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Girl slashed in classroom attack

Shanni's grandmother says the girl will be scarred for life
A 12-year-old girl was almost blinded after being slashed across the face by another pupil in a classroom attack.

Shanni Naylor needed 30 stitches in her face after the assault during an English lesson at Myrtle Springs School in Sheffield on Wednesday afternoon.

It is believed she had intervened to stop her assailant bullying another pupil the day before.

A 12-year-old girl was arrested in connection with the attack and released on police bail until December.

It is thought the attacker used a blade from a pencil sharpener to slash her victim.

Shanni's grandmother Kathleen Naylor, 55, of Arbourthorne, said doctors had told the family that her granddaughter would be scarred for life.

One wound runs from the girl's hairline down across her left cheek, just missing her left eye. The other starts just below her right eye and runs down her right cheek.


"In time it might fade," said Mrs Naylor. "But Shanni may have to go back for operations for skin grafts.

"She was back to herself last night and making jokes with us by the side of the bed, but she does not realise yet what it entails at a later date."

"It is horrendous what happened to Shanni," she said.

"I would not want it to happen to any other child in any other school. Somebody will end up more seriously hurt than she was."

On her release from Sheffield Children's Hospital, Shanni's father Lee said it was not yet clear whether his daughter would return to the same school.

"I would like it to be a lot stricter with more security and safety, not just for Shanni but for the other pupils as well.

"I can't wait to get her home for a bit of TLC with her dad."

A spokesman for headteacher Ed Wydenbach said: "I can confirm there was an incident in school which was dealt with accordingly. A knife was not involved."

Details of the attack came as Education Secretary Ruth Kelly was expected to give backing to new rights for teachers to discipline and restrain unruly pupils.

Recommendations from a government task force have urged new laws to make parents take responsibility for the actions of their disruptive children.

It is also expected that ministers will set out unambiguous rights for teachers to use classroom discipline.

Asked about the Sheffield incident, schools minister Jacqui Smith said in an interview on GMTV: "It's terrible for Shanni and very bad for her family.

"We're absolutely determined that schools should be safe and secure places which are about teaching and learning, where all children can feel confident and teachers are able to teach them." BBC

let me guess, the response from the govt' will be to ban all pencil sharpeners?
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meanwhile, the common piece of trash that did this horrible act will get maybe a few weeks of 'attitude' from 'authorities'. sigh.
The little runt needs to be strapped to a table and cut in the same places that she cut the girl.

ohh, was too icky for you?
The abuser did it, and they deserve nothing less in return. Seems the majority are once again going to insult the victim...and pamper the perpetrator.

Sick Society.

This is just terrible I am just speechless at the effect such a mindless disgusting act can have on the rest of this girls life. I hope the girl who did this isn't allowed to wriggle out of it with some crappy story about having an under priviledged life or some other excuse. She knew exactly what she was doing and should be made to face the consequences

Has inclusion taken all responsibility away from teachers while children are at school? Over here it's said in the school-law, that teachers are responsible ones how safe and secure our children are when they are at school every day. Pupils shouldn't be responsible about children bulling each other. They should feel themselves accepted, safe and secure at school. Parents can go to school over here any day to watch education that their children gets - but teachers don't like it (like they don't like school inspectors either) and that's only one part that makes it almost impossible to co-operate between parents and teachers. Searchers has found out that teachers don't care about bulling - they don't stop it when they are there and see it happen - they just turn their backs and walk away. And they should act against bullying much more earlier than age 12, because zero-tolerance is the best way to stop it from the start - and adults are the one who should stop it, not children.

I am sorry Mari but that is absolute rubbish. As a teacher, I am very aware of what goes on in my classroom and if I see bullying of any description I intervene immediately as well as referring it to the head of year.

When I teach, I am not just bothered about whether the pupils understand but also their behaviour in my classroom - they know they have to respect me and each other.

The parents of this child who committed this crime need to be more worried about the values they are teaching their daughter first and foremost. If they did then teachers wouldn't have such a difficult job on their hands. In my experience parents spend much of their time picking faults in the school systems and little time addressing their own shortfallings.

absolutely

Then how do you co-operate with parents then in UK? I just mean that teachers like doctors and politicians are humans like everybody else are - the are not saints that they sometimes seems to think that they are, they are not 'above' of common people either. I know a lot of teachers, some of them are capable to co-operate with parents some are not. Some of them takes full responsibility from children when they are at school and some don't, even that they are professionals.

Over here - if a pupil does that kind of terrible action - it's immediately called for emergency-chat with police, parents, social workers, psychologist etc. And that pupil who attacked is taken to childrens psychiatric unit to be analyzed and social workers makes decisions, should they remove that child away from home to somewhere where adults can take full responsibility of growing this children up.

well seemingly over here the parents blame everybody else and probably end up being compensated for the trauma of not having the teachers identify their childs problem


I exaggerate but it feels like that

I don't think I am a saint or above anyone else either

But I am responsible as a teacher for the pupils in my care and I take that seriously

You seem to have a very poor opinion of teachers Mari

I just wrote that some of the do and some of them don't. Like in everything else in life. Even that people are professionals.

I understand your point of view better, when you HC wrote that parents over there blames everybody else. And I know, milly, that you take your responsibility seriously!

But I think still that if parents blames everybody else and teachers blames everybody else and goverment blames everybody else - adults can't co-operate and children are abandoned.

Girl eager to return after slashing

A 12-year-old girl who had to have 30-stitches in her face when she was attacked by a classmate has said she was happy to be home from hospital and wants to return to the school where it happened.

Shanni Naylor spent three days in hospital after she was slashed across the face by another 12-year-old girl at Myrtle Springs School, in Sheffield with what is believed to be a blade from a pencil sharpener.

Speaking at her grandmother's home in the Arbourthorne area of the city, Shanni described how she had problems with her attacker before the incident on Wednesday.

She said: "I had just got up to talk to Miss Doyle (the teacher) and she just attacked me. I think it was with a blade. I'd had a fight with her before and it drew some blood."

Shanni said she was "shocked" when she first saw the long cuts which were clearly visible down her face. Both the long scars are close to her eyes, with one stopping just below her eyebrow and starting again underneath her left eyelid.

The 30-stitches which were put in at Sheffield Children's Hospital could also be clearly seen across her face.

"The doctors just told me to take it easy and to be careful," said Shanni. "They said I might have to have plastic surgery."

The 12-year-old managed a broad smile as she described how glad she was to be back with her family.

Asked what she planned to do for the next few days she said: "Talking to reporters and watching TV, that's all."

And asked about going back to the school where it happened she said: "I just hope it gets better. I've got a lot of friends there." dailysnack

I'm waiting for the news what has been done to attacker after she was arrested and released for bail?

In the school I work in, parents are welcome as classroom helpers.Sadly it's not those interested in their children's education that complain about the system.We have a(minority)of parents who do not encourage their children to take responsibilty for their actions and it makes it nigh on impossible to make those children face up to their problems.
I totally disagree with you Mari and am quite hurt by your comments.We invest a LOT of time looking after our pupils well-being..indeed with the current class I'm in,it has become increasingly difficult to cover the curriculum owing to the behaviour management issues with a couple of pupils.We've spent a lot of time and effort into stamping down very quickly on any intimidatory behaviour.Makes you wonder if it's really worth it when it's not appreciated

Agreed, but obviously from the point of view as a pupil. At my school teachers take a BIG interest in any bullying that goes on and it is definitely not taken lightly in any respects.

We have an anti-bullying week, pupil support system etc in place where people who are being bullied can go and talk and EVERYBODY in the school is deemed responsible for cutting it out completely as thankfully we only have low levels.

That is an awful thing to happen though, I hope that girl is OK.