Letter to Fiona Mactaggart MP from Christine
Gilbert CBE, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's
Services and Skills, Ofsted
At the Select Committee meeting on 14 May 2008,
you asked about Caldicott School and I offered to provide further
background on this case.
I assured you that Ofsted always considers issues
of child protection when it inspects a school and I can confirm
that this was the case when Caldicott School was inspected. You
mentioned that Buckinghamshire Local Safeguarding Board discussed
concerns about abuse that had happened in the past and the fact
that the most recent Ofsted report on Caldicott School did not
refer to this.
The report does in fact refer to child protection
in several places. In the section headed Improvements since the
last inspection inspectors wrote:
Training in child protection has occurred for
all staff and a comprehensive child protection policy has been
approved by the local authority. ... Risk assessments are undertaken
routinely in relation to the promotion of the health and safety
of the boarders.
There is also a section in the report headed
Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay
safe, in which inspectors make a further evaluation of child
protection matters. I have appended a copy of the report and have
highlighted specific references to child protection.[5]6
I indicated at the Select Committee meeting
that no-one would wait for an inspection if a concern had been
raised. I can confirm that there was an investigation into the
allegations made and that there was a subsequent inspection to
set actions for the school, in order to improve its procedures.
A further inspection was carried out by CSCI, which held responsibility
at that time for the inspection of welfare in boarding schools,
and inspectors set a series of actions for the school to complete
before its next inspection. In the most recent Ofsted inspection
of January 2008, inspectors investigated to make sure these actions
had been completed, as demonstrated in the section of the report
that I quote above.
The report does not make specific mention to
events that took place in 2001, but does refer directly to matters
that arose from that period and to actions set subsequently. I
feel that this gives clear reassurances to those who had concerns
about the school, that the school has taken action to improve,
and that inspectors have made regular checks on the school to
ensure it did so.
I trust that this addresses your concerns, but
please be in touch if you have any further queries.
June 2008
5 6 Not printed. Back
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