Over this weekend, there have been numerous articles about the dinner lady, Carol Hill, who was sacked on the grounds of gross misconduct.
She was in breach of school confidentiality rules when she informed a girl’s parents that their daughter was being bullied. The girl had been tied up with a skipping rope and was then whipped by other children (one being the son of a school governor !).
Why dinnerlady Carol Hill deserves a medal, not the sack
Daily Mirror, 26 Sep 2009
We have now heard that Mr. Kidd has instructed staff that any similar breaches in school / pupil confidentiality would not be tolerated at Duke Street. He went further to emphasise that staff who supported Carol Hill could find themselves in serious trouble and reminded them that the school name and image is important.
It was barely a year ago when the school tried to conceal that there had been a rat infestation in the kitchen :
The ‘Pied Piper’ of Duke Street
Whilst we concede that all schools have similar confidentiality restrictions; this is yet another example where the priority of the school is to protect its reputation in deference to the safety and well‑being of our children !
1 comment:
Their can be no defendable position by which anyone can be accused of a breach of ‘confidentiality’ when disclosing important information about an assault to the victim child’s parents or for that matter the victim them selves. The details of an Assault must always out rank any concept of ‘confidentiality’, otherwise the legal system is in taters and anyone can get away with assault by claiming a breach of confidentiality. This is really very simple and an obvious breach of trust.
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