isolated incident and that the school remains open. We will support our staff directly affected and will be keeping parents updated throughout the day.”
The school is in the small town of Winterton, north-east of Scunthorpe, several miles from the Humber Bridge.
Police outside Winterton Community Academy in North Lincolnshire (Nigel Roddis/PA)
Mr Morris is quoted on the website as saying: “Our pupils live in Winterton and a number of surrounding villages.
“Many of them travel some distance to school because parents have chosen our school instead of one more local to their home. The school is, therefore, popular. We are also a caring community, recognising that each child is an individual whose needs must be attended to and whose talents must be developed.”
The incident will raise questions about teacher safety in schools, following similar cases in recent years, like that of Ann Maguire.
Police said the girl, a student at the academy, was being questioned by officers (Nigel Roddis/PA)
The Spanish teacher was fatally stabbed in the back by 15-year-old Will Cornick as she taught a class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in 2014.
And in Bradford, Vincent Uzomah was stabbed in the stomach by a 14-year-old boy in a racially motivated attack in front of pupils at Dixons Kings Academy in 2015.
Winterton Community Academy’s website hosts a message from the student council which reads: “No one deserves to feel unhappy at school and at Winterton Community Academy there is always somebody available you can talk to, such as our Peer Mentors, Peer Mediators and Pupil Support Staff.”
It adds that the academy has “made an incredible leap forward over the past couple of years”, citing an Ofsted report which progressed from a rating of “special measures” to “good with outstanding features”.
Chief Superintendent Christine Wilson (Nigel Roddis/PA )
Speaking outside the school, Ms Wilson confirmed the head had said the weapon involved was a small kitchen knife, but she had not seen it herself. She said the school was open but parents had been given the option of taking their children home, which many had done.
The officer said: “It happened in an office in the school, so all of the rest of the children were completely safe. They were all in their separate classrooms. And it is, obviously, a very rare and isolated incident.
“I can’t think of another incident that’s happened like this in my time as a police officer. We want to reassure parents that their children were safe at all times.”
Ms Wilson said it was “highly likely” the knife had been brought into the school but she could not be sure. She said she did not know the exact injuries the woman has sustained.