The impact of violence is something that has sadly reached many pupils and schools across England and Wales - so much so, that 1 in 6 children report being victims of violence over the last year.

As a former school leader, I remember the children whose lives were changed by and lost to unnecessary violence. The scale and complexity of the problem can leave leaders and educators unsure of what they can do to make a difference.

New guidance from the Youth Endowment Fund offers advice for schools on how they can reduce children’s involvement in violence. It provides five evidence-informed recommendations for how school, college, and alternative provision (AP) leaders across England and Wales can play their role in supporting the prevention of violence, including providing children with trusted adults.

Having taught in schools across Nottinghamshire, I’ve seen first-hand how positive relationships with trusted adults can facilitate crucial learning, meaningful conversations and access to personalised support.

All teachers and school staff can act as positive influences in children’s lives. But vulnerable children may need more support and additional trusted adults to protect them from involvement in violence.

Research has found that one-to-one mentoring provided by trained adults, and sports and outdoor activities with coaches, are two impactful ways of facilitating this.

1. Mentoring

Mentoring with a positive role model can have a huge impact in helping children to develop social skills and build relationships with others, as well as encouraging positive behaviours.

There are no firm rules about who should take a mentoring role: this could be someone from an external organisation or a member of internal school staff, depending on capacity. We recommend weekly, hour-long mentoring sessions for at least two terms with a trained adult.

Establishing clear communication with the child, parents and carers and school staff is crucial to set up mentoring relationships for success. As well as discussing the technicalities of meetings, it is immensely useful to the aims and process, to ensure the smooth running of the relationship and to manage the transition after mentoring concludes.

Encouragingly, our research has found good evidence that mentoring can reduce the likelihood that children become involved in crime and violence.

2. Sports

Sports and other outdoor activities can provide a useful, enjoyable context for developing trusted relationships with adults, and help children meet and bond with their peers.

These activities can also provide a hook to engage children in other effective interventions, such as mentoring or therapy.

When implementing a new sporting offer, leaders should seek out coaches and activity leaders with the experience and skills required to build meaningful, positive relationships with children - and should engage children in weekly, coach-led sessions.

Particular effort should be made to promote after-school sports sessions and outdoor adventure activities to vulnerable children - as, crucially, this is the time when these children are most at risk of involvement in violence in their communities.

Dennis Simms is the head of change for education at the Youth Endowment Fund. He is a former alternative provision school leader, co-chair of Heads Forward and author of the AP Quality Toolkit.

To find out more about the Youth Endowment Fund’s recommendations and the evidence that underpins them, you can download its education, children and violence guidance.

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