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Staff safety crackdown ordered for schools
Council leader demands complete audit after governors quit over staff recruitment ‘warning’
TOWN Hall chiefs have ordered a full-scale “review” of the recruitment system in every Islington school following a failure at a primary school to check staff references.
The move – ordered by Town Hall leader Cllr James Kempton – comes after the Tribune reported last week that 12 Canonbury primary school governors have quit, claiming they are being made scapegoats for the breakdown in procedures.
The Town Hall was yesterday (Thursday) unable to confirm if similar problems had been encountered at other Islington schools over the past three years.
The failures at Canonbury School are believed to have continued for more than two years after they were first uncovered by Islington Council in 2006.
Cllr Kempton said: “In connection with concerns about Canonbury School, Cambridge Education [CE, the private company that runs Islington’s schools] had planned a complete audit of recruitment practices for all schools that use outside contractors for HR and recruitment services. I have insisted this review is brought forward with immediate effect and have asked to have the results of this on my desk within days of the start of the new term.”
Investigations by the Tribune reveal the council rely on reports from schools that they have checked all staff records.
Labour leader Cllr Catherine West has written to Cllr Kempton questioning when councillors first knew of problems with safe recruitment at Canonbury and asking what action was taken.
Labour’s shadow education spokesman, Councillor Richard Watts, said: “It’s clear that senior figures in the council knew about these problems as early as 2006. I want to know why these weren’t solved. We need an audit of all remaining staff at all schools to make sure that there are no problems elsewhere. The systems aren’t working. Parents need to know if any children have been put at risk by these failures.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson and former schools minister Lord Andrew Adonis have both sent their children to Canonbury.
The school’s governors walked out after Islington Council served them with a warning notice, effectively blaming them for recruitment errors.
Yesterday (Thursday), the council withdrew the warning notice – sent to schools inspector Ofsted – claiming “circumstances have changed”.
Award-winning headmistress Sue Siefert, who retired recently from Montem Primary School after more than 40 years in education, was brought in as executive head after headteacher Jay Henderson was suspended in October.
One of London’s most influential heads, Ms Siefert won a lifetime achievement award in 2004.
Lib Dem councillor Ursula Woolley, the education chief at the time the faults were uncovered, said: “In the first year I was doing that job we were checking on recruitment procedures. CE wrote to all schools telling them they had to comply. I was told not all schools were yet up to scratch with the new standards that were coming in and we were making sure they were going to be compliant. Some of these things have to be a matter for the schools and governors and that’s how the system is set up.”
A Town Hall spokeswoman said: “The formal warning notice has now been withdrawn, and the new chair of governors has been advised of this.
“It is possible that a new notice will be issued to reflect the changed circumstances at the school.”
She added: “Schools report their figures to us. The most recent figures show that a CRB [Crimial Records Bureau] check has been requested for all new starters.
“Procedures are clear. Schools know that references should be part of the Single Central Record that they maintain.” |
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