BBC Article

I'm not surprised that she was locked in or that the school is "looking into it" when they are probably doing nothing as usual.

The article did not say why she was locked in the bathroom

The school's response is the usual gobbledegook known in the business as "covering our own arse".  I hate that sort of language where they say things which should have meaning but don't, when they use them they are stripped of all meaning and just become weasel words.
Alison

The Article is very vague....

Unfortunately it is vague as they are relying on the little girls recollection of events a month later.
Seemingly the teachers recollections must be just as vague as they have yet to get to the bottom of WHY she locked in there.

This is not true, the girl is non-verbal.

From my experience I would guess that this was a common practise only this time the staff involved forgot she was in there.

The school will close ranks and a scapegoat will be sacked but nothing will be learnt.

Fortunately there is a much wider investigation going on in Wales at the moment into the practise of chucking kids into padded cells.

Sometimes these padded cells have a few fairy lights put in them and they are called sensory rooms!!

This article was written before the above story came to light

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-...-31181683/

This is all just laziness because it is much easier to chuck a non verbal kid into a padded cell/sensory room/bathroom than actually take the time to work out what the reason for their behaviour is.

Personally I blame autism awareness training for this.
People have this superficial training and then think they are experts in autism.

This school is an alleged excellent school and I have seen far worse in lessor schools.

The article does not say how or why the child was locked in the bathroom overnight.

She could be put there by someone or she just got left there and somehow got locked in by accident.  She should have been missed by a bed count or looked for.

@ Heterodox, you ninja'd me with the link!
There has indeed been alot in the news recently about Welsh special schools. It's frightening, people trust these schools to take care of their vulnerable children and they get treated like dirt. At least investigations are starting.



e: Aah she IS non-verbal, I misread it. Who did tell the Social workers about it then? And why a month later?? Very fishy.

This post was last modified: 06-16-2012 03:16 PM by cynara.

The how and why really doesn't matter its just a matter of how often. This is a clear case of neglect.

If a girl like this can independantly bathe and toilet herself then a member of staff must wait outside and can only move from that door if relieved by another member of staff.

Likewise in a sensory room a member of staff must be in there with the child at all times so that they can't come to any harm.

That is why these special residential schools charge the local authorities a small fortune for these kids to attend.

This link gives a little bit more info, although still pretty sketchy.  Apparently the authorities were given an anonymous tip-off about what had happened, and the allegation was strong enough to get an investigation underway.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wa...-31187714/

Alison

Thanks for that link Alison. It explains the situation a lot better.

So it was an anonymous tip. That could only have come from a disgusted member of the staff who had no one to turn to internally.
That would suggest even the management is rotten.

The mole hunt is on. It will be curtains for the mole if found as they broke the golden rule.

What goes on in school, stays in school.

Yeah, unfortunately that was my thought on reading it as well: some staff member who'd had enough but couldn't afford to lose their job by speaking out.  Another nasty little secret and yet another reason I chose to leave teaching preschool.  

Alison

Most nursing homes even require a count every two hours.  Even schools require attendance counts at least daily or in each class.  It was just irresponsible school.  I never was blaming the girl.