Child Q: School apologises for teenage girl’s ‘harrowing’ experience

The words of Child Q written on a pavement by protesters. Photograph: Julia Gregory

The school where a Black teenager was strip-searched by police whilst she having her period has apologised for the 15-year-old’s “harrowing” experience.

The girl, known only as Child Q, was taken out of an exam and searched after staff thought she smelt of cannabis.

They asked for advice from the Safer Schools police officer, who told them to call police.

What happened at the school has traumatised the teenager and her family and led to a series of protests in Hackney, with people calling for an end to officers in schools.

Child Q has launched legal action against the Met Police and the school.

The governing body at her school, which cannot be named to protect her identity, said: “The incident involving Child Q is harrowing, and we understand and share the sadness and anger that is being felt by the community.”

It said it was limited in what it can say, but that it is “important to stress that changes have been made since the shocking events that occurred after the Safer Schools officer was called in 2020”.

The governing board said the incident should never have happened.

It added: “While the school was not aware that a strip-search was taking place, we wholly accept that the child should not have been left in the situation that she was.

“For this, we have offered a full and formal apology to Child Q and her family, and continue to work with them to provide what support we can.”

Hackney’s mayor has called for the headteacher to resign to give the school a new start.

The governing body declined to comment.

A report by City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership said the school should have challenged the police about what was going to happen.

It also found that “racism (whether deliberate or not) was likely to have been an influencing factor in the decision to undertake a strip-search”.

The governing board said there have been changes sicne experts in safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion looked at the school after what happened to Child Q.

The board said: “Changes were made immediately after the incident, and continued to be made.

“The makeup and leadership of our board has changed, how we engage with the police has completely evolved, and our safeguarding policies have been through rigorous and robust review.”

It said the review published last week “gives us yet further impetus to move forward with pace and purpose to ensure that every child feels safe and can thrive in our community”.

The board added that the school is also working with students to find out how it can support them “as part of an ongoing programme of evaluation and reflection”.

It said it asked the entire student body for its views last year and had received “invaluable” feedback.

It went on: “While we are confident that this is not something that could ever happen again in our school, we hope that the horrible and deeply troubling events that occurred are discussed, digested and acted upon by the whole of the sector to support children across the country.”

The Met has apologised for what happened and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating.

The two police officers who carried out the strip-search have been removed from frontline duties.