An audit of site security at Haute Vallée School has been undertaken after a teenager was restrained and arrested after bringing a knife onto the school premises on Monday.
In a letter to parents on Tuesday, head teacher Stuart Hughes said that parents and guardians were “understandably… seeking reassurance that we are doing everything possible to prevent such an incident from happening again”.
He said that any recommendations arising from the audit by the Education Department’s Health and Safety team would be “addressed over the coming days and weeks”.
Police to remain “for reassurance”
He added that police would remain at the school for the rest of the week, “purely for reassurance”.
The head teacher also noted that further support and training for staff was also under consideration.
The latter came as Education Minister Rob Ward sought to reassure Islanders over the safety of schools.
He said: “All government-funded schools have robust site-security measures in place.
“Those typically include controlled entry points, secure perimeter fencing, visitor-sign-in systems, CCTV coverage, and routine monitoring of school grounds.”
The school and Deputy had previously stressed the “rare” nature of Monday’s incident.
Rare… or a rising threat?
However, Adrian Moss, speaking on behalf of the National Education Union, explained that many staff did not feel safe against a backdrop of rising pupil-on-pupil and pupil-on-staff violence.
A 2025 survey of teachers and school staff revealed that 28.3% of secondary teachers in Jersey experienced a physical attack by a pupil in the last year, a rise from 16.4% in 2021.
“In terms of physical threat, verbal threat, there’s been a significant increase,” he said. “What is leading the change in that? And what is [the Education Department] going to do about it?”
Meanwhile, a recent request for data under the Freedom of Information Law revealed that a total of 640 pupils were confirmed to have been excluded from secondary school over the past five years for making a physical threat against a pupil since 2020.
117 were excluded for making physical threats against a teacher.
The 14-year-old suspect in the Haute Vallée incident – who police officers yesterday confirmed is also linked to an alleged knifepoint-attempted robbery in St Brelade over the weekend – was due to appear in the Youth Court this morning.