child protection issue

[blokethattries]

Looking opinions on this, if a teacher was being investigated and then arrested over grooming / abuse. Would you expect the school to inform parents of children who had been taught by him/her?

No, because they are only allegations

I would expect the school is following the advice of the police in terms of what they share.

in a case where the teacher is arrested, suspended and being prosecuted ?

Do you not think that it would be necessary for parents or school to find out if other kids had been treated similarly ?

It's a really tricky one, as a parent I'd like to know but the school won't be allowed.

in this case the school told the pupils not to talk about the teacher or question why he was off.

once charged in court though, anominity is lost so I can't see why not.

No, only if the child had been abused by the teacher.

Maybe stop with the drip feeding and write it all in one post?

I just struggle to see how other victims can be identified and given help.

teacher suspended, charged in court after 8 months then eventually pled guilty after 2yrs.

The school had sat on and not acted on 2 CP concerns. related to same teacher and different child.

Seems weighted against the pupils.

No of course not. That could have really bad consequences.
I mean firstly if they haven't actually been convicted yet it obviously there's a chance they won't be..
But more importantly if everyone was told it may then become clear who the victims were to all the other kids.. which would put stress on the victims.
It may lead to speculation about the victims... bullying... general gossip
Its not a good idea to inform everyone at all.

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/william-maher-sentenced-communicating-young-29190110

this is the case. one kid was a pupil, then the teacher sought him out on social media two yrs later.

pics / videos of a sexual nature and references to sexual chat in class.

School still havnt commented. 2 more victims came forward.

The last thing parents (or anybody) should be doing is quizzing children about potential abuse. Safeguarding 101 - listen to a child’s disclosure, but no leading questions. It’s far too risky and none of them will be appropriately trained to question a potential victim.

Presumably everyone in the school community knows who teacher is and is alert to potential further disclosure. Not really sure what you’re expecting the school to do.

something as simple as asking parents to have a discussion along the lines of "was anything during your P6 class experience uncomfortable"?

Cross posted sorry
So he has pleaded guilty and there is info in the press... surely then victims could see that info and come forward if they wanted to?
There should be no pressure on victims. It's not helpful. Giving out this info directly to parents could put pressure on victims.. they may get interrogated by their own parents etc..
And again the gossip and bullying at school.
The MOST important thing is the safety and emotional welfare of the victims.

Maybe im not seeing it clearly. My son eventually disclosed, after a year. No touching but sexual conversation etc.

I feel that 12 months ..... we could have done police statements earlier and sought therapy sooner.

I don't think this would actually be very helpful to victims of sexual abuse. Not everyone has supportive parents. And even the most well meaning parents aren't trained in how to deal with this. Some children may find it incredibly traumatic to be put under pressure to talk to their parents about this.

it took 2 yrs for him to plead guilty, press didn't get involved untill that stage.

schools have access to a child protection crisis team, that could have been brought in.
But weren't.

untill my son disclosed and we approached the school there was no awareness as to why he had been suspended.

I teach as well, and I feel that The slightest suspicion should be invrstigated. But i can see both sides I guess.

The accused is afforded anominity untill charged in court, but that's not publicisrd.

I'm so sorry for your son and that you went through that. That's a really hard thing to go through as a family.
The most healthy way is for your son to reach out to you for help of his own accord when he feels comfortable to do that though.
I totally understand that you want to do the best for your son.
Not every child has that tho. And the school need to think of the welfare of all children.
As I said putting pressure on sexual abuse victims can have bad consequences for them. Informing parents that their child may have been abused before the child has actually come forward and spoken about it, and said it was OK to inform their family, can be really damaging to them. This is especially true of teenagers.
There would also be negative impact on some children who had not been abused but had been flagged up as having had the possibility... I mean imagine those conversations?
You sound like a good caring parent with a reasonable level of intelligence.. but again I say, not every child has that in their parents.

I’m sorry for what has happened to your son, that must be horrendous for you all. Having said that I think the school is likely to have been unable to say anything while an investigation was ongoing and even once the matter came to court. But I’m not a lawyer and especially ignorant of NI law so others may know better. It is, though, generally a risky strategy to have untrained people trying to secure disclosures from children.

Well that is negligent of the school i agree

gut feeling is that the school failed in duty of care.
I've tried FOI and SAR but all are being blocked / no records.
We know at least one CP concern was raised about our kid, but nothing done and we were not informed.

sorry
maybe I'm venting