Mossbourne launches review of complaints procedure amid safeguarding inquiry

Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy. Image: Google

The trust of a local academy currently under investigation over safeguarding concerns has launched a separate review into its complaints procedure.

In a letter to parents last week (28 February), leaders of the Mossbourne Federation multi-academy trust announced an external senior barrister would “independently” assess these processes and “parents’ and carers’ experience using them”.

In December last year, the local safeguarding board triggered a rare review following numerous complaints about the experiences of children at Mossbourne.

The trust’s leadership said it is “concerned some parents and carers may have lost confidence in the formal complaints procedures”.

The barrister conducting Mossbourne’s assessments of the procedures is to report to three people selected by the Federation’s chiefs.

In their letter to parents and carers, Mossbourne Federation chair Henry Colthurst and CEO Peter Hughes, write: “The barrister will report directly to Daniel Flitterman (son-in-law of Lady Bourne), Tareic Alphonse (local resident) and Shedeh Javadzadeh (former student).”

According to records at Companies House, Daniel Flitterman served as a director of Mossbourne Federation for eight years, until November 2020, and was a director of Peter Hughes’ company, Progress Teaching Limited, until February last year.

Tareic Alphonse sits on the governing body of Mossbourne Community Academy and has done so since 9 January 2022.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Shedeh Javadzade is a board member of Mossbourne Charitable Trust and has volunteered as a students’ mentor at Mossbourne Community Academy.

The letter from the Mossbourne leadership continues: “We wish to ensure for the future that the Mossbourne community has trust and assurance in the Federation’s procedures and does not feel the need to take any concerns to the media.

“Above all, we are committed to safeguarding student welfare at Mossbourne schools.”

The Citizen asked the Mossbourne Federation if it had engaged with parents about their experiences with its complaints procedures before it enlisted a barrister, but it has not responded.

The letter to parents and carers also highlights the fact that a dossier of complaints about children’s wellbeing at the school, passed to Hackney Council, was “not received through the Federation’s complaints procedures”.

“As you may know, a number of allegations have been made against Mossbourne schools in a dossier sent to Hackney Council, which was also provided to the local media.”

It adds: “Despite frequent requests of the CHSCP [City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership], Hackney Council and the Department for Education, nobody has been prepared to disclose any details of the allegations.

“This has hindered our ability to address them although we have been advised by the CHSCP that no child is at any immediate risk of significant harm and that no urgent action is required in respect of staff members.”

The City and Hackney children’s safeguarding commissioner, Jim Gamble, has stated that concerns contained in the dossier were “anonymised on the basis that parents feared the consequence of direct engagement with MVPA [Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy].”

“At this time, no consent has been provided to release these accounts to anyone connected with the Mossbourne Federation,” he added.

In February, the CHSCP published its terms of reference for the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review of Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy.

The document also stated that Hackney Council had received an initial dossier of concerns from parents about their children’s experiences at the school.

It also states that “… [The parents] felt that these suggested likely widespread and long-term abuse of children.”

The CHSCP has confirmed the dossier has grown to contain over 300 separate accounts from parents and other sources.

Whilst the concerns include reference to other schools, the safeguarding review will concentrate on Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy.

Mossbourne Federation chair Henry Colthurst and CEO Peter Hughes have said that they would “cooperate” with the safeguarding review, “insofar as our involvement does not impact adversely our primary objectives of looking after our students safely, and within an environment which helps them to achieve their full ambitions”.