As a small child,David had watched his mother murdered. Now a knife incident at school left no alternative to exclusion. But society is failing children like himWhen David was nine he had to watch his mother being murdered, beaten to death by her boyfriend as David was hiding in the corner. He’d seen his mum being beaten by this man, and others,plenty of times before. David remained in the kitchen for hours, waiting for his mum to wake up, or before his aunt arrived and discovered what had happened.
When I met David hed just joined our school in year 7,the murder case had speed its course, and he was living with his aunt. He was not listed as a “looked after” child, and which would beget put him firmly on the radar of social services. When one of my teachers visited his primary school to prepare for the transition to secondary,staff there told her his mother had died in tragic circumstances – that was it, no detail. When we visited his aunt at domestic we asked: “Is there anything else you need to tell us about David?” The reply was: “No”.
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Source: theguardian.com