Shocked parents speak out at school stabbing at Avenues College in Windsor Gardens

Parents and students at an Adelaide school where a girl was stabbed with a box cutter and scissors say they were left in the dark during the incident.

Students and parents of Avenues College at Windsor Gardens are “distressed and concerned” after a boy was arrested for allegedly stabbing another student with scissors and box cutters on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old female victim was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital, following an hour-long school lockdown at 1.30pm.

She remains in a serious condition with stab wounds and cuts to her abdomen, lower left leg and throat.

Her injuries are not considered to be life-threatening, police told ABC Radio Adelaide.

Police arrested the 16-year-old, who was known to the victim, at the school.

The boy, of Salisbury North, was charged late Wednesday with causing harm to another and indecent assault.

He has been granted police bail to appear in the Adelaide Youth Court on September 30.

Parents and students returning to school on Thursday morning were pleased to know authorities had acted swiftly but shocked it happened in the first place

One student, Jackson, said he did not know the people involved, but said it was a “scary” experience.

“We were just in class and the alarms were going off,” he said. “We sort of just sat around and tried to work out what actually happened. I’m here every day, and that can just happen out of nowhere.”

A parent of a year 9 student said her daughter messaged her during the school lockdown.
”I was scared, I didn’t know what was going on, my daughter texted me saying ‘Mum I don’t know what’s happening’,” she said.

A police officer at the scene in Windsor Gardens, after a student was assaulted at Avenues College. Picture: 7NEWS

One parent of young children at the school, Jasmine, said the experience scared both her and her young children.

“We got to school and obviously they weren’t out yet,” Jasmine said. “It was a bit scary … very distressing.”

Another parent said she recently pulled her older children out of the school due to issues with bullying and harassment.

“I’m not surprised, this school’s pretty feral,” the parent said. “I’ve got my kids in other zones, and my oldest one in private.”

She said she had not heard of previous physical incidents.

In a letter to parents on Wednesday, Avenues College principal Robyn McLean described the incident as a “serious alleged assault by one student on another”.

“An incident of this kind is hard to process and students may be distressed by what they hear,” Ms McLean said.

She said counselling would be available for students who witnessed the incident.

It was the second knife-related incident at a South Australian school in 24 hours.

Across town, an Adelaide Botanic High School student was stabbed with a pair of scissors about 4.45pm on Tuesday.

A North Adelaide boy faced the Adelaide Youth Court after being charged with one aggravated count of assault causing harm, one aggravated count of assault and one count of carrying an offensive weapon.

He was granted bail to appear again in September.

Education Minister John Gardner was contacted for comment.

Opposition education spokesman Blair Boyer said as a parent he worried for the safety of students across the state.

“You can imagine how upsetting that’s going to be for parents, the school’s in lockdown, kids are underneath desks and they’re hearing it second hand,” Mr Boyer said.

“As a father of three daughters who go to a public primary school this is the stuff of nightmares.

“I have no doubt that as a parent myself that will be playing on their minds after two incidents in the space of 48 hours.”

WEDNESDAY: Two students stabbed in separate school attacks

Students hid under desks at a Windsor Gardens school, where a senior student was stabbed multiple times with a box cutter and scissors.

It was the second knife-related incident at a South Australian school in 24 hours.

Avenues College was locked down for about an hour on Wednesday, when an 18-year-old female student was attacked by a fellow male student about 1.30pm.

The victim was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital, where she remained in a serious condition with stab wounds and cuts to her abdomen, lower left leg and throat on Wednesday night.

A school girl’s been rushed to hospital after being stabbed by a male student at Avenues College at Windsor Gardens. Children were locked in their classrooms while police searched for the weapon used #7NEWSpic.twitter.com/FOwWnGv0Sv

— Lauren Rose (@laurenrose7) August 25, 2021

Police arrested the boy, who was known to the victim, at the school and were interviewing him on Wednesday.

The boy, 16, from Salisbury North, was charged late Wednesday with causing harm to another and indecent assault.

He has been granted police bail to appear in the Adelaide Youth Court on September 30.

Avenues College students recalled how they heard police sirens and were told to stay inside by panicked teachers. They said they hid under the desks for safety.

“We were in the library and all of a sudden we heard the alarms and everything started going off. We were all panicking,” a male student said.

A female student said: “We were pretty on edge. We were shaken up.”

The parent of a year 3 student, who did not want to be named, said she found out about the incident on social media. “That’s pretty messed up,” she said of the incident.

“I was just disappointed when it happened and I was shocked. Usually this sort of thing doesn’t happen here. It’s a quiet school.”

Crime scene investigators at Avenues College in Windsor Gardens after the stabbing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

In a letter sent to parents, Avenues College principal Robyn McLean described the incident as a “serious alleged assault by one student on another”.

“An incident of this kind is hard to process and students may be distressed by what they hear,” Ms McLean said.

She said counselling would be available for students who witnessed the incident.

Education Department spokeswoman Anne Millard said any violence in schools was unacceptable.

Police are at the scene after a woman, 18, was allegedly assaulted with scissors and a box cutter at Avenues College. A boy known to her was arrested. It’s the second major knife incident in as many days after a student was allegedly stabbed at a school yesterday. @theTiserpic.twitter.com/GVyV5lcvtJ

— Dixie Sulda (@dixie_sulda) August 25, 2021

“While incidents involving weapons are rare, when they happen they draw a strong response which includes notifying the police,” she said.

“The department also works directly with schools to ensure appropriate discipline and wellbeing support is put in place.”

In a separate incident, an Adelaide Botanic High School student was stabbed with a pair of scissors about 4.45pm on Tuesday.

A North Adelaide boy was charged with one aggravated count of assault causing harm, one aggravated count of assault and one count of carrying an offensive weapon.

The boy faced the Adelaide Youth Court, where he was granted bail to appear again in September.

The Advertiser in December last year revealed 167 high-risk knife incidents were reported at SA public schools between January 2018 and October 2020.

Freedom of Information documents showed police attended schools on 258 occasions over the same period to deal with weapons incidents involving scissors, furniture, knives and children expressing a desire to shoot classmates and teachers. There were 57 gun-related incidents.