Pupils 'wear stab vests to school'

The study of gang violence found some children were taking weapons in to school and hiding them in the school grounds.

One school reported students were found with screwdrivers, hammers and chisels. Some pupils bring weapons in to schools because of fear of attack, researchers were told.

The report's authors were told it was only a matter of time before a teacher was shot in school. One interviewee said gangs led to a "significant risk to staff".

Children as young as 12 were being drawn in to gang violence, pupils said. The authors were also told that in one school pupils spend "more time talking about the gangs than they do learning".

Interviews were conducted with staff and pupils at four unnamed schools by Perpetuity Consulting for the teachers' union NASUWT.

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "The research suggests that there is no widespread problem of gang related activity in schools but where it exists it is of significant concern."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "The vast majority of schools are very safe places and incidents with knives are incredibly rare. We do not see any need for pupils to be wearing stab-proof vests."

Meanwhile new figures released by Britain's largest police force show fatal stabbings rose last year as the number of deadly shootings fell.

The Metropolitan Police said there were 83 knife killings in 2008, compared with 74 the previous year. Meanwhile the number of gun murders fell from 30 to 17.