Teenage girl arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after school officer suffers non-life threatening stab wounds

Welfare officer, 61, is being treated in hospital

The school near Scunthorpe has no history of violent incidents (PA)

A 16-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a welfare officer was stabbed at a secondary school in North Lincolnshire.

The victim, a 61-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening wounds in the attack just before 9am on Monday at Winterton Community Academy, Humberside Police said.

The force said the schoolgirl, a student at the academy, was being questioned by officers.

None of the other children witnessed the attack, according to Chief Superintendent Christine Wilson.

She said: “Staff at the school and police officers responded to this isolated incident very quickly, and one person is currently in custody as a result.

“There was no disruption to any other children, none of whom witnessed the incident. Children at the school have not been directly affected by this.”

Speaking outside the school, which is at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the rural village of Winterton, Ms Wilson said staff had told her the weapon involved was a small kitchen knife which was “highly likely” to have been taken in.

Ms Wilson said the school had no history of violent incidents and it remained open.

A community support officer will remain at the school for the rest of the week (PA) (Nigel Roddis/PA)

She said her officers responded to a “fight” in an office in the school and stressed the incident did not happen in a class.

“It happened in an office in the school, so all of the rest of the children were completely safe,” she said. “They were all in their separate classrooms.

“And it is, obviously, a very rare and isolated incident.

“I can’t think of another incident that’s happened like this in my time as a police officer.

“We want to reassure parents that their children were safe at all times.”

She said a police community support officer would be present in the school for the rest of the week.

She added: “We’ve not ever been to an incident at the school before. The school has never had a teacher assaulted by a pupil before.

“So it is extremely rare. It was reacted to very quickly by the school and also local officers.”

Parents were alerted of the “serious incident” by text on Monday morning.

Headteacher Gareth Morris said: “We are keen to reassure parents and the community that this is an isolated incident and that the school remains open.

“We will support our staff directly affected and will be keeping parents updated throughout the day.”