Muggings by Charter School pupils on East Dulwich Grove

[Adam]

I'm told pupils from Alleyn's School were mugged by some Charter School pupils on Friday on East Dulwich Grove at the bus stop. Does anyone know any details of what happened and if Charter School is doing anything about it?

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

Leave this to schools and police for the sake of all the children involved.

[Ella Menopee]

Why? How is this different from the bike mugging that have been going on? Perhaps neither school or the police are aware yet and in any case, it’s good for locals to be aware of local crimes, not turn the other way. 

[CPR Dave]

Agree with Ella, and if this is true the parents of the perpetrators are likely to live locally and of they see this can help bring justice to the victims

 

[DuncanW]

  On 12/09/2023 at 06:41, Ella Menopee said:

Why? How is this different from the bike mugging that have been going on? Perhaps neither school or the police are aware yet and in any case, it’s good for locals to be aware of local crimes, not turn the other way. 

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I'm pretty confident both the schools and the police are aware 

[Beaky]

Group of muggers with black balaclavas outside Jags at 4pm this afternoon. 
it’s a daily occurrence at the moment 

[sunbob]

  On 12/09/2023 at 16:34, Beaky said:

Group of muggers with black balaclavas outside Jags at 4pm this afternoon. 
it’s a daily occurrence at the moment 

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Did they mug anyone?

[vladi]

IIt happens every day on EDG!

The pupils get out of school  and the first thing they do is get their phones out. They are mugs ! Real mugs! If only they could wait until they got on the train or the bus before using their phones then the problem would disappear.

A couple of weeks ago, I made up a placard saying "MUGGERS ARE AFTER YOUR PHONE! . KEEP IT IN YOUR POKET" . I stood just outside JAGS with it and about 60% put their phones away.

Hence a simple solution is for JAGS & Alleyns to put up a prominent warning sign on the inside of their railings with a similar message. After all the schools have a duty of care.
 

[alice]

Most schools have senior staff out front at closing time.  

[KalamityKel]

  On 12/09/2023 at 16:34, Beaky said:

Group of muggers with black balaclavas outside Jags at 4pm this afternoon. 
it’s a daily occurrence at the moment 

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eh?  "muggers" (are they actively mugging people?) in balaclavas a daily occurrence and no one is doing anything about it? hmmm

Edited September 13, 2023 by KalamityKel

[teddyboy23]

You don't wear balaclavas in this weather. Unless your up to something.

[alice]

Admin close this thread too please. 

[Nigello]

Why? What’s up with it? Keep it open unless it’s known for a fact it’s a lie. Just because something is unpalatable - kids mugging other kids is definitely that - it doesn’t mean it ought not to be aired. 

[Adam]

Alleyn's pupils have been told (in school assembly) to not walk via East Dulwich Grove because of the problem. It's a very sad situation when kids can't take the bus home because they are being targeted by other kids.

Don't assume that kids are being obvious with their phones. They know about the risks yet are still being targeted. I agree it's for the schools and police (and parents) to do something about it, but it's also useful for people to know what's going on. With my original post I was hoping to better understand the situation and if anyone knew of any action being taken.

[northernmonkey]

The problem of muggings coming out of school is sadly not new - last term there were a fair few muggings of Charter kids on their way home too - so not inconceivable that Alleyns students would also be targeted.  If the students were in Charter uniform I would assume this had been reported to the police and that the schools policing teams would be involved and that the school will be working closely with them.  Did you have something in particular in mind in starting this thread?  Not sure what the school would be doing other than cooperating with any relevant police enquirries?

[Nigello]

“It’s not inconceivable” doesn’t mean “it doesn’t need reporting because all of us will have already conceived of it”. Is it so unremarkable and unimportant that children should be mugging other children to the extent that it not be reported on a local forum? 

[Adam]

From Alleyn's:

The incident that caused me to write to some parents over the weekend involved the robbery of two phones and an aggressive confrontation from a group of pupils at a nearby school. I do want to reassure you that our pupils are physically safe. This took place at a bus stop and involved a number of our pupils, in a large group, some of whom were able to return to school. We called 999 as a result. Following this incident, I have been in touch with the school and the police, who are undertaking a criminal investigation. I have been able to send film footage that I received, and the incident was reported independently in addition to our own call to the police.  I have maintained contact with the police after two similar incidents, although with no robbery or issues of physical contact, in the early days of this week. We have also maintained contact with senior leaders at the nearby school.

I also wanted to summarise some of the additional measures we are putting in place in response to this.

1. We have requested a greater presence of police at particular times of the day – just as I have done before when reports of attempted or actual robbery have regrettably occurred.
2. We have spoken to all the pupils in a whole-school assembly, in tutor time and in a year group assembly, passing on the advice from police that we pass on regularly to parents (at the end of this AP I shall reiterate that advice).
3. Because one particular pressure at this time is the re-routing of the TfL bus network, thanks to roadworks continuing on Lordship Lane, we have asked children not to congregate at the bus stop near the Tessa Jowell Health Centre on East Dulwich Grove although we understand, of course, that this is a route for many pupils to walk home or to find their (re-routed or usual) bus.
4. We have reminded them all to be mindful of their surroundings as they travel, and to know that we have staff here until later in the afternoon if they have any concerns.
5. We were already in the process of recruiting additional security staff to join our team, and X is also targeting trained staff who can take a role in having a presence in the streets near the site. Again, we recognise, of course, that some incidents occur far away from the School, but we hope that this additional staff presence will provide greater reassurance to our pupils as they travel.
6. We remain in close contact with other local schools and we will be reporting our concerns to our MP and working with the police and neighbourhood groups to raise community attention about these matters.
7. Our Schools Liaison Police Officer will be coming in to school to speak directly to our pupils in the coming days.

[northernmonkey]

  On 14/09/2023 at 06:12, Nigello said:

“It’s not inconceivable” doesn’t mean “it doesn’t need reporting because all of us will have already conceived of it”. Is it so unremarkable and unimportant that children should be mugging other children to the extent that it not be reported on a local forum? 

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Nigello - not sure why you're looking for a fight / suggesting that anyone thinks it isn't an issue?  Sometimes its hard to deduce tone on here but if in doubt, best not to post.   The question was to the original poster -what were they hoping the school would be doing.  The Alleyn's email indicates that police are aware and its pretty unlikely that Charter wouldn't be working closely with the policing teams on this via the school policing team.

[gabys1st]

it's happeing outside school property and so school hrs I think Police shd be involved.

[cb6922]

  On 13/09/2023 at 15:31, northernmonkey said:

The problem of muggings coming out of school is sadly not new - last term there were a fair few muggings of Charter kids on their way home too - so not inconceivable that Alleyns students would also be targeted.  If the students were in Charter uniform I would assume this had been reported to the police and that the schools policing teams would be involved and that the school will be working closely with them.  Did you have something in particular in mind in starting this thread?  Not sure what the school would be doing other than cooperating with any relevant police enquirries?

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Were the Charter kids mugged by Alleyns kids?

[CPR Dave]

I hope the "nearby school" gets on top of this very quickly. The local schools here have good reputations and it would be a shame if that were affected by something like this.

We need good schools here for the future because soon we won't be allowed out by the council for more than 15 minutes.

[malumbu]

It happens everywhere.  I won't go on about my experience both from my school days and those of my family. It's not right but hopefully schools and police do their best to tackle it.  What a silly post by the way CPR, hope you are not trying to get this part of the site suspended too 

[northernmonkey]

CB  - your post is ridiculous and antagonistic.  

 

In terms of the overall thread, something along the lines of  'We heard from Alleyn's that some of their students were mugged by some students from a nearby school / charter - just a heads up to let parents know and to remind their children about how best to stay safe on their school journey' would have been helpful. 

Instead what we seem to have got is a 'charter school kids are mugging Alleyn's -and some kind of inference that the school is doing nothing about it.  No one can know what the school is doing unless you work there and are involved.  There is a local schools policing team who work really closely with all local schools and I find it hard to believe they won't be working to identify those involved.  However, it is a police matter that the school will help with.   As to who has been responsible for mugging Charter kids - does it matter ?  Does it make it less of a horrible thing to happen? Its not more or less wrong depending on which school you go to. 

The bigger question is why are muggings taking place outside schools and why isn't there enough of a police presence locally to deal with antisocial behaviour and crime of this nature.  Its not as easy as asking what one local school is doing about it - and frankly suggestions that the local schools reputation is risked by criminal behavior from a minority is ridiculous.  It is however a concern for local parents if the muggings have ramped up again.