Memorandum submitted by Nigel MorrisHead
teacher
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST
SCHOOL STAFF
I am the Head teacher in a secondary boys BESD
Special school. Our students have complex difficulties and these
are often shared by their families as well. We have a high proportion
of students who arrive at this school with a history of making
allegations against staff; a large percentage who have been abused
or there is suspicion of abuse. A large percentage who resort
readily to violence and need physical intervention to protect
the safety of others. In short, it is the kind of environment
where there is a high risk of false allegations. This has to be
balanced by ensuring robust procedures to identify those who do
behave unprofessionally.
Procedures for the disciplinary hearing are good.
Problems arise because of the timescale for reaching this point.
In one case it was some 18 months and in a current, more straightforward
case, six months. Both cases were unfounded. There should be a
clearly defined timescale which should be adhered to unless there
is good and documented reason not to.
There should be a preliminary assessment following
any allegation against staff and the strategy meeting should have
the authority to make professional judgements as well as factual
ones.
It appears the Police procedure allows no room
for officers to make a judgement about the validity of the allegation.
In one case a member of staff allegedly assaulted a student in
the presence of other students. None of the students including
the alleged victim made any reference to this at the time and
neither did their parents (This does not happen when a student
is assaulted in front of witnesses) and didn't do until two weeks
later the parent of the alleged victim complained to the Police
and an investigation followed. The case was dropped after three
months and an internal investigation led to no further action.
There was a huge amount of evidence at the initial strategy meeting
to indicate that this was a malicious allegation. All present
agreed that if the allegation had not gone to the Police the strategy
meeting would have concluded that no further action was needed
but because the allegation was made directly to the Police the
member of staff was subject to a lengthy suspension.
It appears that where the Police have a minor
allegation against a member of staff that they treat this as low
priority and against a murder enquiry this is obvious. The Police
are not required to consider the impact of suspension on a member
of staff, their family, colleagues and the school community. There
should be a dedicated group of officers who deal with allegations
and this should be within a fixed, short timescale.
Suspension remains appropriate where an investigation
is taking place, however, working away from staff and children
should be the norm to allow an initial assessment to take place.
The professional judgement of those with experience
of the individuals concerned should be given a weighting.
Where an allegation is false there should be
no reference to the case on a person's file. The Disciplinary
Panel should have the authority to make a recorded decision on
this.
Where an allegation is false the student and
any supporters of the allegation should be removed from the school.
April 2009
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