West Ulverstone Primary School: Student’s leg ‘accidentally’ slashed with knife brought to school

“He’d seen the wound and it really scared him”: There is disquiet at a Tasmanian primary school community after a student was “accidentally” slashed with a knife. His parents have spoken out.

West Ulverstone Primary School. Picture: Facebook/ DECYP.

The parents of a primary school student in the state’s North-West who was “accidentally” slashed in the leg while playing with a friend who had brought a knife to school say they feel let down by aspects of the school’s response.

The incident that left the student at West Ulverstone Primary School “shaking in shock” at the sight of his wound, which required three stitches to seal, occurred last Monday before 1pm.

The student and his friend were “rolling down a hill” together, his mum said, when her son came into contact with his friend’s backpack.

The backpack contained a knife that slashed through the fabric and lacerated her son’s thigh.

“The school called me at about 1pm saying there had been an incident in the playground, my son has a gash on his thigh, I needed to get there straight away,” his mother told the Mercury. “They were applying first-aid as they were on the phone to me. They didn’t say much on the phone to me about what had happened.

“He was in shock, absolutely in shock. He was shaking, feeling sick – he’d seen the wound and it really scared him.”

A deep 3cm-long laceration caused to a Year 6 student at West Ulverstone Primary School accidentally by a knife on August 14, 2023. Picture: Supplied

The boy’s mum said she was underwhelmed by the school’s response to the incident and its messaging.

“This was not an intentional act of violence, but a very poor choice of a child and questionable actions of the school that has left the families involved and the community wondering what actions are, and are not, being taken to protect our kids,” his mum said.

“The big issue here is looking at why the student had a knife at school in the first place, how it is being dealt with and the steps that are – or aren’t – being taken to ensure this does not happen again.”

She said she “assumed” the relevant authorities – including Tasmania Police – were contacted straight away about the incident, but the Mercury has learnt that police did not learn of the incident until the following day when the boy’s father attended Ulverstone Police Station.

The mother said that the school had done some things right – she said they had called several times to check in on her and were supporting her son with a social worker – but she believed not enough had been done to reassure the school community that lessons would be learnt.

“[We needed] a little bit more communication and reassurance that they were notifying the right people. There is a bigger issue here than this one incident. It’s making other parents concerned for their children’s safety,” she said.

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The boy’s father also expressed concern at what he called the school’s “lax” response to the incident.

“A weapon was brought onto school grounds, that’s serious enough, but when someone’s got injured, that’s too much,” he said.

Tasmania Police confirmed that they were contacted “in relation to a student receiving a minor injury” on August 15.

“Police have been in contact with the school and reviewed CCTV provided by them,” a spokeswoman said.

“It has been determined the injury was non-intentional. The matter is being managed by the school.”

An education department spokeswoman said that the incident was “managed in line with the department’s school security and safety protocols”.