School condemns bullies after 'disturbing' incident is caught on video

A video has surfaced on social media which shows young people involved in a fight, with the footage linked to Hetton School.

Today, the school's bosses have said the clip was filmed several months ago and stressed it takes a hard line on incidents of bullying.

Police were called in as it worked to deal with those involved and has said it is thankful for the messages of support it has received since the video emerged.

A spokesman said: "There is a post circulating on Facebook with a video showing a disturbing incident involving a small number of children, including some Hetton students.

"The incident took place five months ago.

"Once the school were made aware of the incident we worked with parents and the police to resolve the matter and this included sanctions by the school against students, despite it being out of school hours and away from the school site.

"Whilst we would thank those members of the community that have sent us supportive messages, we would ask that the community recognise that the matter has long since been resolved by the school, police and parents.

"All our students have moved on and are now engaged in learning productively in school.

"Hetton School condemns all forms of bullying, however we acknowledge that all schools - and adult workplaces - have some form of it.

"Our motto of Respect.Learn.Achieve is supported every day by our dedicated pastoral care team and the student peer mentors we train to help other students.

"In recent surveys, 96% of our students stated that they felt safe at Hetton School and 92% of parents feel the same way.

"Despite this being far better than the national averages, we aim to make this 100%.

"Our long term goal is to improve the life chances of all students in our community.

"We would encourage all in our community to share the same goal, and work with us to keep our children safe, by working with, and through, the appropriate authorities."