Bradford MP to hold school safety talks with Education Secretary following Bradford teacher stabbing

Supply teacher Vincent Uzomah was hospitalised after he was knifed in the stomach as he prepared to teach a science class at Dixons Kings Academy, in Lidget Green.

The incident comes a year after teacher Ann Maguire was fatally stabbed to death in Leeds.

Dixons Kings Academy is in the constituency of new Bradford South MP Judith Cummins (Lab), who last night said: "I think this is one incident too many. I have spoken to Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, today and as a result of that she has agreed to have a meeting with me about violence in schools.

"The safety of our children and staff is absolutely paramount. Parents don't want to be worried about the safety of their children while they are at school.

"We will need assurances that everything is right at the school as this has been very upsetting for people.

"I hope to visit the school tomorrow to offer any support I can and make sure the different agencies offer help to the school to manage this.

"I'm sure there will be a point where we can look at the school's safety procedures, but for now we need to be offering our full support to the school."

Ms Morgan said: "Violence of any kind in schools is totally unacceptable and this government is committed to building on the significant measures we have already taken to make sure our schools are safe for everyone in them."

Alex Hagan, who has an 11-year-old daughter at Dixons Kings Academy, thinks the school should now check pupils for weapons.

He said: "When I heard about what happened I panicked at first. The school doesn't really have any problems, that's why I'm so surprised.

"I think they should introduce metal detectors very urgently.

"I got a text saying there had been a serious incident and directing us to the home page of the website. I was very apprehensive for my daughter, who is 11.

"It is very serious for a teacher to be attacked with a knife and I think they need metal detectors as soon as possible. I've never heard of anything like this happening in Bradford before."

Bradford Council leader Councillor David Green said if lessons needed to be learned from the attack, the local authority would be quick to act, but added that it was important to allow a full investigation to take place first.

When asked if new safety measures would be brought in at schools, he said: "I think we need to establish the facts and fully understand what happened and why before we jump to conclusions and decide if new steps need to be taken.

"It is important that schools remain open, friendly and accessible environments for young people's education.

"But if at the end of the police investigation, and after discussions with schools, there are any other steps that need to be taken to improve school safety, we won't be shy of taking them.

"We have to recognise that this is an isolated incident."

Although the school is outside of the Council's control, Cllr Green said it still had a duty of safety to its pupils, and a moral duty to the safety of staff in any school.

He said the decision to keep the school open after the stabbing was a judgement call for the school that he did not want to second guess.

Cllr Green also said the Council's youth team and neighbourhood wardens would do whatever it took to support the victim and anyone who saw the assault, as well as giving reassurance to the wider community.

Gerry Sutcliffe, who was Labour MP for the constituency until he stood down in May, said: "I was surprised and shocked [by the stabbing], but the good news is incidents like this are very few and far between.

"I can understand parents and staff being concerned, and I think we should maybe have a look at safety and security in all our schools. There has to be a recognition of the fact that people need to feel safe in schools, both pupils and staff."

The Bradford spokesman for the National Union of Teachers, Ian Murch, also thinks more needs to be known about the attack before any knee-jerk reaction policy is introduced.

He said: "I think we have to establish the facts of the case. Some people might want to introduce some sort of monitoring system to deal with knife crime, but I doubt were talking about a knife crime problem at the school.

"Apart from this and the most recent case [Ann Maguire] the last case of a teacher being stabbed was Philip Lawrence in London 20 years ago, and that was outside school gates.

"I think the more important thing is to know if a child poses a risk because of their emotional state.

"We can't go treating all of Britain's seven million children like criminals."

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, added: "It is important to remember that occurrences of violence such as this are extremely rare, but clearly, at the appropriate time, all of the circumstances of how this incident unfolded will need to be examined."

Meanwhile, police were keen to assure the public yesterday.

Speaking outside the Northside Road school, Damien Miller, Superintendent Neighbourhood Operations, who leads Neighbourhood Policing across the Bradford district, said: "Lidget Green is a close knit community and I understand that students, parents, staff and the wider community will be upset by what has taken place here today at Dixons Kings Academy.

"I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the public that the police are working with the school, community and partners throughout this investigation and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead."