Sexual abuse at Hailey school 'will never happen again'
Boys at Hailey Hall School
HORRIFIC sexual abuse that plagued a school more than 30 years ago “could never happen again”, vow staff there today.
Hailey Hall School’s teachers say strict safeguards make it impossible for someone like Phillip Dyke to operate like he did.
Dyke, 62, of High Street, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, was jailed last month for eight years for nearly a decade of sexual abuse on pupils at the Hailey school, which caters for boys with special needs.
Deputy headteacher Jonathan Kemp said: “We don’t want the awful acts of one person to blemish the work of an institution.
“We would never condone that behaviour but something like that could never happen again - they wouldn’t be able to.”
In March, Hailey Hall, which is currently oversubscribed, received a good rating with outstanding features for child protection and safeguarding in boarding.
School manager Paula Flint said: “We’re very hot on child protection.
“There’s always at least two adults with a student even though every member of staff has undergone an enhanced CRB check.
“We’re outstanding in all areas of safeguarding - specifically boarding.”
The school’s boarding provisions are checked annually and it consistently achieves good ratings.
But despite being unrecognisable from the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s, staff feel Dyke’s actions have unfairly cast a shadow over the Hailey Hall of 2013.
No teachers remain from those days while the safety protocols for children in schools like Hailey are for all intents and purposes, watertight.
Like all schools, teachers have professional friendships with their pupils but staff regularly report to each other to protect and “to keep each other safe”.
“In the 1970s there wasn’t really the understanding for children with special and emotional needs.
“When this school opened in 1967 it was for ‘maladjusted boys’”, said Mr Kemp.
“We’ve refined our processes and understanding somewhat since then - this is a very different place from the 1970s.
“We’re hugely qualified in understanding the need of the students and students and parents have a voice here.
“We had 92 per cent achieve a qualification this year and 76.9 per cent GCSEs A* to C - that’s our best ever.
“We do everything we can to ensure the boys are safe - it’s our priority.”
