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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

School safeguarding failure

37 replies

VortexofBloggery · 23/01/2020 12:25

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/23/teacher-allegedly-abused-pupils-despite-previous-charge-court-hears
School wasn't advised of previous allegations of child abuse at former school. I don't know the rules around this, but would imagine the school should know all the details of a previous case before hiring someone to work with children.

Any safeguarding experts out there?

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lordchipmonk · 23/01/2020 12:31

I thought that was the whole point of the DBS check...

VortexofBloggery · 23/01/2020 12:56

The previous event didn't end up in conviction. Nothing on his record.

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GirlDownUnder · 23/01/2020 13:02

Nothing on his record.

But if Harry (the Owl) Millers' crime-not crime would show on an advance DBS search, how is this not picked up?

I don't know anything about DBS so my question might be completely stupid.

LangittleClegabbage · 23/01/2020 13:02

Lang Cleg would probably have had some helpful info here. What a shame she's been permanently banned.

VortexofBloggery · 23/01/2020 13:06

The article reads as though it's the employment agent's fault for not disclosing the previous allegations.

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SarahTancredi · 23/01/2020 13:06

But if Harry (the Owl) Millers' crime-not crime would show on an advance DBS search, how is this not picked up?

That's the million dollar question isnt it...

VortexofBloggery · 23/01/2020 13:08

Yes LangCleg insight would be helpful here. The safeguarding rules need tightening up to include previous complaints whether or not they resulted in a conviction.

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SpiderHunter · 23/01/2020 13:14

The safeguarding rules need tightening up to include previous complaints whether or not they resulted in a conviction

I believe that is already the case. Which is why the agency should have passed on the information.

R0wantrees · 23/01/2020 14:25

The previous event didn't end up in conviction. Nothing on his record.

Enhanced DBS checks (formerly CRB) are specifically supposed to show up "additional information held by local police considered relevant to the role in question."

CRB was brought in after the abuse & murder of Holly Wells & Jessica Chapman by Ian Huntley (school caretaker) because although he had no convictions for sex offences, he had been reported to police in his native Humberside on six occasions over sexual assaults or sexual relationships with underage girls.

Uncompromisingwoman · 23/01/2020 14:52

This is a failure of the agencies concerned. The allegations should have been recorded and shown up on an enhanced DBS check - that's the whole purpose of enhanced checks - although as we are discovering these are beginning to have more holes than a colander in certain circumstances.

R0wantrees · 23/01/2020 15:01

There are many examples of the consequences of serious systemic Safeguarding framework failures. This is a very important one.

thread collating some of the many others:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3301266-Safeguarding-girls-and-protecting-women-post-Jimmy-Saville-metoo

ChickenonaMug · 23/01/2020 17:14

This other recent story is also an example of the consequences of serious systematic safeguarding failures.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7896005/Mother-claims-son-7-lost-identity-sexually-assaulted-teaching-assistant.html?fbclid=IwAR2T17uxoYvQKS7Akz0V6lyWtAuDEaxr7Q8l08Ob1Xsp5FfpG47cMJW-vL0

A 7yr old boy was sexually assaulted at school by a reading volunteer, who was a local university student. The perpetrator was brought into the school through a scheme at his university and he had volunteered in several schools. However in court it was revealed that the perpetrator had previously touched a 13-year-old boy inappropriately, but it had been dealt with by the victim's school rather than being reported to the police.

The sexual assault of the 7yr old boy could have been prevented had the 13yr old boy's school acted on the report appropriately. It is dangerous to children when schools, agencies, the police or others do not follow safeguarding frameworks properly or when they fail to understand the importance of every single part of these frameworks.

Mayomaynot · 23/01/2020 17:29

Teachers are subject to 'enhanced with barred lists' DBS checks, which show up anything questionable, even if there are no convictions. Somebody hasn't been doing their job properly.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service

Uncompromisingwoman · 23/01/2020 17:30

That's awful ChickenonaMug
Collective learning about safeguarding continues to be inadequate. What on earth went through that original school's thinking that they failed to report a sexual assault on a child by (presumably) a stranger?

Mayomaynot · 23/01/2020 17:34

"Barring

Where requested, an enhanced certificate will also include a check of one or both of the DBS barred lists. If an individual is listed, this will appear on their DBS certificate.

It is our responsibility at the DBS to maintain these lists. This area of our work involves making fair, consistent and thorough decisions that are appropriate to the behaviour that has occurred, and considering the risk of future harm.

People are brought to the attention of our barring team in one of three ways:

automatic barring offence – also known as autobar
disclosure
referral

Automatic – also known as autobar

This is when someone has been newly convicted or cautioned for a serious offence and they are considered for immediate barring, either with or without the opportunity to make representations. This information comes from the Police National Computer.
Disclosure

This is when someone applies for an enhanced DBS check to work with children or adults in certain circumstances, such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care, and the check reveals relevant information that results in the individual being considered for inclusion on one or both of the barred lists.
Referral

This is when an employer, volunteer manager or other organisation has concerns that someone has either caused harm or has the potential to cause harm to vulnerable groups and submits a referral to the DBS.

Regulated activity providers (employers or volunteer managers of people working in regulated activity in England, Wales or Northern Ireland) and personnel suppliers have a legal duty to refer to DBS where conditions are met."

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service/about

justcly · 23/01/2020 17:47

When a school employs a teacher directly, they do the DBS checks and keep a central record. But in the case of supply teachers, the DBS check is done by the agency, who hold the certificate. So the agency either didn't do the check, or did the check but withheld the info from the school.

The very simple answer is for schools to insist on seeing evidence of the DBS certificate before taking on the supply teacher.

R0wantrees · 23/01/2020 20:19

The very simple answer is for schools to insist on seeing evidence of the DBS certificate before taking on the supply teacher.

Im very surprised that this isnt standard practice.

It will be interesting & important to hear further specific details about what happened as it has direct parallels with Ian Huntley.

VortexofBloggery · 23/01/2020 23:28

Thanks for sharing those links. Heartbreaking for that little boy & his mum. Schools relying on another institution to do the checks isn't enough, clearly.

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TheBewildernessisWeetabix · 23/01/2020 23:39

Over and over the problem is not only with the predators but also with the people in authority who enable predators by thwarting safeguarding requirements and responsibilities.

RaingodsWithZippos · 23/01/2020 23:56

So, I know of another case like this, my stepson's secondary school. The teacher had been dismissed for an inappropriate relationship with a pupil elsewhere in the country, the school didn't want the stigma and didn't report him to the General Teaching Council or the police. The pupil's parents went to the police but the girl refused to say anything in interview and the only evidence was her diary, which she claimed was just fictional and she had a crush. The school denied all knowledge and said they dismissed him for other reasons. The case went nowhere but it went on his dbs check as 'soft Intel'.

A year later he applied for and got a job at my stepson's school. The council's HR department who carried out checks didn't get a copy of his DBS check, the school had believed the council had done it and didn't ask for a copy for their records. Nobody asked his previous employer for a reference. The school had no single central register and so when the inevitable happened and he started up a relationship with a 14 year old that turned sexual, the school were caught out. The worst thing was his wife also taught at the school, discovered the affair because she found letters in his bag, but didn't tell anyone because she was ashamed and also loved him. It only came to a head when he was caught on CCTV with the pupil in a compromising position at school.

The school concerned have completely overhauled their safeguarding policies. They are now an academy and do their own recruitment and checks, things are apparently much tighter and Ofsted are happy. The teacher got banned with no option to apply for it to be lifted.

Sexnotgender · 24/01/2020 08:30

It’s hard to believe in this day and age we’re still seeing such terrible safeguarding failures.

Uncompromisingwoman · 24/01/2020 08:34

RaingodsWithZippos That's chilling. Given that schools who fail to comply with safeguarding automatically 'fail' their Ofsted, it defies belief that ensuring compliance isn't the top priority.

ChickenonaMug · 24/01/2020 09:08

RaingodsWithZippos that is just awful.

And yes TheBewilderness definitely this. Over and over the problem is not only with the predators but also with the people in authority who enable predators by thwarting safeguarding requirements and responsibilities.

VortexofBloggery · 24/01/2020 09:50

the school didn't want the stigma

what's that quote about someone's reputation being more important than protecting women & girls? Schools that fail to report should be more afraid of not reporting.

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Mayomaynot · 24/01/2020 09:55

One of my old Head Teachers used to say that if the school failed on safeguarding during an Ofsed inspection then that was an automatic fail for the whole inspection.So even if schools don't care about the children (which is a revolting thought) then I would expect the leadership to care about their own jobs and make sure this was in place. I guess there's no accounting for bad leadership.