The following resources are available:
Primary Schools:
PSHE units of work from the You, ME & PSHE scheme of work. For more information about the scheme, please email schoolwellbeing@leeds.gov.uk
Keeping Safe Out and About (Year 6)
Secondary Schools:
Cut Short - fighting against knives in the north
Cut Short is an intervention targeted at young people (aged 12-18) to engage them on the issues of knife crime, youth violence and gang exploitation. The team behind the project have worked with experienced partner organisations to co-develop the Cut Short film and an accompanying teaching/facilitation package.
Register your interest in receiving the Cut Short teaching package (google.com)
PSHE Association:
Knife Crime - The Ripple Effect (age 14 - 16)
Description
Special Schools:
Please use a combination of the primary and secondary units to differentiate the units to meet the needs of your pupils.
Additionally, the following services can support with training and advice:
Health & Safety Service:
Care and Control: The Health & Safety Service provide reactive guidance to schools when a risk has been identified, for example a young person has been caught in possession of a weapon or has threatened the use of a weapon. the Health & Safety team help schools to understand the DFE guidance ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation – Advice for Headteachers, staff and Governing Bodies’ (Feb 2014) and to put control measures in place to mitigate risks associated with this behaviour. One of the control measures we suggest is that a school seek input from a Safer Schools Police Officer on weapons awareness for a specific student.
Team Teach: is a national training provider which provides accredited training in managing challenging and aggressive behaviours for staff. In 1999, the Team-Teach package of training was agreed by the council alongside the teaching unions, as the agreed vehicle for providing this area of training for staff in all Leeds schools. Leeds City Council have had licenced instructors employed within the council since this date. Mike Alderson ia a Senior Advanced Team-Teach Instructor and has been responsible for delivering this training for the last 15+ years. Built in to every Team-Teach training course is a section on the DFE guidance ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation – Advice for Headteachers, staff and Governing Bodies’ (Feb 2014).
If a risk assessment identifies a need for staff to be trained in managing weapons (whether that be a bladed implement or a young person who throws chairs), teh Health & Safety Service can and will provide Team-Teach training in this area. It is important to be very clear here though, training staff to this level is extremely rare in a mainstream school setting and again, this work is reactive.
Tubes for safe storage of knives, as used by the police force: http://www.waproducts.co.uk/products.php?cat=70
Resources:
Agencies Benefiting Children (ABC) Checklist for Schools and settings:
You may wish to source your own organisation or service to support with this focus area, if that is the case, we recommend that the ABC Leeds checklist is used to ensure that the intended outcomes of the service you are looking to use meet the needs of your pupils and your school. For support with the checklist, please email schoolwellbeing@leeds.gov.uk
Terriers is a play, which deals with these problems. Aldo is bright, witty, and a gifted sportsman. His family has high hopes for him, but he's having a tough time trying to break away from his mates who want him to be in his local gang, The Terriers. Not that he's too scared to join, but they are involved in a tit for tat gang war with a crew just across the avenue called The DH Crew.
Things are getting very heavy and a DH Crew kid is shot. Now there's open war. Aldo's problem is there's rumour and counter rumour and somehow the DH Crew believe he is the killer and they're looking for him. He only has one option, to get armed. Or does he?
Terriers explores the immense pressure Aldo, and boys like him, are under from gang mates and his girlfriend. The play throws up the moral dilemmas and life changing decisions that some young boys and girls have to make.
Youth Justice Service:
LIVES MATTER PROGRAMME:
AIMS: The Lives Matter programme aims to reduce the risk of young people becoming involved in carrying and/or using knives. This programme has moved away from the traditional ‘scared straight’ type approach that research has shown to be ineffective. The programme is skill and strength based and seeks to equip the young person with the knowledge and ability to make a more informed decision about weapon carrying. In this regards the programme is solution focussed. The programme is fully interactive and includes materials to meet all needs.
LEARNING OUTCOMES :
- To consider the importance of feeling safe.
- To challenge the perception that carrying a knife makes us safer.
- To understand the impact of knife crime on their lives, the victim and the wider community.
- To consider the role of Social Media with regards to knife and weapon crime.
- To learn basic First Aid.
- To create a safety plan to use in conjunction with family and other agencies
PROGRAMME DELIVERY: The programme is delivered by trained Youth Justice Service staff and consists of up to 2 one hour sessions that can be delivered individually or to groups. The programme is designed to be delivered to young people in Year 7 to Year 11 who may be at risk of being involved in knife crime or would benefit from awareness around the issue. For young people who have been involved in knife crime we have an extended version of the Lives Matter programme that would be more suitable.
Cost: £250+VAT
Enquiries to Leeds.Yos.Admin@leeds.gov.uk
Video Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkmGt7ek8BA&feature=share
Web based resource:
The Fearless website, owned by Crimestoppers, hosts a range of resources:
https://www.fearless.org/en/professionals/adnoddau
National reports:
Young people's perspectives on knife crime
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on knife crime has published a report following a meeting between 20 MPs and Peers and 16 young people who had been convicted of knife offences or had been victims of knife crime in England and Wales. Themes covered in the report include: reasons for carrying knives; what should be done to prevent knife crime; the role social media has played in the increase of knife crime; young people’s experiences of the impact of policing, drugs and county lines on knife crime; and the role of prisons and the justice system in helping to tackle knife crime.
Source: Barnardo’s Date: 08 August 2019
Further information: “There is no protection on the streets, none” Young people’s perspectives on knife crime (PDF)
Offensive Weapons Act 2019: consultations
The Home Office has opened a consultation on draft statutory guidance for the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales. The guidance sets out how the legislation should be implemented and applied, including what considerations need to be taken when responding to incidents involving children and young people. This consultation closes on the 9 October 2019. The Home Office has also opened a consultation on guidance for the new Knife Crime Prevention Orders which are a preventative tool to help steer young people aware from knife crime. This consultation closes on 25 September 2019.
Source: Home Office Date: 15 August 2019
Further information: Offensive Weapons Act 2019: statutory guidance – draft for consultation (PDF)