November 27th 2024.
As we continue to scroll through our news feed, we come across another devastating story that has left us speechless. It's a story about the mistreatment of children with learning disabilities in a school in north-east London. According to an investigation, these innocent children were subjected to hours of solitary confinement without food and water, in what was supposed to be a "calming room." The CCTV footage obtained by the BBC shows shocking images of these vulnerable children being physically abused, hit, thrown to the ground, and left to sit in their own vomit.
The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, was deeply disturbed by the footage and immediately called for a formal review to be conducted. The new leadership at the school also took action by sharing the footage with the police. However, despite a police investigation, no charges were brought against the staff members involved. It was only after safeguarding investigations commissioned by the school, that it was confirmed that six staff members had indeed abused the children.
The CCTV footage is difficult to watch as it shows the children in distress, hurting themselves, and desperately trying to get the attention of their teachers. It's heartbreaking to see one boy injure his own nose and another throwing his shoes towards the camera, in a desperate attempt to be heard. Sadly, this was the only time the teachers intervened while the children were trapped in these "calming rooms."
The leaked footage left parents sickened and outraged. One mother expressed her disgust by saying, "You wouldn't even do that to a dog." It's hard to believe that such abuse could go unnoticed for years, until 2017 when Ofsted discovered the "calming rooms" and downgraded the school's rating from "outstanding."
Despite the discovery, no investigation was conducted into the harm suffered by these children. Government guidelines state that disruptive pupils should only be removed for a limited amount of time and placed in suitable facilities. However, this was not the case at Whitefield School, as around 40 children were subjected to hours of solitary confinement.
The investigation into the footage was left to a single teaching assistant, who was later found to have tormented a child by shoving them into a corner with a rugby training pad. She claimed to have become "desensitized" to the CCTV footage and found it difficult to contact the school's leadership as a teaching assistant.
The families of these children reported that they developed PTSD after the incidents and some even had to be detained in a mental hospital due to the severe emotional damage they suffered. The Flourish Trust, which runs Whitefield, has acknowledged their failings in this case and has promised to learn from them. The Metropolitan Police is also conducting further investigations into Whitefield, but these are unrelated to the abuse.
It's clear that the responsibility for investigating the harm caused to these children lies with the Department for Education, as the regulator, and the school's local council, Waltham Forest. The council has offered counseling to the families, but they feel that more needs to be done to support their children.
In a statement, the Children's Commissioner expressed her heartfelt sympathy for these children and their families. She firmly believes that no child should ever be subjected to physical restraint under such conditions and with a lack of compassion. She also called for a review of the guidance and regulations surrounding the restraint of children with additional needs and for better training for teachers managing them. It's imperative that we take action now, to ensure that no child has to go through what these children did.
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