Whistleblowers | Schools Week

We should have protected whistleblowers, says DfE

The Department for Education has admitted it should have redacted the names of whistleblowers who gave evidence as part of an investigation into cheating at an academy trust. Schools Week revealed in February that three whistleblowers had been named five times across 165 pages of a DfE response to a freedom of information (FOI) request […]

Exposed: The academy trust chief who boasted he ‘flicked away’ safeguarding concerns

An academy trust boss has boasted that he simply “flicked away” safeguarding complaints made by a whistleblower at a failing primary school. In a tirade to staff at Birchen Coppice Primary Academy in Kidderminster, Andrew Morrish, the chief executive of the Victoria Academies Trust (VAT), threatened to uncover and “deal with” the anonymous whistleblower who […]

New ‘witness charter’ to protect teachers in misconduct hearings

The Teaching Regulation Agency has drawn up a “witness charter” to protect teachers who give evidence in misconduct hearings. The agency has produced “standards of care” for witnesses and beefed-up guidance for staff on how to engage and handle issues arising from such hearings, Schools Week can reveal. It follows an independent internal review of […]