PUPILS will be supported by counsellors, social workers and nurses when they return to school for the first time following the death of teenager Bailey Gwynne.
The 16-year-old was found seriously injured at Cults Academy in Aberdeen on Wednesday. He was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
Special assemblies will also be held at the school tomorrow, which was closed for two days last week, before timetabled classes resume.
A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in court on Friday charged with murdering Gwynne. He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody.
The teenager also faces charges under the section of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act which makes it an offence to have an article with a blade or point on school premises. He is expected to return to court on November 6.
The incident has once again raised concerns over Scotland’s long-standing problem with knife crime, despite figures showing crimes of handling an offensive weapon are now at a 29-year low.
John Carnochan, retired head of police taskforce the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, said: “The idea that violence – in particular knife crime – only happens in poor areas to poor people is just a myth.
“We need to get to that place where we try and understand what happened and try and do our very best to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“There might be a whole range of things we need to think about - and not automatically assume we need more cops or metal scanners outside a school.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “Knife crime has a devastating impact which is why we are committed to doing everything we can to educate young people about the potential consequences of carrying a knife and encourage positive life choices away from violence.”
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