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‘Monks of concern’: Why are there still students at Ampleforth?

56 replies

Onezee · 16/03/2022 21:53

If school leaders can’t prevent ‘monks of concern’ being admitted to the Ampleforth Abbey site, then there surely can’t be any other option than to shut it down?

('Monks of concern would include those who have been accused, and any found guilty of, child sexual abuse in the past and any who are under investigation currently.' www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10620321/Ampleforth-College-rated-inadequate-Ofsted-failures-Catholic-boarding-school.html).

Can the DfE deregister the school? Or are the unsafe children who currently attend the school reliant on market forces to shut it down?

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prh47bridge · 17/03/2022 00:18

The Daily Mail report is, of course, somewhat sensationalised.

The school cannot prevent monks of concern being admitted to the site as the school shares the site with Ampleforth Abbey, but any monk visiting the school must sign in and wear a lanyard. The colour of the lanyard indicates whether the visitor must be accompanied. According to Ofsted, a protocol is being put in place to ensure that the abbey shares safeguarding information with the school. Ofsted's recommendation is to ensure that pupils are adequately protected from contact rather than to insist that the abbey bans monks of concern.

The DfE can deregister the school but, as with any school rated inadequate, it will first be given a chance to address the issues. Indeed, the Ofsted report states that there have been improvements in safeguarding arrangements since the last inspection in March 2021. However, the DfE appears to be reluctant to force independent schools to close, so forced closures are rare.

Onezee · 17/03/2022 07:33

What colour lanyard do you have to wear to visit the school if you are a convicted paedophile?

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puffyisgood · 17/03/2022 12:45

@Onezee

What colour lanyard do you have to wear to visit the school if you are a convicted paedophile?
I think the lanyards are loosely based on the old Jim'll Fix It badge design, with ribbon colour denoting the level of concern using a sort of traffic light system. You really wouldn't want to leave your son alone with one of the red-ribboned chaps.
Onezee · 17/03/2022 13:18

Why are people still sending their children to this school?

These aren’t historical offences (although there are those at Ampleforth); it is their current safeguarding practices that are found to be ineffective, and this is after repeated inspections finding the school to be unsafe for its students.

I appreciate what @prh47bridge says about forced closures being rare, but surely the DfE can’t allow this boarding school to continue?

Article in The Times today: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sex-and-drug-claims-put-ampleforth-colleges-future-in-doubt-qlsg89m00

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AllyKaneT · 17/03/2022 13:37

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olympicsrock · 17/03/2022 13:46

That’s bad timing for an ofsted inspection Grin

puffyisgood · 17/03/2022 14:55

@olympicsrock

That’s bad timing for an ofsted inspection Grin
Yeah, it doesn't read well.

An interesting titbit is the following: "There is a large proportion of Year 7 to Year 13 pupils, 37%, on the school’s roll with SEND".

I don't know if this is the sort of thing that's standard for a £££ boarding school, e.g. a wheeze to give kids more time to complete their exam papers to bump grade averages up, or if it's genuine. If the latter then it adds a really alarming added layer of vulnerability over & above the fact that the individuals involved are children.

SirSamVimesCityWatch · 17/03/2022 15:06

a wheeze to give kids more time to complete their exam papers to bump grade averages up,

Can't speak for Ampleforth specifically, but this does happen a lot in private schools, partly because the school / the parents can afford private assessments of things like dyslexia, slow processing speed, which then result in extra time in exams. Those same pupils usually wouldn't be 'bad' enough to have an assessment in a state school.

AuditAngel · 17/03/2022 16:01

My nephew attended Ampleforth and loved his school.

BlusteryLake · 17/03/2022 16:12

@AuditAngel

My nephew attended Ampleforth and loved his school.
That doesn't mean there aren't safeguarding concerns. Just because he escaped the dodgy monks, others might not be so lucky.
Onezee · 17/03/2022 18:26

@olympicsrock

That’s bad timing for an ofsted inspection Grin
… in the past couple of years they have been inspected five times because Ofsted repeatedly find them to be an unsafe place for children: reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/121735

Essentially, it will always be ‘bad timing’ for an Ofsted inspection if you are Ampleforth, because your safeguarding practices are no good (… and, if you are Ampleforth, you will always be being inspected by Ofsted because your safeguarding practices are no good).

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Aroundtheworldin80moves · 17/03/2022 18:33

Aren't the grounds open to the public anyway? We visited a few tears ago, there was a tea room etc but it was the school holidays. They did have international students there for summer school though.

drspouse · 17/03/2022 18:33

If a mainstream independent school has small class sizes some parents choose it over a specialist school for children who don't have learning disabilities but cope better in a small class.

thebellsesmereldathebells · 17/03/2022 18:38

Because there are still parents whose moral compass is so skewed by snobbery, status anxiety and greed that they make a conscious choice that the risk of sexual harm is outweighed by the cachet garnered by attending the most prestigious Catholic school in the country?

I agree wholeheartedly with @AllyKaneT about boarding schools generally (and I did go to one). My experience is that it is not just the students who are actually unhappy, bullied or would say they felt abandoned who suffer lifelong damage. Those students are in some ways better off, because they are more likely to face up to the damage and seek support to overcome it.

The ones to worry about are the ones who "loved it", dismiss homesickness as a normal developmental stage, are evangelical about it teaching them self-reliance and independence etc. Those who would agree with their parents that it was the making of them. It was. That's not a good thing. Later in life, perhaps after having achieved the kind of material success their parents had in mind when they sent them away, these people often have devastating impairments in their ability to form, navigate and maintain healthy relationships. They often suffer from alexythymia as a result of learning to suppress and swallow unwanted feelings. They often lack empathy, or the ability to express it appropriately. They are frequently blind-sided by mental health problems, depression and grief in middle age, often when their own children reach the ages at which they were sent away.

Boarding school DOES work in the way that parents hope it will - but often at a terrible price. The healthiest choice for any child is to live full-time with adults who LOVE them unconditionally and have their interests at heart. No boarding school can offer that.

Onezee · 17/03/2022 18:42

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Aren't the grounds open to the public anyway? We visited a few tears ago, there was a tea room etc but it was the school holidays. They did have international students there for summer school though.
Schools shouldn’t be open to the public.

If a headteacher cannot ensure that safeguarding standards are upheld then the school is not safe.

The issue here seems to be that the headteacher cannot lead on safeguarding because the Abbey continue to admit ‘monks of concern’ who can then access the school, and the children see monks as ‘trusted adults’.

I feel so sorry for anyone trying to lead that school and would worry for all staff that it is not a professionally safe place to work.

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AllyKaneT · 17/03/2022 22:29

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AllyKaneT · 17/03/2022 22:39

Link to the New York Times article.

The Boarding-School Boom

www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/style/boarding-school-covid.html

Onezee · 17/03/2022 23:10

I don’t think boarding schools have to be abusive.

Ampleforth just seem to be unable to safeguard their school because the Abbey that owns them won’t cooperate. I just cannot understand how a school culture can be so rotten that a headteacher can’t prevent convicted paedophiles from walking around their school (even with a lanyard).

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AllyKaneT · 17/03/2022 23:26

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Onezee · 17/03/2022 23:38

The school is breaking child welfare laws. That is why it has been found inadequate by Ofsted. I just don’t understand why it can still be open and have students (and staff who are willing to work there) after all these inspections that say that safeguarding is ineffective in the school.

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Onezee · 17/03/2022 23:40

The Ofsted phrase, ‘Monks of concern’, really chills me.

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AllyKaneT · 17/03/2022 23:59

@Onesee The parents and staff involved don't seem to care thats why its still open.

I more meant existing laws are not good enough, they should have more consequence which feeds in to your point. It is patiently obvious the parents and staff are turning a blind eye, they should be held accountable. The school should be closed by the authorities and the parents and staff should be investigated. No decent adult would condone or support what went on there. The law should be tougher on those that did.

The 'Monks of concern’ comment disturbed me too.

prh47bridge · 18/03/2022 08:24

@Onezee

The school is breaking child welfare laws. That is why it has been found inadequate by Ofsted. I just don’t understand why it can still be open and have students (and staff who are willing to work there) after all these inspections that say that safeguarding is ineffective in the school.
No, it is not breaking any laws. Any monk that has committed a child sex offence is committing a further offence if they work with children, have unsupervised contact with children or go to a place where it is likely there will be a large number of children. It is the monk that would be committing an offence if any of these things happened, not the school.

Although the abbey and the school share a site, the abbey is separate from the school. They do not appear to share any buildings.

The school has been found inadequate primarily due to other safeguarding failures, not the presence on the site of monks of concern. Regarding the monks, Ofsted are clear that the school needs to ensure that pupils are adequately protected from contact with monks of concern. They do not suggest that the abbey needs to give the head a veto over which monks can live at the abbey.

SagaNorenLansrimMalmo · 18/03/2022 22:21

The biggest question is surely why the hell is anyone still sending their kids there?!

Ocsetldil · 18/03/2022 22:57

That is so sad about those two kids at Windermere School. The poor boy.