To think the local Authority should do something about schoolsLike these?

[Perhapsperhapsto]

Friend has discovered that the private school her DS was supposed to go to on a sports ‘scholarship has massive safeguarding issues around the teachers they hire.
Not checking there are allowed to teach kids at all for starters.
The report they have on their website is from 5!years ago when all was okay, different head, different owners.

But 3 reports in the last 3 years have all said the same thing - about welfare, safeguarding, leadership etc. And nothing’s been done.

it’s a private,
part boarding, school - at what point do the local authorities step in to say - kids aren’t safe here because the school
refuse to do basic DBS checks etc???

TBF it doesn't say they're not doing the checks only that some staff haven't been checked, which could be something like the usual person was off for a while and they got missed. Still very poor but not necessarily quite as bad as OP wants to paint it.

IME of state schools Ofsted do a spot check of maybe three staff files. If one of those isn't right the finding with be "some" staff.

What do you mean “not allowed to teach kids”?

The report says they haven't checked the barred register. It is a register of people who are not allowed to teach, sex offenders and the like.

If it merely said that in the 2021 report I could agree. But the two short inspections in subsequent years says that some staff have STILL not been checked.

Go to the independent school inspectorate website and look up Beechwood School, Kent
Its 2018 was okay but after that…

Many thanks, OP - will have a look

‘Most independent schools are desperate to pass and so will put in changes and actively invite ISI in. ‘

I’d be surprised if they ARE inviting them in given they haven’t actually made any of the changes they were told to make since 2021…

DBS exists for a reason. Safeguarding exists for a reason. Schools or people who try to fudge or avoid these rules and checks do so for a reason.
Normal people, coaches, schools, staff with nothing to hide embrace the checks that are in place.

I tried to link the report but the website puts my real name on the link for some reason

‘What do you mean “not allowed to teach kids”?

The report says they haven't checked the barred register. It is a register of people who are not allowed to teach, sex offenders and the like.’

This. You’charge £18-£30k a year in fees per pupil but no-one has the time to check the new guy, who’s been teaching overseas for a few years ISN’T barred from being around children???

I saw it before the post was removed. It's because you linked to your hard drive, not to the website.

The whole thing makes me queasy. Not sure what I would do if I found this out a couple of days before term started, when I thought D.C. was getting a scholarshiP to a great school.

OP the reports don’t say they haven’t been checking the barring list. They refer to a lack of evidence, lack of dates when done, only checking after appointment. I’m not saying that’s good, but it’s not the same as staff being employed who are on the barring list (which would be an immediate safeguarding issue).

If I was a parent I would be probably more concerned that they were not able to put in what should be fairly basic systems and checks,

I note the school was bought by Alpha Holdings in 2021. I don’t know the school but these groups often go for schools which were struggling. They were often run by families/religious orders and there is often a lack of modern leadership and recognition of the need for robust processes and systems. Really till 2022 covid was causing major problems for all schools and so it may be they are actively implementing processes. If they have concerns why not speak to the head?

You seem very angry about this OP “for a friend”, is this in fact your child? Are you unhappy with the school and trying to get out of a notice period, argue to recover fees? If that’s the case fine, but the DofE are not going to jump in and shut down this school over this ISI report.

I've read a LOT of ISI and Ofsted reports over the years and my husband has taight in ISI inspected schools.

These reports are damning

‘You seem very angry about this OP “for a friend”, is this in fact your child? Are you unhappy with the school and trying to get out of a notice period, argue to recover fees?’

No, I personally would not choose private schooling. I have known the child in question since they were a baby, and feel more like an aunt to them than just a family friend.

I also work with children, and safeguarding is something that I believe is incredibly important for the safety and welfare of our children. Too many are put in vulnerable positions or abused by or taken advantage of.
In my experience those who would seek to ignore or exploit safeguarding checks often have something to hide.

‘Comefromaway · Today 15:45

I've read a LOT of ISI and Ofsted reports over the years and my husband has taight in ISI inspected schools.

These reports are damning’

thanks, that useful.

Compare the actions of this school (putting an old report on the website, not addressing the action points etc) to the reaction of another school that was put on a similar action plan for safeguarding (a senior member of staff left suddenly and I strongly suspect was sacked).

This letter was on the website along with the ISI report and monitoring visits in question

"So why did the school fail certain regulations relating to Safeguarding?
The inspectors state that ‘the school promotes an open and transparent culture regarding safeguarding’. However, the staff code of conduct forms part of our suite of safeguarding policies and the inspectors felt that not all staff observed the code of conduct uniformly with regard to matters of communication and respect for pupils.

What steps are the school taking to address this?
We have already given all staff refresher training on the staff code of conduct, in particular with regard to communication and respect for pupils. We will be improving our consistency in challenging any negative use of language by staff. We have also given refresher training on our whistleblowing procedures. We have already held the first of a series of workshops on positive communication when working with young people. The Senior Management has implemented the monitoring of positive communication as a specific area of focus.

What happens next?
The school will be working to address the concerns raised by the inspectors as quickly as possible. We have already begun to implement changes to our procedures including the steps taken above and any further actions that we feel to be necessary. The school will receive another unannounced additional inspection at some point to evaluate our progress in these areas. "

They were honest and open with both parents and prospective parents about the shortcomings, didn't attempt to hide it and turned things around very quickly (I know children in the school)

In what way are they “damming”? I’m not saying they are good, but the OP was asking about Local Authority action etc, this is nowhere near what would be needed to meet the threshold for shutting a school down.

To try and give actual comparison not “I’ve read lots of reports and this is damming”, this would likely be an inadequate rating by OFSTED (because safeguarding concerns immediately are). They would not shut the school down.

As I say if OP is that concerned (and her friend is) pull the kid out. As I say I suspect more is going on here then being a concerned friend…

I can't give an actual comparison for privacy reasons, but there is a process. OFSTED have not yet been called in, but if this continues they will be.

The fact it is a boarding school means they have to adhere to certain boarding standards too and this is where things do get strict. I'm surprised, knowing what I know about other schools, that this has been allowed to get this far to be honest.

’In what way are they “damming”?’

failing to make sure your staff aren’t sex offenders? I call that damming. Failing to meet basic welfare and safeguarding standards?
Failing to check references, get DBS’s completed, keep adequate records?
Health and safety issues? Failures of leadership and management? Not meeting thresholds for running the school?

But as I said before, I consider safeguarding children in school a necessity, not a luxury,

Friend definitely feels
mislead - they looked at the school, website and read the available report that’s on the website - the one that is 5 years old and completely out of date. Superseded by 3 more.

Nothing was mentioned about any issues the school was having at all. The lack of transparency over the last few years would be another red flag for me.

If the ISI has been in 3 years in a row, they are monitoring the situation closely and will be chasing them up regularly. Have they had a high turnover of staff? If ISI don't see action to fix the shortfall, they will be referred on to Ofsted. It's roughly the equivalent of 'requires improvement'.

My ds has a scholarship to an independent school. Before we even applied, I did my research, read the ISI reports, the exam results, visited the school several times, talked to other parents, ds had some taster days. That's normal.

I also know that the new Spanish teacher did not have his dbs completed until he'd been teaching for 2 weeks. It happens sometimes.

Nothing was mentioned about any issues the school was having at all. The lack of transparency over the last few years would be another red flag for me

Having now read the reports and seen that they're still not training staff sufficiently well in these vital areas, I'd have to agree
Frankly they must be mad; given what's happened in too many others schools this above all is something you get right and show you've got right, but what comes across to me is the possibility of a "flappy hand attitude" to the issue

However I see the school has a catholic affiliation, so perhaps this approach - and especially the lack of transparency - is no surprise

Not nowadays. They have to do the checks.

‘However I see the school has a catholic affiliation, so perhaps this approach - and especially the lack of transparency - is no surprise’

if anything, given the levels of abuse in church schools over the years, and the protection of pedophiles within the Catholic Church, you’d think they’d be keen to prove they do care about the welfare of the children. Not have the same issues years after they were first raised, and clearly be trying to disguise the lack of safeguarding.

I wonder where details of the Safeguarding Lead are? And why the link to the Safeguarding Policy is dead? (In fairness, that could be because they are just about to approve a new one, though that doesn't help when there is no obvious way of contacting them to make a disclosure).