SCHOOLGIRL MESSAGES ROW HEAD SACKED
THE principal of a top public school has been sacked after sending “inappropriate” messages to school girls as young as 15.
Ruthin School in Denbighshire yesterday announced it was “terminating his employment with immediate effect” in the wake of the scandal.
Last week the Welsh Government hinted it could effectively shut down the school unless appropriate action was taken after a damning Care Inspectorate Wales report concluded that children were at risk of harm.
The inspection was prompted by a series of inappropriate messages sent to a teen from Mr Belfield on Instagram, in which he told her she was cute, that she looked good in her blazer and spoke about breasts, virginity and sexuality.
Education minister Kirsty Williams AM said last week: “The Welsh Government has no powers to direct an independent school to dismiss a member of staff. That is the responsibility of the proprietor of the school or where there is a Board of Trustees or Council of Management. However, I expect every independent school to act in the best interests of pupils and to ensure that they meet their legal safeguarding responsibilities.
“In the event that an independent school does not act to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are pupils at the school in a way that Welsh Government and other bodies think is appropriate, the ultimate sanction would be to remove the school from the register of independent schools. This would mean the school could no longer offer full-time education. In considering such action, any minister would have to reflect carefully on the significant and far-reaching consequences for the school, staff, pupils and community.”
Yesterday, the school’s council of management released a statement which said: “This has been, and remains, a highly sensitive and challenging situation.
“A number of external investigations have been conducted over some months, and the school’s council of management has worked with relevant agencies throughout and continues to do so.
“When working with the relevant statutory and regulatory authorities, the best thing we can do is work closely with them until a resolution and way forward has been agreed.
“We are hopeful that we will have an agreed comprehensive action plan shortly, and believe that what we have submitted to the Welsh Government provides an effective strategy in response to the concerns raised.
“As we have previously stated, while external investigations have been ongoing, the Principal has not been carrying out his role at the school.
“The school’s council of management received a verbal interim report on Friday [January 31] from the external person we appointed to independently review Mr Belfield’s conduct, and on the basis of that report has decided to terminate Mr Belfield’s employment with immediate effect.
“The vice principal of the school, Mr Ian Welsby, has been appointed as Acting Principal until such time as a permanent appointee has been selected following a competitive process.”
The statement adds: “The school’s council of management will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the recommendations from both the CIW and Estyn reports are implementedas part ofour comprehensive and thoroughstrategic review of the safeguarding governance and safeguarding arrangements at the school.
“We are determined to ensure that the children at Ruthin School, now and in the future, will be all the better cared for and safer as a result of the work which is being carried out between the school’s council of management and the local Welsh education authorities.”
In recent days, Belfield has deactivated his Facebook account.
Denbighshire councillors are also looking at “closing the loophole” to tighten regulation around safeguarding children in the private education sector.
The scandal emerged after our sister website North Wales Live saw hundreds of screen shots of messages that Belfield sent to three different youngsters on social media sites and Whatsapp between 2017 and May last year.
In them, he boasted about his seniority and said “flirting is fine,” sent love hearts and emojis and commented on the size of TV star Rachel Riley’s breasts.
He said he likes women “small and petite” and asked one student if she had an eating disorder because she was a “thin girl” before going on to tell her she looked good.
Mr Belfield also discussed one pupil’s virginity and suggested another may be a lesbian and called for controls on pregnancy – saying women who cannot properly look after a baby should be deported, sterilised or even shot.
He also bragged about being in the media for his controversial rules and methods, which have hit the headlines over the years.
And he commented on how “in more than 99% of schools the principal would be sacked for sending chat messages to a pupil”.