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Dinner lady faces sack for telling parents about bullying

9:20am Monday 21st September 2009


A DINNER lady fears she is about to lose her job for blowing the whistle on school bullies.

Carol Hill was suspended from Great Tey Primary School after she told Scott and Claire David their daughter, Chloe, had been tied up and whipped with a skipping rope.

She was brought before a disciplinary hearing at at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, Colchester, on Friday, at which headteacher Debbie Crabb is thought to have recommended the board of governors to sack her.

After the hearing, Mrs Hill was told she would have to wait until today, Monday, to hear the outcome.

But the dinner lady’s friends and supporters say the process was unfair. Having been told she could bring her own witnesses before the panel and ask questions, in the even she was not allowed to do either.

Following the closed hearing, Mr David, of Colchester Road, Chappel, father of the girl at the centre of the row, said: “I was called as a witness and then not allowed to have my say.

“It just doesn’t seem fair she has spent all this time preparing a case, only to find none of it could be used.

“We will be standing by Carol, no matter what happens.”

The father-of-four said he had eventually seen a copy of the health and safety report filled out by the school following the incident involving Chloe.

He said the report proved he and his wife had not been told the full story.

Ivan Dyer, who has five children at the school, said they believed protocol had not been followed properly.

He said: “We have known Carol for 31 years, but it is not as a friend we have come here today, but as parents.

“I cannot believe we are where we are today. It’s almost surreal. Anybody would look at this and realise it should have been someone outside the school looking at this and making a decision.”

Mrs Hill was suspended from the school, in Chrismund Way, after the incident, in June.

The school acted after discovering the dinner lady had spoken about the incident with Chloe’s parents when they met at the local Beaver group meeting.

They had been keen to learn more after an official letter from the school said only that Chloe had been hurt by some other children.

The Davids have since taken Chloe and her younger brother out of the school.

Headteacher Mrs Crabb, was not available for comment after the hearing.


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Your Say YourColchester

Red Tape, Colchester says...
6:51pm Sat 19 Sep 09

It seems to me there are plenty of people involved in this incident who could justifiably lose their jobs and Mrs Hill isn't one of them. I hope she takes them to the cleaners in she is sacked.

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seco2, Colchester says...
7:36pm Sat 19 Sep 09

The latest national news shows that schools, the Police, local Councils, will go to any lengths to hide their failure to tackle bullying, even if it involves the deaths or suicides of the victims. I hope Mrs Hill has a good lawyer; she is in the right. She was utterly right to reveal the school's failure; it has no right to destroy her for trying to salvage what remains of its (lousy) reputation.

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Taj, Colchester says...
7:36pm Sat 19 Sep 09

Not much natural justice in evidence here,typical response by those in power blame the whistle blower and the villans go free.
Red Tape and Mrs Hill I am on your side.

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LOZZ123, manningtree says...
10:25pm Sat 19 Sep 09

Dictators ,thats all they are . This woman was 100% right to tell the parents. What have the school got to hide . Perhaps the headmaster should be suspended pending an investigation into his handling of the matter as he is clearly incompetent.
Well done Mrs Hill you are striking a blow for the democracy we are steadily losing.

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Squabbly, Brightlingsea says...
9:20am Sun 20 Sep 09

Sack Crabb. She's obviously the problem here and plainly no good at her job. Get rid of her.

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Flip Flop, Copford says...
10:28am Mon 21 Sep 09

It would be good to see both sides like the minutes of the meeting where Crabb rcomended sacking mrs Hill. There's probably some rule that can be interpriated to suit the bureaucrats and leave the person in the right, actually in the wrong. The governors are there to look after the school's interests which is the children and someone telling a parent that their child is being bulled is actually looking after the wellfare of that child whom should come before the teachers.

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holymoly!, Colchester says...
10:35am Mon 21 Sep 09

Clearly the Mrs Hill has broken a confidentiality agreement here, but this is an example of when rules should be broken. The headteacher has made a grave error of judgement and clearly Mrs Hill is being used as a scapegoat.

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vicar, East Clacton says...
10:40am Mon 21 Sep 09

It's worrying when the bullies seem to be running the school. We have no way of knowing what else might have happened and been hushed up under this cloak of secrecy. Best wishes to Mrs Hill. Right is on her side

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Say It As It Is OK?, From Colchester says...
10:52am Mon 21 Sep 09

Not one person in their right mind could ever consider this case as anything but the School and the Head Teacher going totally over the top.

It's political correctness gone mad!

Carol Hill was suspended purely on the grounds that she, inadvertently, showed the school up as being totally inept and unable to understand the logic that this little girl was badly treated. The school compounded the problem by trying to hide the facts from the girls parents.

Had the school dealt with the issue correctly at the time the whole incident would have been forgotten. Instead Carol has had to endure the uncertainty for over 2 months.

Lets hope common sense prevails today and Carol is vindicated.

And, I hope you are proud of yourself Mrs Crabb? I Think it's about time you sidled off and hid under a stone.

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Dug, Brightlingsea says...
1:35pm Mon 21 Sep 09

Apparently dinner lady sacked. Total disgrace and against natural justice. Head teacher should go.

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Flip Flop, Copford says...
1:36pm Mon 21 Sep 09

Come on Bernard Jenkin, I think you are the MP. Get on board with this and do something. This is complete crap by the bureaucrats. 99% of people are against bullying and it appears this school has bullying pupils and a bullying head mistress named Crabb!

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TheJester, Clacton says...
1:41pm Mon 21 Sep 09

I hope the governors use their common sense and do not dismiss Mrs Hill from her position but if they do then I would say she has good grounds for a case of unfair dismissal.

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Flip Flop, Copford says...
1:58pm Mon 21 Sep 09

Sorry guys, I don't mean to hog the blogs but I just had a word with my wife and she reminded me about something that happened in that school about 15 years ago, our friends took their children out of the school and sent them to Copford because of the unrelenting bullying and the lack of teacher intervention. So, It's bullying on an institutional scale. The authorities must do something now as the governors are doing nothing with any back bone!

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TheJester, Clacton says...
2:11pm Mon 21 Sep 09

The parents of the girl and Mrs Hill should make a request of the school under the Freedom of Information Act to see their policy on bullying.

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newtonscat, London says...
9:33pm Mon 21 Sep 09

Hmm, so if Carol had been the mother of the child as per her terms of employment she would have sacked for telling her husband what happened, eh? Carol was "a 30 year friend of the family" ... as a child I had several "aunts" & "uncles" who were really just "friends of the family". Close friends of my parents were "family".

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blinky, colchester says...
1:02am Tue 22 Sep 09

clearly,this school should be put into special-measures.go to;www.newsoftheworl
d.com & get them to investigate.

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Boris, Colchester says...
1:05am Tue 22 Sep 09

Some people here express hope that the governors of the school will do the right thing. The decision has now been taken and, predictably, the governors have sided with the head teacher.
In situations like this, regardless of the rights and wrongs of each case, the governors will always take the head teacher's side. Sad but true.
Good luck to Mrs Hill if she takes the school to an industrial tribunal. I hope she belongs to a trade union and that it provides a good lawyer for her.

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Flip Flop, Copford says...
8:44am Tue 22 Sep 09

Rules are rules and an IT would not side with Mrs. Hill but sympathise I would expect which means the rules are crap. It's now up to the parents, do they want to send their children to a school that says it takes bullying seriously but in reality, does nothing that will really stop it?

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Lot, Wivenhoe says...
10:09am Tue 22 Sep 09

I feel very sorry for Mrs Hill. She's only doing what is right for the children and the parents. I hope she'll get her job back but if she gets it back, she'll be working with the people who tried to sacrifice her for their own purpose.

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TheJester, Clacton says...
11:04am Tue 22 Sep 09

Reading between the lines there must be more to this story, ECC would not back the school governors unless they were confident the decision could not be overturned at a tribunal.

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Prof Robin, Wilmslow says...
7:56pm Sun 27 Sep 09

I am probably one of thousands around the country who have followed this story with incredulity, watching as two pillars of the local community, the local school and the church were weighed. measured and found wanting. When the Rev J Richardson found himself in his driveway on Friday, faced with a newspaper reporter, all he had to do was to ask himself "What would Jesus have done?" Instead, he scuttled indoors without a word, showing the world that the local man of god was not prepared to stand up proudly and tell the truth. He should be the first to resign his job, having failed his chosen god, let alone his community. Go! Rev Richardson and redeem your failure. It is not too late.
RM. Prof of Physics & Biology

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