Part 5: To CRB or not to CRB...

During my time at School X another issue of concern came to light – CRB checking of contract cleaners. School X have a number of cleaners who are employed by a company rather than the school. I raised a concern about these contracted cleaners when I went to lock up the school site I was nearly always confronted with a new face. I requested from my Line Manager a list of who they were and how many people were on site. The main concern was if they were C.R.B checked, and who was on site in case of emergency.  I never received a response. While I was trying to get answers about the toilet facilities in schools I asked about CRB checking for contract staff, again here are some extracts from that correspondence:


(Email between myself, Nickie Brander (ERIC) and  a Children’s Safeguarding Policy Officer)


‘Below is the reply I got from X of the Children's Safeguards Policy Unit. It would appear that it is good practice rather than mandatory for contracted cleaners to be CRB checked.(....)


Nickie’


‘In terms of cleaners in schools, as best practice we would expect them to have a CRB check. The issue of whether or not they legally require a CRB check depends on their employment status. If they are directly employed by a school then they are classed as school staff and are legally required to have CRB checks.


If however they are supplied by a contractor, then the requirement for a CRB check should be built into the contract. It would be best practice for contract managers to build in a requirement to have CRB checks done


A copy of the guidance is available to download at www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection


Paragraph 4.75 of this guidance, headed PFI and Other Contractors states that “PFI contract staff , for example caretakers and catering staff, must be checked by the contractor in the same way as school employees (i.e. including a CRB Disclosure), and such requirements form part of the contract. 
The outcome of such checks must be notified to the local authority. The contractor is also responsible for ensuring that the same procedures are followed by any sub contractors. The contractor must provide the local authority with a list of its direct employees and those of any sub contractors at least 20 working days before they start work on site.”


If cleaners have not been recruited following safer recruitment principles then school managers should ensure that they are not left on their own with children.’


Dear X - of the Children's Safeguards Policy Unit


After considering your response I came to the conclusion that governing bodies like yourselves appear out of reach and completely out of touch.  In order to fully perceive the potential child protection and safeguarding risks it may be an idea to do some surprise school visits.


Contracted Cleaning companies who are employed to clean any establishment, schools and factories etc are trusted to show good practice. It appears by your statement that it is not mandatory for them to carry out CRB checks on their staff.  These companies run on turnover and as such may not be interested in “good practice” but saving time, cutting corners and making profits. (....)


As both a parent and a member of staff I feel that children have a right to well maintained and hygienic toilets.  Maintenance and cleaning staff should be trained properly and know the regulations that are required.  All persons coming into contact with children should have a completed CRB check.


Yours Sincerely


R


‘Dear R


We would expect all staff newly employed in schools to have an enhanced CRB Disclosure as required by the School Staffing (England) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2006. Staff supplied under cleaning contracts for schools should undergo appropriate checks, including an enhanced CRB Dislosure if the nature and hours of work mean that they come into contact with children. Guidance on background checks for school staff and contractors is set out in Chapter 4 of Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education which came into force in January 2007.

A copy of this guidance can be downloaded from www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection.


We would also expect all schools to maintain a clean and hygienic environment for children and staff in line with their responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare, either under health and safety requirements or under the requirements of section 175 of the Education Act 2002.
Yours sincerely, 
X


CHILD PROTECTION DIVISION’
(Email from Nickie Brander)


‘I’ve had a look at this link www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection. and the most appropriate sections are 4.23 and 4.75. 4.23 specifically mention contract cleaners but say they don’t need CRB clearance if they work before/after school when they don’t come into contact with the children. If they do, then the contractor is also responsible for ensuring the same procedures for CRB checks are followed out by any sub-contractors. You might want to bring these to the attention of the LA’


It causes me huge concern that contract cleaners do not legally have to be CRB checked as they are not employed directly by the school. Even the after hours cleaners can easily come into contact with children attending after school clubs or events, and even if they don’t then they still have access to potentially delicate information contained within the school.

BBC News

I understand that Wales have had issues with hygiene/building maintenance in their schools for many years and found this news story very interesting –


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11420825

Part 4: It cannot be the only school?

I am under no illusion that School X is the only school with these problems and indeed after speaking with my own children have discovered that their school toilets are just as bad. In searching for a resolution I have contacted a number of people, including my MP, a Childrens Safeguarding Officer, a local councillor and Nickie Brander from ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence) relevant extracts from these emails are quoted below:

(To Nickie Brander)

‘(....)I received reply from my MP. His reply was basically that he wrote to Assistant Director for Children Services and has now had a reply. But MP has offered his contact details to anyone else who can help with this matter. Do you think he's opening the door because he too is not satisfied with this reply?

(....)I also discovered that the girls in the upper has only one sanitary bin to each toilet block, with a one sign on the cubicle door saying, this toilet has the Hygiene bin! I never noticed before due to the contractors clean the upper. I feel all the girls cubicles should have one in each, I have bought this to their attention and the reply was, yes we are trying to sort it out. It’s been like it for a long, long time.’

(Emails between Nickie Brander and myself regarding meeting with my MP)

‘I have some of my own questions, i.e. same regulations for children to mirror adults; this will enhance children’s welfare and give a better healthy environment in school. School toilets, drinking water should be included in any Ofsted inspection and standards should be kept at all times. Money allocated for such improvements to toilets, clean useable drinking water dispensers should only be spent on those faculties and not on any other part of the school. The word adequate should never  be used for school toilets and drinking water in schools.

This was your email below:

Ask him to submit some Written Parliamentary Questions (WPQ) on what requirements schools have to properly clean and maintain their toilets in working order and to clarify requirements for CRB for contract cleaners that may come into contact with children (such as during the extended school day or who clean during school hours). And, what measures are taken to ensure schools are aware of their obligations. And what means there are to enforce obligations.’

‘Health and safety legislation is a grey area because the HSE say these only apply to the adults in a school’

(Email to my MP)

 ‘(....) I have given my folder to (Councillor)  to read. If you contact (Councillor) you can discuss the concerns I have raised and hopefully, through communication between you both changes can be made within our schools and standards can be raised.  Another useful resource is Nickie Brander Campaigns Organiser ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence)  you may find it helpful to speak to her.

I truly believe that Education should be a complete package and when communities talk about no respect knowing the difference between right and wrong and lack of discipline in schools today I ask myself this question.  How can we make our children feel valued members of society if we allow poor standards with poor provision for children’s basic needs?   Whether it is no locks on toilet cubicles, poor hygiene with little privacy and in some cases none.  Education should not just be about English, Maths and Science and so forth it should also be a platform to show good examples of respect towards each other where excellent hygiene standards are provided and practised that are governed within the health & safety laws.’   

(Email to Child Protection Officer)

 ‘I have witnessed five Ofsted inspections while working in education. I have observed what a waste of tax payer’s money it is. Inspections cost thousands of pounds in schools and colleges with the inspectors viewing a site at its best. In one educational site I witnessed an air fresher and a vase with sweet smelling flowers appear in the gent’s staff toilets for the entire 4 day Ofsted visit! This in itself represents a skewed picture of the true environment on a daily basis.  Due to schools and colleges making such costly efforts I did believe buildings, toilets and kitchens etc were part of the inspection. I have been informed that Ofsted do not make any recommendations with regard to improving amenities or say that they are satisfactory. I feel that badly maintained unhygienic toilets may cause health problems and anxiety for children in our schools which in turn must influence their learning experience.’  

This is a summary of my discussion points with my MP and the Parliamentary Questions that I requested to be raised by my MP but that were not acted on:

Should schools be responsible for ensuring adequate facilities that are inspected and maintained in light of swine flu?  Everyone in the workplace can play their part by practicing good hygiene. This includes:

Washing hands frequently with soap and water, to reduce the spread of virus from your hands to your face or to other people (Health protection agency 2009, DOH Pandemic FluA national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic 2009).

Inadequate maintainence of toilet facilities cause of constipation in more and more childrens resulting in time off school and failing to promote the 5 key elements of every child matters (2003) be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, achieve economic well-being.  Not part of Ofsted inspection yet environmental issues impact on the delivery of successful education.

Are schools governed by Health and Safety regulations and perform security checks as is any other public sector and are these adequately enforced?

Lord Laming’s report, The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report (2009) acknowledges that Government reforms introduced through Every Child Matters provided a firm foundation, but there now needs to be a renewed commitment to child protection at every level of government and across all local services.

The Government will revise the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance to reflect Lord Laming’s recommendations to strengthen policy and practice, including in relation to Serious Case Reviews. This will make explicitly clear what all practitioners and agencies need to do to keep children safe.’

I have presented just a snippet of the correspondence that I have been involved in with various different people but without much success. I would urge you to look on www.eric.org.uk and www.bog-standard.org where information on the official campaign to improve toilet facilities for children can be found, it also has information on just what a serious effect poor toilet facilities can have on our children. 

Part 3: My concerns were unfounded?

Unfortunately the cycle of me reporting problems and nothing being done about them continued throughout my employment at School X until I felt that I had no other option than to resign from my post. On doing so I wrote to the Head of School X, extracts of which I have quoted here:

‘Dear Head/Principle

I feel I had no option other than to resign from my post as assistant caretaker/ cleaning supervisor due to feeling unsupported and the attitude from the senior Site Officer MrX when reporting repairs or requesting information. Some of the repairs reported may have caused injury or ill health to Children or Staff of School X.  The main issues of concern that I feel need to be brought to your awareness and explored are:

I feel have been treated unfairly, I feel I have not been supported when I have raised issues about other staff.  (....)

I reported repairs following the Health & Safety regulations but few were if any acted on.    (....)

I feel I have never been given any support when raising issues Health & Safety with other staff.

I was never offered any training to do with fire/evacuation etc.

Putting children at risk due to lack of attention to (Health. Safety and Welfare) regulations 1992. (....)

I feel I was in an uncompromising position, I reported site repairs that may cause ill health or even injury to children or staff. I was told by the senior Site Officer Mr X on many occasions that he decides what priority for repairs is and when they are to be repaired. He often said it was not my concern anymore due to the fact I had reported it. I have documentation to prove the above. In his own handwriting, “one soap dispenser was fine”. This written statement by him concerned me immensely due to the fact that over 150-200 children or more per day have access to the toilets in question. This is only one example. (....)

The communication repair book was never acted on and on some occasions the pages were taken out of the book.  (....)

I communicated to you on one occasion the state of the girl’s toilet seats by the library area Lower site and asked for them to be seen by you.  The impression given was that these toilets were fine; and when asked again stated that the seats would be changed September 2009. I also spoke to you on a different occasion about the state of the toilet seats in both of the school sites. Senior Site Officer told me that there wasn’t any money for new toilet seats. I repeated this comment to you and was told that wasn’t true. I saw one new seat and it was never mentioned again after repeated requests in writing for them to be replaced.’

It took 4 months to get a reply, the relevant parts of which are quoted here:

‘Similarly, regarding the reporting of repairs, I need to stress to you that you fulfilled your role and responsibility diligently by bringing to the attention of your Line Manager and issues about which you had concerns. It was then the responsibility of Mr X to follow these up as deemed appropriate. Indeed, your accusation about Mr X’s lack of attention to Health and Safety regulations is unfounded. The Governing Body takes its responsibility very seriously, prides itself on having an extremely low incidence of Health and Safety issues and works tirelessly, in conjunction with the Local Authority, to ensure that the health and safety of our staff, students and visitors is paramount.’

My concerns were unfounded!?

The photos below were taken AFTER cleaning had been completed as thoroughly as possible. (I am not proud of having to have gathered evidence in this way)

Photo #1 - This toilet was left blocked for two weeks, for about 1 week or more it was full with waste to the top brim. Despite this, the toilets on either side of this cubicle were still being used. Please note- the sign on the door says 'out of order, please do not use' - Also please note that there is no lock on the toilet door, allowing children access to a waste filled toilet.

Photo #2 - This is one of four clean toilet seats. I scrubbed this toilet seat but it was so old and grubby that this was the best I could do – the damage was too severe.

Photo #3 – An example of a blocked toilet, found everyday. I had to find my own instruments unblock toilets, sometimes there may only be gloves available to do it (which I supplied myself). This toilet had been ‘cleaned’ by the contract cleaners.

Photo #4 - This was a fire escape ramp of a music room. If you look closely you can see where it has collapsed. This was reported but nothing done, I requested it to be taped off but wasn’t. A teacher was aware but from what they said, they would rather not get involved. – Surely another risk to the children?

Photo #5 - This is just the part of the ceiling, the whole ceiling was marked. These girl’s toilets had no lights, and had not had lighting since April. I discovered it in the October.

Schools, “Accountability”... to who will they be accountable to?

I have witnessed a school willing to pay £300+ for 3 bins because of their colour - but state that they could not afford toilet seats! In my opinion a lot of money is wasted in our schools.

Headteachers can be paid huge wages as can be seen here:
http://www.tda.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/salary/teaching-salary-scales.aspx

Then there are possibly anywhere between 3 and 10 deputies/seniors teachers depending on the size of the school. Their average pay can also be seen in the above link. The sums quickly add up!

Amid cuts is our society on melt down? Are not the children who attend our Schools the society of tomorrow.

Embrace and empower the child’s best ability - no matter if it’s cooking, throwing a ball or writing?

The English, Maths and science will filter out, for example if the child's strengths and enjoyment were in cooking then maths is the measuring, writing and researching recipes and projects is the English and the Science lies in how things combine and rise etc. This maybe a dream about how we can best embrace and nurture some children's talents - but couldn't it be a reality?
The reported pass rate targets and other measures are a fog screen, many of the results are heavily course work based and teachers are trained to teach the syllabus of the subject - repeated year on year. Can I hear some teachers crying out? Just hear me out, before you get cross with what I have said check it out for yourselves. Do exam results mean prizes?

Link: - Does cash get results in schools?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12176305

The Prime Minster talks about the “Big Society” with great enthusisam. He wishes 'to rebuild communities in this country'. The government say that they will work closely with communities to identify local leaders, projects and opportunities, and empower the local community to improve their local area. One such plan is Free Schools:

·         the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff
·         greater control of their budget
·         freedom from following the National Curriculum
·         freedom to change the length of terms and school days
·         freedom from local authority control.

Are Free Schools the answer or a £ saving opportunity?

A Free School could be set up by any suitable proposer, where there is evidence of parental demand such as a petition or declaration from interested parents. This could include one or more of the following groups:

·         charities
·         academy sponsors
·         universities
·         independent schools
·         community and faith groups
·         teachers
·         parents
·         businesses.

Are Schools becoming like corporations? Or is it too late? £££?

My point is (without getting too political) the Labour Party promised £45bn to schools/colleges around the country. Mr Gove in his wisdom saw there wasn’t any £ when the Conservatives/Lib-Dems came to power and so decided to scrap it. The cost for the tax payer was £260m because councils like ours had spent a lot of £ on Consultants, Planning, glossy handouts and probably lots of coffee, and cake for the meetings. New school buildings sounded wonderful - purpose built schools- so I was disappointed to hear that the present government scrapped the project. But like all buildings they would have became old eventually, poorly maintained and costly.

Your children could be destined for years in glorified prefab buildings and portacabins? They cost a lot and usually can only be maintained by the contractor. So if something breaks it can be days or possibly weeks before repaired, with children left in leaking classrooms. They are only ever meant to be temporary structures yet they are left in place for years.

Hopefully these useful web links will work:

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/architects-start-work-on-prefab-school-templates/5012738.article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11539933 also another good link to read -


Respect and Dignity
We do have to put things into perspective. Like a few nations we are fortunate in what we have, wealth, food and water. Oh yeah not forgetting the odd clean toilet! /-: It isn't about what we have, but hopefully what we should be striving to achieve. Respect and dignity to those who will pass it on to their next generations.

Ok, there is few out in this big world that won’t respect others!  

From my own personal childhood experiences, being a parent for 23 years and from work I have seen the balance shift. The majority of our children behave, work hard (-: and respect most of the rules. As it should be!!  However, what they observe sometimes from the minority in our schools doesn’t give them much reward to do so! Those two words “No Consequence”, come to mind and for some reason well paid footballers? (-:

It is the minority who upset the balance; something we experience in life every day. For example, we could be driving to work or even at work, walking down the street, shopping and so on. Why is bad behaviour so acceptable now?

The minority do need support and help but that should not outweigh the majority!

Reasons for lack of respect could be one of many reasons, bad parenting, is there such a thing? We can’t throw stones!! Home life, the lack money or peer pressure and so on??  I’ve been told so many times from the older generation that we are a “Want it now Society”! Got to admit I feel they may be right!!

Most Schools and Colleges borrowing will soar even more, “want it now Society”??

Dream School - Discipline

Discipline/ respect in our schools...

Now I will agree that this is a problem and have seen how it destroys a classroom setting. I know at least a dozen parents who removed their children from schools because of bullying. They felt that the situation became out control due to the fact that they believed the schools were not protecting their child. I do know that there are always two sides to a story but from experience and due to what I have witnessed, most schools do not want to take the hard approach on the individual/child who is the perpetrator.

My point is that schools have to sell themselves and will therefore play down bullying. I may be wrong but it always appears that most schools do not want to attract a bad image.

I watched a programme Jamie Oliver’s Dream School last week... It is very unusual that you will find 20 young disruptive people in one classroom in mainstream school! Maybe one or two disruptive persons and then the odd follower but not 20! And sadly that odd person’s can disrupt the whole class. And most of the time teachers will feel unsupported by the Management if they wished to remove the perpetrator from their class - there are few repercussions, a child is sent out but then back in the classroom for the next lesson with the same disruptive behaviour. It is a vicious circle that weak school discipline systems have created.

Check out this link - 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373292/

I'm not saying this is reliable evidence for what I have said, but does make you think!  

Before becoming a caretaker I worked in an educational establishment. I was asked to support a lesson of school leavers; their age was 16-17yrs. It was a small group of about eight and at least four of them were not able to read or write. It was heart breaking; the educational system had let them down. We let them down? If these young people were allowed to shine and encouraged to build on their skills, perhaps things may have been different for them. But instead we demanded English, Maths and Science. The word comes to mind, Confidence!!  It’s a wonderful thing..... Don’t get me wrong, they were cheeky and sometimes very funny! But, I just couldn't help feeling that they had wasted their school years?

A Child isn't a Statistic-Target-Data "A vote Winner? A Child should be Encouraged- to build Confidence-to LEARN & shown respect-A CHILD IS