The School Prison Cells
Yesterday the BBC broadcast “The School Prison Cells” showing children with learning disabilities being abused and neglected at Whitefield School in London.
The programme showed children locked alone in Whitefield’s “calming rooms” for hours. One of the rooms shown was a bare padded room, without natural light and toilet facilities.
The programme also showed children being shoved into padded rooms, thrown to the floor and left alone sitting in vomit. The children were visibly distressed and are seen to self-injure for prolonged periods. Families have told the BBC their children developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and one child was detained in an inpatient service due to their treatment at the school.
A police investigation has closed with no charges. One parent commented “I don’t see how they could get away with this level of abuse and no-one’s accountable”.
Government guidance currently permits schools to use seclusion rooms and there is no requirement to record its use or report it to parents.
In response to the report Viv Cooper, CEO of the CBF says:
“Our thoughts are with the children, young people and their families who were subjected to horrific abuse and neglect at Whitefield School. School should be a safe place for every child and not a place where they are harmed with physical injuries and long-lasting psychological trauma due to the actions of staff.
Along with Dame Rachel de Souza and others we called for a referral to be made to the national safeguarding board to review the learning and consider the parallels with the Hesley investigation and reports. We understand that this has now been agreed and we fully support the Children’s Commissioners call for this to commence urgently.
It is shocking that no one has been held accountable for abuse and neglect which has caused serious harm. Current guidance and safeguards are inadequate to protect children and young people from avoidable harm through the misuse of restrictive practices. We welcome the commitment from Stephen Morgan MP and Bridget Phillipson MP to update guidance on the Use of Force in schools and introduce a legal requirement for schools to record restrictive practice and report their use to parents. We urge the Department for Education to urgently implement these reforms and ensure that in future guidance locking vulnerable children in padded rooms is not permitted. Failing to take action and implement reform exposes children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to an unacceptable level of risk.”
Read the BBC article here.
If you are concerned about your family member please click here.
Family Support Service
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this statement, you can call the Family Support Service on 0300 666 0126
Or email us at support@thecbf.org.uk
We are open at the following times:
Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm
Friday: 9am – 3pm
We offer information about challenging behaviour to anyone who provides support to a child, young person or adult with a severe learning disability.
Please note we are a small support service so you may not be able to get support straight away. We will support families with urgent concerns as a priority.
Professionals are also welcome to contact the CBF.