Charter North Dulwich - material Safeguarding issues at the school? CND hiding key Safeguarding information? parents' experience?

[JMK]

Hello

I'm keen to understand the differing view of parents of pupils at Charter North Dulwich with regards to the school's approach to dealing with bullying, misogyny, threatening, violent and abusive behaviour including physical assault and Safeguarding in general.

And whether parents believe that Charter North Dulwich meets its Duty of Care obligation to its pupils at all times?

In July 2023 it was communicated to parents that there was a very material failure of Charter North Dulwich's Safeguarding rules and procedures .

The Designated Safeguarding Lead was immediately removed from this role.

There is a reference in the September 2023 Minutes of the Board of Governors that there will be a full discussion of Safeguarding at the next meeting which was held on 23 November 2023.

No Minutes of the Board of Governors Meeting on 23 November 2023 are publicly available on the website of Charter North Dulwich but Minutes of subsequent meetings are available.

Charter North Dulwich has had 5 different Designated Safeguarding Leads in the last 3 years.

Do parents believe that Charter North Dulwich has actually improved its Safeguarding rules and procedures in practice or do parents believe that Charter North Dulwich has an institutional problem with its Safeguarding?

Are parents worried about their child's safety and security at Charter North Dulwich in the light of the material failure of its Safeguarding policy and procedures in July 2023?

What is their experience and the experience of their child since that time?

Do parents believe that Charter North Dulwich and its Board of Governors are deliberately hiding the information with regards to its material Safeguarding issue by not publishing the Minutes of the Board of Governors Meeting on 23 November 2023?

Thoughts and experiences welcome.

[Ella Menopee]

If there was a safeguarding failure of the magnitude you’re describing then it should have been referred to Ofsted. There may well be an investigation and/or subsequent inspection triggered by this.  Schools are required to publicise no-notice inspections on their websites so you may not have long to wait to find out if this is the case.

[JMK]

Thank you for your reply

There is no obligation on Charter North Dulwich to report this material Safeguarding incident in July 2023 to Ofsted

The obligation on any person or body regulated by Ofsted to self report relates to something called a “Significant Event”

 

However there is no definition of a “Significant Event” 

 

The regulated party, in this case, Charter North Dulwich, has complete discretion in how they define if a matter constitutes a “Significant Event” and therefore whether or not to report such a matter to Ofsted

 

The letter to the parents in July 2023 from Charter North Dulwich reporting the material Safeguarding issue is very clear as to the steps the school is taking to address the matter.

 Equally, the letter very clearly makes no reference to the school reporting this material Safeguarding incident to Ofsted.

 

There is no other evidence in the public domain that Charter North Dulwich reported this material Safeguarding incident to Ofsted.

 

[Sally Eva]

Report it yourself. If you have evidence of misbehaviour involving children, you should report it to the police.

[ianr]

What ICO says at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/freedom-of-information-and-environmental-information-regulations/public-authorities-under-foia/ may be relevant:

Schedule 1 may not list an organisation in the way you expect. For example, within the education sector, the school itself is not the public authority. That falls to the governing body of a school, further education institution or university.

[JMK]

The police will not investigate a Safeguarding issue at a school as it is not a criminal matter per se and do not have the available resource 

The local authority does not have any oversight or regulatory authority for an Academy school

A complaint to Ofsted will initially be answered within 30 working days or 42 calendar days

A complaint may be made directly to the school or to a parent Trust of such a school; however, they determine how it will be processed and by whom

Separately, under the UK Government Guidance dated September 2024 

"Keeping Children Safe In Education 2024: Statutory Guidance for Schools & Colleges"

It is stated in Part One: Information for all School & College Staff

"Part 1, 2: In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child centred.  This means they they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child"

 

Other than the two routes outlined above, there appears to be no alternative way to ensure that a school abides by their Duty of Care at all times and in a way whereby such breach can be immediately or quickly cured and in a manner which is in the best interests of the child at all times unless someone is able to refer to an alternative route?

 

[Underhook]

It sounds like you have already carried out a lot of research on this topic?