Report into historical child sex abuse at Bridlington's Headlands School
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has published its Residential Schools report today
Headlands School in Bridlington has been included in a report published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
It relates to historical offences involving four staff members between 2001 and 2008.
The report mentions several schools across the country in which two phases of public hearings were held.
The first was during September and October 2019 focused on residential music schools, examining the characteristics specific to these types of residential schools which facilitate child sexual abuse, and how the risk of abuse can be minimised.
Headlands School in Bridlington was involved in the second phase, with public hearings held during November 2020, examined how the issues examined in Phase One can be addressed to create a safer organisational culture and a safer school. It built upon the issues which emerged from Phase One, and considered their relevance within day school settings.
Chair to the Inquiry, Professor Alexis Jay, said:
“Today we have published the Inquiry’s 19th investigation report, into Residential Schools.
“Schools play a central role in the lives of almost nine million children in England and half a million in Wales. They should be places of learning where children are nurtured by trusted teachers and are able to flourish in a safe environment. This is in contrast to the many shocking instances of child sexual abuse detailed in this report. They represent the opposite of everything that a school should be.
“Poor leadership frequently left staff unaware of how to respond to concerns about sexual abuse or too afraid of potential consequences to act. In some cases, it was clear that protecting the reputation of the school was prioritised over the protection of children from sexual abuse - this is a recurring theme in very many of our reports.
“Day and residential schools play a key role in keeping children safe from harm, but despite 20 years of enhanced focus on safeguarding they are not as safe for children as they should be. This must change. The seven recommendations in this report must be implemented to vitally improve the current systems of child protection in schools.”
The report overall said:
"A new report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse highlights shocking and horrific instances of child sexual abuse in schools, with some teachers exploiting their positions of trust to groom and abuse children across all types of educational settings examined by the Inquiry.
"The report says schools are not as safe for children as they should be and children’s interests do not always come first when allegations of sexual abuse are made.
"Many of the schools examined by the Inquiry responded inadequately to allegations against their staff and in some cases there was a culture which discouraged reporting.
"Too often, the Inquiry saw examples of headteachers who found it inconceivable that staff might abuse their positions of authority to sexually abuse children, were unaware of current statutory guidance or did not understand their role in responding to allegations against staff.
"It was clear that some staff were more focused on protecting the reputation of the school than protecting the interests of the children."
For Headlands School, the report said:
"Between 2006 and 2009, four members of staff were convicted of sexual offences against pupils at the school, committed between 2001 and 2008.
"Fourteen staff or former staff of Headlands School were investigated by Humberside Police, as well as two former Headlands School teachers who had gone on to teach at other schools where they committed sexual offences against pupils.
"Concerns about the safeguarding regime at Headlands School caused the East Riding of Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board to commence a major enquiry in January 2006, which published its final report in April 2008.
"It found deficiencies in safeguarding at the school under the leadership of a former headteacher. It also made 11 recommendations to strengthen safeguarding in East Riding schools and to improve multi-agency working where allegations were made against staff."
To read the full report and see the full recommendations, visit: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation/residential-schools