Heads’ leaders demand vetting scheme rethink
Irena Barker writes in the Times Educational Suplement:
All England and Wales’ major headteachers’ leaders – private and state, primary and secondary -have joined forces to demand a complete rethink of new laws designed to protect children from paedophiles, calling them “disproportionate to risk”.
The seven associations representing the country’s 27,500 heads have today written to the Government warning that the new Vetting and Barring scheme could spell the end of many extra-curricular activities and trips and leave heads drowning in paperwork.
The letter warns that schools will be forced to reduce the attendance of competitive sporting events, cut back on sending pupils on work or volunteer placements or welcoming exchange students or visiting speakers.
The scheme will also entail a vast increase in paperwork for headteachers, and make it harder to take on emergency staff such as dinner ladies or plumbers.
