Bristol school gates knife boy 'not pupil there'

A boy filmed brandishing a large knife outside a school was not a pupil there, it has emerged.

The footage of the child outside Downend School near Bristol on November 30 was shared by parents with the BBC.

The school did not respond to a request for comment but a letter from head teacher Lisa Howell has been sent to parents explaining what happened.

It says police were called and officers promised an "appropriate and robust" approach.

The head teacher said the boy carrying the knife "has no connection with the school and we expect no further issues".

"A knife was secured by duty staff, the police were called and the knife and the details of the incident have been passed to investigating officers who assure us that appropriate and robust action is being taken," the letter said.

"A small number of students were involved or witnesses the incident. We have spoken to all those young people and their parents."

It added the school was now bringing forward lessons on knife crime and had asked police to run an "extended clinic" on the issue.

Police said a 12-year-old boy attended Patchway Police Centre earlier where he was interviewed in relation to an offence of possessing a bladed article.

Investigating officers are now working with the youth offending team while further inquiries take place.

Downend School is currently rated as good by Ofsted and is part of the Castle School Education Trust (CSET), which has recently featured on the BBC TV programme School.

CSET runs other schools in Thornbury and Alveston which also featured on the programme, but Downend did not.

There are currently more than 1,100 students there.

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