CCTV footage shows vulnerable children abused in school ‘cells’

CCTV footage has recently emerged showing pupils at Whitefield School, also known as Whitefield Academy Trust, in Walthamstow, London, being detained and beaten inside windowless rooms. The school, which specialises in the teaching and care of vulnerable children with additional learning needs, is thought to have subject at least forty children to isolation treatment. Students would spend hours alone in the padded rooms without supervision, food and water or toilet facilities. 

Although monitored by CCTV, staff are not seen to intervene while children cry, self-harm and, display signs of significant distress. The footage does, however, show staff using excessive physical force, including pressing individuals into corners using rugby shields as well as punching and pushing the young children. One boy was subject to punches to the neck and head after throwing a shoe at the CCTV camera to get attention, while others were left to sit in vomit.

The footage, believed to have been taken between 2014 and 2017, amounts to over 500 hours of surveillance of the children, which was the responsibility of one teaching assistant to review and report on. The abuse only reemerged once the school came under new ownership and the ‘calming rooms’ were closed, after which a box of USB drives containing the footage was discovered and disclosed to the police. 

Many of the children subject to abuse are thought to have developed PTSD or other trauma-related conditions, with one mother explaining her child had to be detained in a psychiatric facility to prevent him causing self-harm. Some of those whose children were affected have suggested the lack of action or accountability thus far is a ‘cover-up’. ‘You wouldn’t even do that to a dog’, said one mother. ‘It broke my heart’. 

The footage and scandal surrounding it has also received wider attention from safeguarding experts, one of whom commented that the footage was the worst they had seen and was akin to torture. Local MP Iain Duncan Smith, referring to the footage, has called for ‘profound change’ to be implemented. 

Previous safeguarding reports commissioned by the school found that at least six staff had abused pupils. These staff were never referred to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for disqualification from further working with children. 

Ofsted had discovered the windowless rooms in 2017, but state that liability for investigating the abuse fell with the Department for Education and the Local Authority, Waltham Forest, who say they had not previously been made aware of the footage. They now plan to conduct a ‘wholly independent’ review. A police investigation into the footage is thought to have ended earlier this year without criminal charges being brought, although further enquiries are being made. 

The violence and neglect at Whitefield School comes as the latest in a series of incidents of physical abuse against children in UK schools.  This year, the Children’s Commissioner called for further guidance on the practice of secluding children with additional support requirements. Even still, government policy requires only that the removal of disruptive children be ‘suitable’ and for ‘limited’ duration, without providing further clarification, while the Department for Education states it is looking to ‘strengthen’ safeguarding in this area. 

Here at Jordans, we recognise that abuse can have a lifelong impact on survivors at any age, and would encourage anyone who experienced abuse to seek support, and consider reporting their experience to the police. We have an experienced and dedicated team who specialise in representing victims of abuse.

We have the knowledge and experience to advise you on the available options for pursuing a Criminal Injuries Compensation Claim or civil damages claim.

If would like to speak to one of our Specialist Abuse Lawyers in confidence, please do not hesitate to contact us by telephoning 0800 955 5094 or 0330 300 1103.