PARENTS have raised concerns over an incident at a Ballarat Catholic primary school where a pupil presented a knife on Monday morning.
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The Courier understands the incident involved a grade 5 pupil and a staff member inside a classroom shortly before 9am.
Police attended the school and are currently investigating the incident.
Parents received a letter from the school principal informing them about the incident and that support was being offered to pupils and staff.
However, parents have raised concerns about how the incident has been handled and felt children needed to be more protected.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said she felt the incident had not been dealt with adequately.
She said a psychologist had attended the school but felt there needed to be more support for the pupils who witnessed the incident.
“A lot of parents are disgruntled and some are looking at moving children. They are upset about this situation,” the parent said.
“A lot of people are trying to work out what’s happened.”
The school principal, who The Courier has decided not to name, confirmed there was an incident on Monday morning at the school.
“There was an incident. We have processes in place which we have implemented to support students in the school and staff,” the principal said.
The principal said the school was conscious of supporting all pupils.
Catholic Education Office Ballarat (CEOD) human resources manager and media spokesperson Peter Kerwan said the office was aware of the incident.
He said the CEOD had critical incident procedures in place at Catholic schools across Ballarat.
“We have critical incident procedures which all of our schools are aware of and follow,” Mr Kerwan said.
He said schools were required to contact the relevant authorities in the case of a critical incident, similar to what happened on Monday.
“We would also make sure that children and staff are supported. Looking after school staff and children is a priority.”
Mr Kerwan said the CEOD worked to ensure schools were aware of the critical incident procedures.
“There is a standard process all schools have to use. We make sure we follow those.”
The Courier contacted police for this story.