Sex abuse probe at £39,000-a-year Stanbridge Earls School in rural Hampshire which specialises in teaching pupils with learning difficulties
An independent special school where Ministry of Defence families send their children is at the centre of a sex abuse probe, the Sunday People has revealed.
Grade II listed Stanbridge Earls School in rural Hampshire has been a favourite of the military for decades and takes boarders aged ten to 19.
The school specialises in teaching pupils with learning difficulties like dyslexia and dyscalculia and charges between £27,000 and £39,000 a year.
It lies in idyllic countryside, with Tudor buildings, lakes, and acres of land But the tranquil setting has been shattered by allegations that staff covered up sexual assault among pupils.
The school was taken off the MOD’s approved list in January, following a devasting tribunal report documenting serious sexual assault.
The Sunday People can reveal that Hampshire Police have now set up an investigation called Operation Flamborough to probe the allegations.
Detectives are understood to be investigating at least two incidents of alleged sexual abuse by pupils on two girls. Schools watchdog OFSTED, the General Medical Council and the Crown Prosecution Service are also conducting inquiries.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal found serious flaws in management and procedures at the school in January.
Staff were aware of this but failed to report it or follow proper procedures. A girl who claimed she was sexually abused was represented at the tribunal by solicitor Melinda Nettleton. Mrs Nettleton said: “There has been a systematic problem at the school and staff have failed to recognise that. There appears to have been no understanding of the seriousness of what has happened.”
The tribunal awarded costs of £85,000 to the girl’s family.
Its damning report found the school had failed to protect one of its most vulnerable pupils and she had been discriminated against after she was excluded following the allegation.
The school claimed she had breached rules prohibiting engagement in sexual activity.
But the tribunal found systems put in place to make sure pupils were looked after had been “unsystematic, unprofessional, ad hoc and completely inadequate” It said senior staff, including the head, deputy head, head of care, nurse and doctor, failed to properly respond to the girl’s accusations.
Head Peter Trythall was accused of conduct “bordering on contempt for statutory duties”. The report said he claimed he was “unaware” that non-consensual sex was rape. He later claimed his comments were taken out of context.
The girl, 15 at the time and now 17, suffers from autism and has the social skills of a seven-year-old. She was said to have been groomed with sexually explicit texts before being abused by an older boy.
She complained to staff of “pain down below”. They discovered a genital injury and the girl told them she had had a sexual encounter. No one from the school told her mother and father.
The allegations came to light in July 2011, when the girl returned from school at the end of term and told her mother she had been raped. Solicitors for the parents obtained the girl’s medical records from the school. They confirmed she had shown sexual injuries during a medical examination.
Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, raised the matter in Parliament and demanded talks on measures to improve the situation at the school.
Labour MP Tom Watson vowed to raise the safety of pupils at the school with Education Secretary Michael Gove. He said: “I am calling on Michael Gove to urgently examine the safeguarding issues that surround the school.
“The investigation needs to be thorough and should be given all the resources it needs. It is clear from the tribunal report there have been a number of serious failures by individuals and agencies - and they must be urgently addressed. Everything possible needs to be done to make sure what happened to this young girl can never happen again.”
The school expressed “deep regret” for failing the pupil. It said staff had been working to improve safety and had put a plan in place, with an external expert overseeing changes.
“It added: “The case that gave rise to the tribunal was distressing, complicated and unusual. It was in no way illustrative of the way the school normally meets the needs of its pupils. The school has consistently been rated outstanding.”
A police spokesman said: “We are conducting a comprehensive review into previous allegations involving Stanbridge Earls School in Romsey.
“We are in contact with the families of the two girls who previously made allegations of abuse and are updating them with the progress of the review. The review is ongoing.”