Shouldn't the story be that 50% of the reported complaints were upheld.. The school should never be involved in any investigation as if the compaint wasn't upheld and the school did it then the school would be accused of a cover up. Perhaps just keeping any complaint secret until proven, and if any are malicious then perhaps then police get involved.

It's getting to the stage now where teachers are afraid to discipline kids for fear of being reported & losing their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the reports were malicious, either by the parents or their "little angels". In my day a teacher could throw a piece of chalk at you if you were chatting in class, nowadays that would probably be grounds for claiming compensation for "distress".

As I said before and someone deleted it, morality is not taught in schools, quite the opposite. When my child and I complained about his teachers' poor conduct we were, in effect, called liars by the head despite overwhelming evidence. This particular school promotes materialism and immorality.

I agree there are many occasions when teachers are falsly accussed, but there are times when the teacher is guilty a recent article showed a chorley teacher who had been found guilty but was still claiming to be falsely accused. Sometimes teachers are guilty and yet the school tries to cover it up or think that the child is making it up. We do need more help for teachers wrongly accussed but we also need to protect the children. You might say that it never did us any harm at school, but I have 2 very well mannered and well balanced children and I have never had to raise a finger to them. Children should feel safe at school and not be bullied by teachers. There are some very good teachers out there but there are also bad ones too. I would not raise a hand to a friends child and so a good teacher should not need to raise a hand to a child in thier care.

Teachers are not statistics; they are trained, experienced and valuable human beings. These are statistics of pain, humiliation, destruction and sometimes suicide.

The NASUWT proudly announce that they have been tracking such data for 18 years ! Yet what have they have achieved ?

Today, I ask “What has changed ?”

The recent government report “Allegations Against School Staff HC695” supports the view that ‘commonsense’ should be a key consideration. It struggles with other issues to do with preserving anonymity. It certainly contains many new initiatives and when implemented, the system will be better than the current situation.

It firmly supports the view that teachers and other school staff should be seen as innocent until proven guilty but what does that mean in practice ? It is much the same as saying “Suspension is a neutral act”; I can assure you that it is not !

The fact is that, no matter what new procedures are introduced, an allegation levied at a teacher will destroy them, their life and their career. Anonymity, is the least concern - a press announcement and an absent teacher does not require the deductive reasoning of Sherlock Holmes to reach a conclusion of “Who dunnit !”.

An oversight in the report is an expectation that all associated bodies will ‘play-fair’. In my case, they did not and I entered a Kafkaesque world full of horror !

If you have seen the film “Enemy of the State”, 1998 with Will Smith - well that’s what I have experienced - “It’s not paranoia if they're really after you” - and they were - County Council and school.

There is a most basic problem that is so fundamental and is the crux of the investigative process that was not identified by the government report. When a school receives a complaint of an allegation of assault, they must respond quickly and decisively. They have a moral and public responsibility / duty to react.

An allegation can severely damage the name and reputation of a school. Both LEA and

school become involved in a significant PR exercise to demonstrate that children, in their care, are protected. So, neither the LEA nor school can remain 100% impartial with regards to their findings – they have a conflicting agenda !

In my case, I believe that the County Council embarked on a strategically planned damage limitation exercise - sacking me was the most politically correct expedient !

At the moment, there is no external agency that the teacher can turn to and the LEA / school have free reign to persecute the teacher, infringe and break rules, secure in the knowledge that all their actions are free from scrutiny.

I am reminded of a famous piece of prose ... "The Ambulance In The Valley" ... it tells of people falling over a cliff and the dedicated enthusiasm that a community has to provide an ambulance for the injured ... and the disdain levied at an individual who dared to suggest a fence.

What everyone is doing is ‘playing’ with “an improved ambulance service”. The report talks about protecting the teacher and child - but how can it ? It is only there after the event - it is an ambulance ... and then your life is in the hands of the LEA, school and head teacher.

Until there is UK wide social reform, the only protection available to a teacher has to be CCTV surveillance. There has been heated debate in the past on this topic but what else is there ? I would go further and suggest that teachers should be equipped with body worn cameras. If I could rewind two years then I would not hesitate to wear one ... it can save your life !

Would I teach again ? Yes, if I could feel safe. It was my life, I always wanted to teach and I expected to work until my retirement - I loved my job and I loved children - for they are precious and they are our future !

In response to the above cruel and ill-informed comment :

I was found guilty, not by the police, who I believe complained to the County Council, but by an inexperienced and untrained pan

el of school governors led by the County Council and a head teacher who held a deep seated resentment against me.

I have a unique perspective for I know that I am innocent and this was confirmed by my polygraph examination by one of the UK’s most authoritative experts in this field.

The assault had been described to have been so vicious and violent that the child continued to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic abuse, including bed-wetting and fear when entering the school.

The teaching assistant witness took some 20 hours to report the story and then only after much discussion with other teaching staff. You might have expected that, after witnessing, what was claimed to have been a vicious and violent assault that she would have gone to the aid of the child; certainly report it immediately. But she did nothing ... the reason for this was because nothing happened … there had been no assault !

She explained that she had been so shocked that she was unable to help the child at the time. It took her 20 hours before she felt able to report the incident.

There was agreement by witnesses that the child showed no signs of distress – she did not cry nor did any other children react in any way.

If there had been such a violent assault, it makes no sense to have reinstated my position at school - gross misconduct is a sack able offence !

I believe that the County Council had no choice – they knew that the case would not withstand the scrutiny of an employment tribunal. They also knew that it would be unlikely that I could return due to my health – they made no offer to support and assist my return to work.

There’s much to be learned from my experience – one life destroyed is enough … not 18 years worth of statistics ! I have tried in vain to have my case re-examined :
“I do not feel that it is in the best interests of all of the parties involved for this to be re-examined.” County Council, Executive Director for Children and Young People

Children

must be protected - an allegation of assault on a child must be treated with the utmost care – it can not be ignored !

But, once an allegation has been made, it will change the life of a teacher forever - no matter what the outcome and no matter how good policies / procedures might become in the future !

Please stop studying statistics, I am a person and so are the other constituents of this data – it’s time that the problem was addressed and the statistics be laid to rest !

I was responding to sipsina comment about a school trying to cover up when she made a complaint. Your 4 page rant is a little over the top for what are in fact the facts.You say that it was witnessed and the head teacher and governors and lancashire county council all resented you? and the child? and the witness? and the parents?