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Calls for inquiry into Boris child's school
Mark Blunden and Robert Mendick20 Apr 2009
Islington council was facing calls for an independent inquiry today into the running of a scandal-hit primary school.
The headteacher of Canonbury Primary School, where Boris Johnson sends one of his children, faces the sack after being discovered allegedly viewing internet pornography in his office.
Two secret, official reports seen by the Evening Standard have uncovered a series of failures in the vetting and recruitment of staff. One teacher hired by Jay Henderson, 35, was subsequently sacked after it emerged he had been investigated by police at his previous school. Twelve out of 15 governors quit this month after the Liberal Democrat-run council issued them with a "warning notice" over recruitment failings.
One of the reports reveals that out of 81 people appointed to posts at Canonbury since 2005, only nine staff had one or more references on file - the rest had none. An audit of files also revealed no evidence of criminal records checks for 13 staff and that more than half did not appear to have had their identity checked.
A second report by Cambridge Education, the company contracted to run schools in Islington, recommends an audit of the borough's schools to "establish if safe recruitment practices are consistently used for non-teaching staff, after-school club providers and volunteers".
It also calls for an investigation into the council's internet server and its apparent inability to "block access to pornographic websites and/or detect when employees access such sites".
The reports - written in February and this month - had been kept confidential but their contents will inevitably raise concern among parents at Canonbury. A council report as early as 2006 first highlighted the problems in the recruitment processes there.
The school is fashionable among Islington's elite. Former schools minister Lord Adonis also has children at Canonbury.
Today opposition Labour councillors demanded an independent inquiry into "potentially unsafe recruitment practices in schools run by Islington council".
Members have tabled a list of questions to the council and Cambridge Education. Councillor Richard Watts, Islington Labour's spokesman for children, said: "It is clear that senior figures in the council knew about these problems as early as 2006 but didn't solve them.
"Parents need to know whether any children have actually been put at risk by these failures. We believe an independent inquiry is the only way to get to the bottom of this."
Reader views (4)
Mr Henderson is one of the kindest loving persons you could meet he has made his school into one of the best in the borough.Please do not judge a book by it's cover.
I would trust Jay to educate any of my children anywhere any time and to a very high standard.
- Ag, Bath, Bath, 21/04/2009 10:33
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And yet again the hysterical hypocrites crawl out of the holes. It seems to me that this Headteacher has been extremely foolish in his actions - actions in which I can no way condone whatsoever - but let's put this in perspective. Let's wait for the outcome of the investigation.
- Dave, Islington, Islington, London, 16/04/2009 14:23
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If he loses his job he could always work for Jacqui Smith (£40,000 p.a. for sitting in a house in Redditch watching porn at tax payers' expense).
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 16/04/2009 10:48
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Perhaps, having read the story about Jackboot Smiff's husband using public money to pay for porn movies, Mr Henderson thought it would be OK for him to do the same?
As for their recruitment problems- maybe having staff properly vetted was interfering with meeting their diversity targets? It is Left-liberal dogma that these will always take precedence over the safety of our children.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 16/04/2009 10:47
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