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Teacher suspended over claims she struck girl
A PRIMARY school teacher has been suspended amid claims she struck a child.
Linda Powell, who teaches children in at St John's CE in Kearsley is alleged to have hit a seven-year-old girl.
An inquiry is being conducted by the school and Bolton Council has been informed.
The claim was also investigated by police, who have since decided there are no criminal charges to answer.
St John's is run by the Manchester Diocese which is leading the inquiry.
Neither the school, or the diocese was prepared to make a comment on the matter yesterday, however Bolton Council did issue a statement.
It said: "We understand that the school has suspended a member of the teaching staff and that investigations are ongoing under the School and Diocesan procedures.
"We take any allegations of misconduct very seriously and will work closely with all schools to investigate such incidents. If a school is experiencing problems and we are required to investigate then we advise the school to keep parents informed and we provide training for staff where required.
"We are confident that this recent alleged incident is being investigated thoroughly and appropriately by the agencies involved."
The incident is said to have happened in November 2007. Mrs Powell, who is a support teacher and works with children in all year groups, is still suspended pending the outcome of the school investigation.
It isn't the first time the school has been involved in controversy.
In 2006 parents claimed boys who had special needs were being dressed up as girls, that pupils were being physically abused and children forced to suck a dummy as punishment for misbehaving.
MP for the area Dr Brian Iddon became involved after being contacted by parents.
In a letter to Dr Iddon, dated last September, Tony Birch, assistant director of children's services at Bolton Council, admitted that two separate incidents of complaints relating to allegations against staff involving children had been investigated and that the "disciplinary strand was invoked". He added that "appropriate sanctions were issued".
In a letter to parents sent early last year Margaret Asquith, director of children's services in Bolton stressed there would be a "rigorous monitoring of the future school environment".
But parents are still calling for answers, claiming they are unhappy with the school's response to their complaints
Mel Livesey, who lives in Kearsley, says her 10-year-old son, was dressed up in girls' clothing. She is a member of the parents' action group set up to get answers from the school
She said: "He has autism and it really affected him. It still does now. For a long time I did not know why he did not want to go to school and why he would cling to the railing not wanting to go in."
9:01pm Friday 9th May 2008
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