Male School staff inappropriate behaviour towards DD

He should be suspended pending investigation.

Teachers shouldn't even be saying someone is their favourite pupil. You just don't say that 😒

It was reported to be 1 in 5 teachers have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil. Then on top of that some parents have also made false allegations.. That was 10 years ago.

I have experienced a few myself - one going to court and seen a few with colleagues.

I'm sure you already have, but please MASSIVELY praise your daughter for telling you about what's been happening.

I should say it was very rare rather than it is very rare. I have absolutely no idea how things have changed and no intention of finding out. Fuck that.

Honestly, false allegations are actually very rare. I worked in a secondary school from 2012 - 2019. In that time I only heard of 1. I worked in a school environment with 1200 ish students

It was stuff like keeping the door open if you're doing a 1:1. Then, there were lots of conversations about how that's impossible when you are providing access arrangements and scribing for someone 1:1 in an exam.

None of those stop false allegations.

In secondary schools:
Never meet a student alone with the door shut.
Never communicate via any means besides school email.
Never engage in personal conversations on any topic beyond the trivial or the non-specific - leave that to the pastoral team.
Alert colleagues to any verbal altercation with a student.
Alert safeguarding if any incident occurs which could be misconstrued (eg you take your jumper off and your top rides up too far).
Ask permission from the student before touching them eg during sports or music lessons.
Do not touch the students except for medical reasons or to offer immediate comfort to a crying student (a brief hug round the shoulder, for example).

No. At the very least he has been extremely foolish. You never ever meet a student alone with the door shut, for example. If he had followed proper procedures, it would not be possible to accuse him of anything because there would have been no opportunity for anything to occur.

A colleague of mine was accused (falsely). He had made numerous misjudgments in his dealing with the pupil. He had no nefarious intentions but he laid himself open to being accused because he did not follow protocols for contacting students.

I do understand your point.

Unfortunately, a person under investigation on school property is a safeguarding issue. Not to mention a logistical one, the person would essentially require another staff member as a chaperone to ensure they could not be further accused.

I have actually been close to this scenario with a family member who was exonerated.
Awful experience for them.

However, of the two sides in the situation it will always be the child that should be protected until innocence is proved.

What is this thing about telling a pupil they're their fav. It's entirely inappropriate not because of ulterior motives necessarily but it does not actually help young children and teens to develop confidence because it binds them psychologically to the mentor or teacher who's 'chosing' them over other children. It's also disingenuous and not authentic so creates all sorts of confusing dynamics for a child. Such language creates a bind that shouldn't be like that it's not respectful to the student.

Where are the 1:1 sessions happening?

My dc are taken to the library so very much a public space

Yikes. My kids support workers tells them them they are their favourite pupil. No way on God's green earth would they ask for their phone numbers or meet them outside of school.

I clearly said further interactions with kids should cease. Generally where it’s a case of word against word, the process which I agree with is not a default suspension. The school immediately does an investigation whilst placing the staff member on restricted duties so it’s all quite sensible and fair to all parties whilst still safeguarding children. Imagine if you were an innocent teacher and this happened to you and instead of treating you as innocent until proven guilty and putting you on restricted duties you were just immediately suspended. It’s important to see both sides.

Start looking at KCSIE and make sure you contact the LADO and LA/Trust

What was the training ideas on how not to get falsely accused?

If a staff member is under investigation for inappropriate behaviour or breaking safeguarding rules they should be suspended.

Can you imagine a teacher who was under investigation being allowed to continue being around children?

Apart from the potential intimidation or further grooming of the accuser, what if they targeted another child whilst being investigated?
How would you feel if your child was groomed by someone the school already knew was a potential problem?

This is what happened at my school. My colleague was suspended on fully pay pending investigation. The allegations were unfounded and he was reinstated. We had group training on safeguarding ourself and the students. The colleague quit shortly after.

No. Why?! They should fully investigate and cease further interactions but not get him immediately suspended. On what basis? In that case pupils could just get staff suspended at will.

He should be suspended on fully pay pending investigation.

Really sorry this has happened.
Absolutely appalling behaviour from him.

My daughter had a similar situation with staff member of after school club. The person was suspended immediately and then employment was terminated.

What happened to your child is actually worse (asking for phone number and to meet outside of school).

I hope your daughter is ok, please make sure she knows she didn’t cause this and the consequences are deserved by staff member.

Glad she reported it. Definite no no asking for her phone number. The pictures could be innocent in that he is trying to connect with her and show an interest as a way to help the sessions he had with her (though many schools don't allow phones out, so this is also questionable if he is wanting her to break this rule).

Definitely check LADO referral has been made. If the concerns meet threshold they should do an independent investigation.