Government awards £700,000 to help tackle youth violence in Sheffield

Funding has been available to help Pupil Referral Units tackle children getting involved in violent crime.

In Sheffield, the pupil referral unit known as Sheffield Inclusion Centre has received the cash to work with children who have been permanently excluded from mainstream education.

The Department of Education earmarked funding for the centre because of the rates of violent crime involving young people in Sheffield.

Tuesday Rhodes, the Headteacher of the Sheffield Inclusion Centre, said: “I am thrilled that this additional funding is coming into school and will allow us to really support our young people to face a brighter future.

“The funding amounts to over £700,000 and is to be spent on a team of support specialists. We have chosen to invest in youth workers, youth offending workers, special educational needs support, a forensic psychologist and post 16 specialists.”

Sheffield Inclusion Centre has developed small community schools across Sheffield and it is claimed that attendance and attainment are improving.

Tuesday added: “Our small community schools have made such a difference already, but the next stage in our development is to extend our support for our young people after school.

“There aren’t enough community provisions for young people in the evenings and at weekends so we want to develop our

community schools as youth clubs and with our new team I want to be able to be able to build projects and provisions around the interests of our young people in the hope that they will make positive choices for their futures.

“This is such an exciting time for us and I am determined to recruit a strong team to make this a transformational project.”

In 2018, Sheffield teenager Sam Baker, 15, was stabbed to death by another teenage boy when violence flared in Lowedges.

He was being exploited by gangs operating in the city and had missed significant periods of education.

His killer was jailed for 32 months after admitting to his manslaughter.

A review into his death found the vulnerabilities of his young age, an unstable home life and lack of education provision all contributed to his exploitation through gang culture.

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