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Monday, April 14, 2008, 14:00
The investigation has highlighted major failings to protect students at Headlands School and Community Science College in Bridlington.
Two Headlands teachers who had relationships with pupils have been jailed and a former teacher received a suspended sentence.
Today, a report by the East Riding Safeguarding Children Board highlighted persistent failures to protect pupils over a 13-year period.
It says between 1991 and 2004 concerns or allegations about unprofessional behaviour of teachers were not dealt with.
The Mail can also reveal the school has now been placed in special measures by education watchdog Ofsted for failing to provide its students with an acceptable standard of education.
The report into relationships between teachers and pupils also identified 11 further members of staff, past and present, who could have had “inappropriate relationships with pupils at the school” between 1984 and 2005.
Because of the numbers of staff potentially involved, Humberside Police gave the investigation “major inquiry” status.
Of those 11 teachers, one left the East Riding but was suspended by his new school for inappropriate behaviour with a 17-year-old girl.
The remaining 10 were investigated by police, but no evidence emerged for further action.
The report says seven are still teaching, two have left education and one has another job in the education field.
It also claims a failure by the school to deal with allegations in line with national policy resulted in confusion for staff and pupils about appropriate professional boundaries.
When teachers did register concerns about colleagues, appropriate action was not taken, nor were their concerns recorded.
Former Headlands headteacher Anthony Halford, who retired in 2004, is heavily criticised.
The report says police even considered charging him with official misconduct.
Alison Waller, director of children, family and adult services at East Riding Council, which was also criticised in the report, said: “An action plan has been developed to take forward the recommendations in the report.
“Some developments have been put in place, some are in process of being implemented and some are in preparation.
“Any lessons learnt by the inquiry will be fully acted upon.”
Norman Hall, chairman of governors at Headlands, has not yet seen a copy of the report, but said he had been kept informed about the inquiry.
He said: “Procedures are now very strict. We go by the guidelines that have been produced.
“Parents can be reassured that any thing that comes to our notice will be addressed.”
One parent, who did not want to be named, said: “You expect your kids to be safe at school. They must make sure this cannot happen again.”
The inquiry was launched after art teacher Ian Blott admitted to being in a relationship with a pupil in 2005. He was jailed for four years following an affair with a student between 2002 and 2005.
The report suggests concerns about his relationships with pupils had been raised from 1993 onwards, with one incident dating back as far as 1984.
Science teacher Steven Edwards and IT teacher Terry Mann, have also appeared before the courts.
Edwards, who had relationships with three teenage girls between 2001 and 2004, was jailed for four years and nine months.
Mann, who went on to teach at Withernsea High School, received a suspended sentence after admitting being in a relationship with a girl while teaching there.
He had been living with a former pupil while working at Headlands, but both denied they had been together while she was at the school.
Although East Riding Council did audit school child protection processes, the report was critical of the LEA, saying the arrangements were neither effective or robust.
It said the authority could not be confident schools would adhere to safeguarding guidance because half of all schools, including Headlands, failed to attend specific training sessions in 2001-02.
While a whistle-blowing policy was in place in the local authority, it was not effective in relation to staff at Headlands School.
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Headlands School and Community Science College in Bridlington
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