A shocking video shows the moment a mass brawl broke out between students at a secondary school in Kent.
The footage shows a group of around a dozen girls fighting and hurling abuse at one another during a violent incident at Walderslade Girls’ School in Chatham.
In videos of the fight, a white girl can be seen charging into a classroom and attacking a Black student before a brawl erupts between the girls and their friends.
At one point, one of the girls can be heard yelling “f****** Black c**t”, a racist slur. Others are seen hitting and kicking one another, as teachers try to intervene.
After footage of the fight was shared widely online, the school said it was “committed to driving out violence and links of violence connected to racism, homophobia and other discrimination”. It also said it was working alongside Kent Police to investigate the incident.
Louise Campbell, the school’s acting head teacher, told The Independent: “This incident has been taken very seriously and a number of consequences, including permanent exclusion, have been issued to the students involved.
“This totally unwelcome situation was brought into our school by the girls involved and resulted in this incident which was filmed and shared widely on social media.
“As a school we don’t accept or condone discrimination of any sort. There is no place for racism, sexism or homophobia in this school. The school has made moves to address any sort of unwelcome, disruptive or violent behaviour and a number of outside agencies have been involved in supporting us to move forward.
“We will not accept or condone aggressive behaviour in this school and serious consequences were issued immediately to those responsible as a result of this.”
She added that there were about 12 children involved in a school of 700. It is unclear how many students have been excluded.
Speaking to The Independent, the sister of the 15-year-old Black girl in the video claimed she was being bullied for months because of “the colour of her skin”.
“No one should be subject to any kind of racism especially not a 15-year-old child,” she said, adding that her sister had allegedly been subjected to racist slurs including “charcoal n****’”, “Blackie” and “monkey”.
Earlier this month, Surrey Police launched an investigation into the “serious racially aggravated assault” after a Black schoolgirl was attacked near Thomas Knyvett College, in Ashford, resulting in five arrests.
Meanwhile, recent figures have indicated a rise in racism within UK schools. Some 7,403 students were suspended last year over incidents including racially motivated assaults, according to data from a department for education freedom of information request. The numbers mark a 50 per cent increase since the previous year.
A Kent police spokesperson said: “Kent Police is aware of incidents involving several pupils at a school in Walderslade, Chatham. Officers are in contact with the school and enquiries into the incidents are ongoing.”
