UPDATE

Dear Parent / Carer

You may have seen coverage in the local news or on social media about a recent incident which occurred at the school on Friday 31 January.

South Wales Police have issued a statement confirming that there was an altercation involving two Year 10 pupils, that there were no reported injuries, and that a knife was later found inside a student’s bag. We would like to reassure you that we were fully aware of this incident at the time, and that it was isolated and contained by the initial actions by both the school and the attending officers.

This incident is currently being investigated by South Wales Police. Until those investigations have concluded, the specific details must remain confidential for the foreseeable future, but I wanted to provide you with some reassurances in the meantime.

As you know, the school has a zero-tolerance policy towards knife crime. We actively educate our pupils about the dangers, legalities and penalties involved with carrying a knife, and undertake a range of preventative measures.

As recently as a fortnight ago, we hosted special assemblies alongside South Wales Police, the Youth Offending Service and Youth Criminal Bureau who spoke directly to all pupils from Year 7 up to Year 13, and even introduced a guest speaker who had himself been a victim of knife crime in the past.

The school also maintains a range of effective safeguarding procedures. As the police have already noted, staff acted swiftly to isolate and contain the incident as soon as we became aware of it, and the safety and wellbeing of pupils will always remain our top priority.

Thankfully, this was an isolated incident, and the school community here at Bryntirion remains closely-knit and supportive of one another. As this is an active police investigation I hope you will appreciate why we cannot go into further detail about this incident at this stage.

Yours sincerely

Bryntirion Comprehensive School