Daily Safeguarding News - Safer Schools

Black headteachers in UK say pupils crying out for ‘people who look like them’

Black headteachers from across the UK have written letters to the next generation of school leaders, urging them to become role models for students who wish for teachers who “look like them”.
These letters have been compiled in a book by headteacher of a primary school in Greenwich, south-east London, Amanda Wilson.
The book is aimed at encouraging black teachers to pursue leadership positions to combat under-representation in the teaching sector.
Research has shown that applicants to initial teacher training who are recorded as Black have the lowest acceptance rate.
In 2021, of the 20,786 headteachers in England, only 1% were Black.
For more, please visit the Guardian’s website.

A teacher at a school in England has been awarded almost £45,000 after he was fired over sexual assault claims.
Pupils later admitted that they had made the claims up “for fun”.
Following the allegations, he was suspended from the Plymouth school, despite older girls reporting that the accusers admitted to them they made it up.
The teacher was arrested and dismissed for “gross misconduct”, an employment tribunal was heard and his appeal against losing his job was rejected despite the dropped charges.
He was previously subject to false rumours in 2021 which also resulted in a suspension at the time.
In the most recent case, an employment judge upheld the teacher’s claim of unfair dismissal and criticised the school’s investigation into the girls’ allegations.
The judge declared that the school’s investigation fell short of what would be expected and “accepted the evidence of the younger pupils without challenge or exploration and discounted, ignored or avoided finding contrary evidence.”
For more, please visit the MSN News website.

AQA hopes that by 2030, at least one major subject will be partly sat digitally in England.
It said the reading and listening parts of its GCSE Italian and Polish exams will be the first to be assessed this way, from 2026, subject to approval.
The board reported that digital exams are “truer to the digital world” that students grow up in, are better for the environment and can help those with special educational needs.
Under the plans, students’ devices would be offline to ensure internet use and AI tools are not utilised.
AQA reported that 68% of young people surveyed agreed that digital exams would be better.
Tom Middlehurst, a curriculum, assessment and inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), reported the move is “very encouraging”.
For more, please visit the BBC News website.

The parents of a five-year-old boy were left waiting outside the school office before a member of staff told them that their child was lost.
Without anyone noticing, the boy walked to his home more than 10 minutes away.
His mother made a formal complaint on the same day but did not receive a written response from the school until eleven days later.
A spokesperson for the infant school said the pupil’s mother contacted the police who spoke with her.
The spokesperson reported that the issue is being treated as a serious safeguarding incident and has been reported to the local authority.
The school takes “full responsibility for what happened”.
The child has been “too scared” to return, and his parents are looking for alternative education.
For more, please visit the MSN website.