david and julie said:
Are you saying he grappled with people and took these weapons of them,
One of the tools a headteacher uses is authority. Usually they can get pupils to hand things over through shouting and shaming. Grappling has occurred, but as far as I know it has never been where the air pistol is primed or the knife drawn. There is a difference between authority and stupidity!
You get some real scum in schools, especially in run-down areas. The rules say you aren't allowed to touch pupils, in order to protect the pupils from improper activities and the teachers from allegations of improper activities. But if you think there is a good chance that they are a danger then you can ignore this rule. The police
usually know the kids who bring weapons into school because they are usually in trouble outside of school too. When I was at school I witnessed a couple of occasions where an unruly pupil would try to lash out at a teacher, and the teacher would hit them back. And that was a 'nice' school!
Whilst talking responsibility, how responsible is it for these things to be left unattended in an unlocked draw?
Well, the office was normally locked when no-one was in there, and to get to the office door they had to go through another locked "staff only" door.
Whilst I admit I don't know a lot about consultant headmasters am I right in thinking most are self employed. Paying thier own costs etc, and only used for short terms. Don't they sort problems where other heads have failed and yet are still employed by the LEA?
Entirely correct, except they claim expenses for travel. They usually work on a subcontractor basis. Each owns a limited company, these are then "pimped" to the LEA's by a consultancy firm. They are intended for short-term use and get paid on a daily rate, however my dad's current contract has been running for 11 months so far and it looks like
he will be the one who ends it! On occasion he has worked alongside an existing head, working as more of a troubleshooter who brings the school around whilst training the head.