Newbury school exonerated by independent review

An independent report has dismissed allegations about Mary Hare School made during a court case earlier this year

A NEWBURY school has been exonerated by an independent review following claims made during a court case earlier in the year.

In April the principal at Mary Hare School, Tony Shaw, announced that Sir Roger Singleton would conduct the “evidential and exhaustive” investigation into safeguarding at the school for the deaf.

Now, in his report, Sir Roger, chairman of the Independent Safeguarding Authority, has concluded that the school's portrayal during the court hearing as a place where promiscuity was condoned has not been supported by the evidence.

Sir Roger has stated in his findings: “The picture of rampant sexual behaviour at Mary Hare is not one which I have been able to substantiate.”

The storm erupted in April when a former pupil was convicted of having sex with girls aged 12 and 13.

Jailing 20-year-old Aeron Mazija for three years at Reading Crown Court, Judge Richard Parkes made mention of the claim made in court that the internationally-renowned, residential school “sent out the message that underage sex was not that serious”.

Judge Parkes then lifted reporting restrictions that would otherwise have prevented the name of the school from being made public.

Sir Roger said that he had been unable to trace an un-named parent who repeated similar claims in a national newspaper and said the fact that Mazija continued sexual offending was “not due to wilful neglect or indifference on the school's part”.

He added that the overwhelming majority of parents viewed the school's safeguarding approach positively; Thames Valley Police said the school was “rarely on the radar” and officers were involved considerably less than with other boarding schools in the area.

Sir Roger pointed out that “of those who were said to have criticisms of the school, only one former student and parent agreed to meet me.”

In considering the different picture painted by the majority of parents and pupils on the one hand and by Mazija's defence counsel on the other, Sir Roger concluded: “I believe the school strikes an appropriate balance between supervising students and providing opportunities for older ones to take increasing responsibility for their own behaviour.”

Sir Roger also recognised the “many improvements” to supervision of pupils made since 2009, when the incidents came to light.

A recent Ofsted report described Mary Hare School as “outstanding”.

Copies of the 36-page report have now been sent to parents with children at the school and to other interested bodies.

In a covering letter, the chairman of governors Mike Grannatt said: “I must pay tribute to all those who showed their confidence in Mary Hare over the past year. Parents sent messages of support and worked actively in partnership with staff to support students with advice and guidance.”

He went on: “The Singleton and Ofsted reports are also a testament to our staff, particularly Peter Gale (deputy principal) and the care team, and to the leadership of Tony Shaw.”

He added that Mary Hare could never be complacent about safeguarding issues and that the school had accepted all of Sir Roger's recommendations – which, among other things, related to consultation with parents, policies on management of student relationships and enhanced governor oversight regarding safeguarding the school community.

“Mary Hare has shown itself to be successful, strong and caring, commanding great loyalty and affection from pupils, parents and staff – past and present. Our priority now is to build on these qualities and ensure a robust future for our present students and those to come,” he said.

Mr Shaw said on Wednesday (September 28): “Mary Hare School is known for its outstanding education and care and the Sir Roger Singleton report confirms that the allegations made against it in Reading Crown Court were without foundation.

“My profound concern is that a hearing within a Crown Court allowed damning allegations to be accepted as fact and placed in the public domain.”