ANDY Wightman yesterday revealed that a private school in Edinburgh is not taking the necessary steps to prevent its pupils from being bullied.
Using a Holyrood debate the Scottish Green MSP for Lothian said that inspectors have warned that George Watsons College is not adequately safeguarding pupil welfare.
“After being elected, I was approached by constituents with a case involving a child who was the victim of serious bullying that ended up causing lifelong injuries at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh,” said Wightman.
He added that a report in February of an Annual HMI Engagement Visit to the school reported that there were “no identified areas for development” in relation to safeguarding. He said that this was the case despite the school being aware of a “catalogue” of complaints of various forms of bullying against a pupil and knew that its parent liaison group had heard of bullying concerns by parents scared to complain.
“The school was also aware of potential regulatory action under consideration by Scottish ministers,” continued Wightman.
“In September this year, a Special Inspection was conducted and three weeks ago Scottish ministers wrote to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh to inform it that George Watsons College is at risk of becoming objectionable on the following ground – that the welfare of a pupil attending the school is not adequately safeguarded and promoted there.
“It is self-evident that the welfare of children at the school is at risk yet the letter intimating regulatory action and the HMI report have not been published.”
He said he planned to published both documents and invited ministers to reflect on how widespread these failings may be as a matter of urgency.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here