Our girl was so brutally bullied at £12k-a-year school that we feared for her safety
Like all parents, they wanted the best for their child, so sent their daughter to prestigious George Watson’s. But today this mum and dad tell how, from P1, she endured 3 years of horrific abuse, unchecked in a ‘culture of denial’
WHEN James and Lucy decided to send their daughter to one of Scotland’s most wellrespected private schools, they hoped she would receive a superb education to give her the best possible start in life.
But when they enrolled young Kate in George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, they say she was subjected to a horrific campaign of bullying and physical assaults so severe that they say they feared for her life.
In her first years of primary school, the little girl – singled out, her parents believe, because of a squint – was repeatedly hit, shoved, mocked, forced to hide in the toilets and whipped with skipping ropes.
Bullies stamped on her foot, knocked her to the ground, shouted in her face and left her with bruises, grazes and a cut lip.
Yet when they confronted the school – which charges fees of up to £12,000 a year – her parents say they met with a ‘culture of denial’ that let the bullying continue.
Earlier this month, the case was raised in the Scottish parliament where it emerged that the school had been formally inspected as a result of the parents’ complaints and had conditions imposed on its management.
Now for the first time, the girl’s parents have publicly revealed their family’s ordeal and called for the school’s principal, Melvyn Roffe, to be sacked.
In an exclusive interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday, both parents broke down in tears as Lucy said: ‘Sometimes you hear of parents who have a child die and spend the rest of their own lives campaigning. I feel so grateful our daughter is alive – we got her out in time.’
James added: ‘We just want a safe environment for other kids. Mr Roffe is one of the biggest obstacles to change – he needs to go.’
As part of their extraordinary crusade, supported by Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen, the couple have shared a string of staff email exchanges they obtained using freedom of information laws.
In one, a teacher warns of ‘dangerous and violent actions’ towards their daughter. But in others, school officials speak of ‘deflecting’ the parents’ complaint. Another said he ‘hoped we’d seen the last’ of them.
James said: ‘We wanted the best for her and, when we went to Watson’s, we believed their hype. They sell you on a “Watson’s family” and, as a parent, you buy into that. We expected best practice for those fees.’
The couple, who live in an upmarket area of Edinburgh, enrolled Kate at Watson’s in 2013 after being impressed by the school on an open day. But within weeks of starting, their daughter was being targeted in the playground. Lucy said: ‘It started from early in primary one. At break times, she stayed within touching distance of the playground wall as she didn’t feel safe in the main area where it was busy. She was on her own, excluded from group play, so children from many classes and age groups targeted her. It was incessant. At first it was just exclusion and demeaning comments, and not being allowed to play with the others. But then, in primary two, it escalated to them stepping on her foot, stealing her snacks and toys. ‘A lot focused on her vision, like snatching her glasses from her face. Some children said they were going to bash her head in. They got quite clever at doing this when staff weren’t looking. Her experience was lonely, isolating and terrifying.’ The parents spoke to her teachers but say any action taken had no effect and the problem only got worse. Lucy said: ‘In primary three, the violence escalated and it became very dangerous. One time, two of them were trying to pull Kate by her feet off the climbing frame and she nearly fell face-first from a height of about 5ft. Then, two boys cornered her in the playground and shouted in her face. And next they pushed her under a bench and whipped her with skipping ropes. ‘A few days later she was on a chair built into the climbing frame when a much bigger boy came and sat on her head. He could have broken her neck. She used to go into the toilets to hide but a group of girls used to switch the lights off so it was pitch black. She was terrified.
‘Quite incredibly, most of it seemed to go unnoticed by playground staff. And the word “bullying” was taboo. They spoke to the children as a group on the importance of being kind to each other but, as far as we know, never individually.’
The final straw came just before Christmas 2015.
‘We had warned of imminent dangers from known bullies at a particular hotspot,’ said Lucy. An internal email between staff reads: ‘Can you appease Kate’s parents..? There have been a few incidents recently in the playground where she has been feeling unsafe as a result of the (child’s) dangerous and violent actions, and her parents are very concerned about it and have been in touch many times in many different ways.’ Lucy said: ‘The day
Some of the children said that they were going to bash her head in
the worst incident happened, she saw one of the bullies fall over and giggled. The child saw her and shoved her hard in the chest shouting: “Hah – do you think that’s funny?”
‘She started trying to get to the wall, so she would have something to support herself with, when she was shoved over. She was pushed over from the back before she could get there, falling face-first onto the tarmac. She was cut and bruised all over, and had permanent facial injuries. There was blood everywhere. But the school said it was an accident and she had just tripped.’
Although some parents might have been tempted to call the police, James was wary of alienating the school. He added: ‘Also, it’s not easy or simple to change your child’s school and the last thing you want to do when your child is there is rock the boat.
‘We wanted to work with them to sort it out and they kept telling us to trust them.’
Another staff email, written afterwards, stated: ‘Mum was really quite cross on the phone although at all points reasonable (until the end). I found it hard to get over the fact that the fall had been an accident... I’m sorry I couldn’t deflect this further.’
Kate’s parents, by now questioning the school’s safety procedures, had an emergency meeting with staff.
James claimed that they were told there was no bullying at the school: ‘It seemed their only agenda was denial. The school just seemed to want to blame Kate and stone-wall us.’
James and Lucy then removed Kate from Watson’s and she is now happily enrolled in a state school. Her mother said: ‘She’s top of lots of her subjects. She’s been so brave and is doing really well.’
Meanwhile, in spring 2016, they made a formal complaint. Noting this, an internal email from Alan Hartley, chairman of the board of governors, states: ‘Just when I thought we might have seen the last of (James) my hopes are dashed.’
The parents suspected any investigation would result in a ‘cover-up’. They contacted their MSP Andy Wightman, who raised the issue at Holyrood.
In September, Watson’s was subjected to a three-day ‘special inspection’ at the request of the Scottish Government’s official Registrar of Independent Schools. Inspectors noted that the school had recently overhauled its approach to bullying policies.
Concluding it was ‘too early’ to say if the changes would prove effective, inspectors recommended a further inspection in 2018.
At the end of last month the Registrar ruled that Watson’s was ‘at risk of becoming objectionable’ on the grounds that ‘the welfare of a pupil attending the school is not adequately safeguarded and promoted there’. Three conditions were imposed including the introduction of a new complaints policy – which was due to be implemented by the end of last week.
The Registrar of Independent Schools said that the school’s governing council should also clearly set out its function and, by March next year, should provide inspectors with a report on the policies and practices required to deliver improvements.
A George Watson’s spokesman said: ‘A complaint was made and considered fully and appropriately and the allegations made by the parents about the handling of this matter are not accepted.
‘The picture presented in the information you have provided to us is at odds with the views expressed following the inspection in September by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Schools.
‘There were many very positive findings in the report, including about our approach to bullying. They reported that “the school promotes a culture that encourages respect and promotes positive relationships”.’
Dame Esther Rantzen, who offered her support after she had been contacted by the parents, said: ‘I think every school, whether state or independent, must be inspected to ensure that not only do they have an anti-bullying policy but that it really works.’ Names have been changed to protect the identity of the girl.
So grateful our daughter is alive and that we got her out in time She was pushed over, falling face-first on the tarmac