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Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Safeguarding question

11 replies

Fangsalot89 · 25/09/2021 15:45

Hi!
I’d like to put a scenario to all you lovely teachers and see what you think.

School ran a maths competition and the winner was a year 6 boy. The prize was two tickets to a concert in Liverpool. It was a big band at the time but I forget the name now.
Everyone thought the kid would take a parent as they are too young to travel alone all that way (the school is in the midlands) but the headmaster said rang the parent and said he would take the kid himself and phrased it as “treat him all day to stuff he wants ie food etc.”
This was a weekend so not during school time.
He picked him up at the arse crack of Dawn in his own car to drive him there and no one else was with them the whole day.

Nothing happened obviously and this was more the head muscling his way in on a prize for his own benefit but does this not break some kind of safeguarding issue or is this ok?

The parent wanted to go but for reasons unknown, didn’t say so and just let the head take him so the parent did give permission.

I’m not sure in this day and age as a person in a position of responsibility, familiarity and extensive time alone with the child, I’d want to put myself in that position….just in case there was a false claim made.

I’d be interested in your thoughts.

OP posts:
spanieleyes · 25/09/2021 18:20

I don't quite know what you expect anyone to say. Of course, it's a safeguarding issue and a gross misconduct one too. If you have evidence it happened, then you need to report to the LADO straight away, I can't see why you haven't already.

WayDownInTheHole · 25/09/2021 19:44

Sounds enormously inappropriate and ill-advised. I'd be reporting it.

Fangsalot89 · 25/09/2021 21:29

@spanieleyes I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overreacting and actually there was some obscure caveat that I hadn’t thought of 🙄

OP posts:
Fangsalot89 · 25/09/2021 21:33

@WayDownInTheHole This happened several years ago now and the parents are rather ambivalent to the entire thing really. To the point they haven’t done anything themselves. I will still look into it though.

OP posts:
MissCruellaDeVil · 25/09/2021 23:52

Hugely inappropriate, a massive safeguarding issue and I would imagine gross misconduct too. How long ago are we talking?

Fangsalot89 · 26/09/2021 08:59

I thought exactly the same but wanted outside perspective as it seems to be just brushed and laughed off. I’d go nuts had it been my kid he was trying to do this with but I often feel like I’m being over the top with things.
Anyway, I reckon this must have been a good four or five years ago now

OP posts:
happystory · 28/09/2021 07:14

Well, I've worked at the same school for seven years and our policy has always said that you never transport children in your own car..

AICM · 28/09/2021 20:39

Is this person still a head?

PumpkinPie2016 · 28/09/2021 21:14

Hugely inappropriate and probably gross misconduct as well Shock

I honestly cannot fathom how school staff knew about this and absolutely no one did anything at all about it Shock

MrsHamlet · 28/09/2021 21:17

I've taken a single male student in my own car to school in the reasonably recent past.
There were very clear reasons why this needed to happen.
The parents asked the head for permission for me to do it. I was happy to do it because of the circumstances.
I'm not sure I'd do it now.!

ImAnOmelette · 28/09/2021 21:36

I've transported children too. For specific reasons and with prior school approval. I'd probably do it again under the same circumstances.

This sounds dodgy though.

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