Helen Houghton, Leader of the Conservative Party, says
the Teaching Council must urgently refocus on its
fundamental responsibility: protecting children and ensuring
every teacher meets the standards required to work in our
schools.
The findings of barrister Katherine Anderson
KC into the Teaching Council’s handling of convicted child
sex offender Timothy Fisher raise deeply disturbing
questions about the Council’s priorities, its
accountability and its commitment to child
safety.
According to the report, there were grounds to
strike Fisher off as early as 2015, yet he continued
teaching at multiple schools before eventually being
convicted of serious sexual offences against
children.
“The first responsibility of the Teaching
Council is to protect children. It is not to protect the
reputation of the profession, avoid difficult decisions or
pursue an institutional agenda at the expense of its core
responsibilities, said Houghton.
“Parents should be
able to send their children to school with confidence that
the people entrusted with their care have been properly
vetted, are appropriately registered and have been subject
to decisive action when serious safeguarding concerns
arise”. She asked how warning signs of this magnitude failed
to trigger the urgent action required to protect
children?
Helen Houghton said the case demands a
serious examination of how the Teaching Council allocates
its attention, resources and disciplinary powers.
“I
am deeply concerned that teachers who express views contrary
to those promoted by activist groups can face the threat of
professional disciplinary action, while this case reveals
such serious failures in responding to warning signs
involving a convicted child sex offender.”
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“Teachers
must be held to proper professional standards. But
professional regulation must be fair, proportionate and
focused on legitimate professional misconduct and the safety
of children. Disagreement with an activist agenda should
not, in itself, be treated as professional
misconduct.”
“We also need to restore the proper
place of parents in decisions about their children’s
education, said Houghton.”
The Conservative Party will
ensure that ideological or activist groups cannot gain
influence over school curriculum or use our education system
to advance their own agendas. Curriculum influence must not
be handed to lobby groups; parents must have the primary
voice in determining the values and direction of their
children’s education.
Schools exist to educate
children, not to serve as vehicles for ideological
campaigns. Parents have the right to expect transparency
about what their children are being taught and confidence
that their children’s wellbeing, development and education
come first.
We need a regulator that is rigorous when
children are at risk, fair when teachers express lawful and
professionally appropriate dissent, and accountable when its
own decisions fail.
The Conservative Party calls
for:
- An urgent safeguarding review of the
Council’s procedures for investigating serious allegations
and responding to information supplied by
police. - Robust registration and vetting checks to
ensure teachers hold the required practising certificates
and that serious risks are identified before further
children are exposed to harm. - Accountability for
failures, including an independent examination of decisions
and omissions in the Fisher case and appropriate
consequences where misconduct or negligence is
established. - Transparent and proportionate
disciplinary standards that protect children while ensuring
teachers are not unfairly targeted simply for expressing
lawful views that differ from those of ideological or
activist groups. - A clear statement of priorities
confirming that child protection, professional integrity and
the rights of students come before institutional reputation
or ideological conformity.
Houghton says
“Every child deserves to be safe at school. Every parent
deserves confidence that safeguarding warnings will be taken
seriously. And every teacher deserves a regulator that
applies professional standards fairly and
consistently.”
