Waltham Forest Council has published a 21-point action plan in response to a review that documented the abuse of children at Whitefield School, a special school in the borough.
Between 2014 and 2017, 38 pupils at the school were mistreated through the misuse of "calming rooms", spaces meant to help children with special educational needs manage sensory stimuli. CCTV footage found in 2021 showed children confined alone for up to four hours in windowless rooms, children in distress, and staff kicking non-verbal pupils. The rooms were closed after an Ofsted inspection in early 2017.
The Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review was published in July by the Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children Partnership. In response, the Green-led council administration said it was committed to "meaningful and lasting improvement".
What the plan sets out
The plan builds on the nine recommendations in the partnership's July report and is split into stages:
- By March: contacting affected families, assessing how the children who were abused are doing now, and sharing the review with education, health and social care partners.
- Medium term: training on restrictive practices for schools and governors, with a multi-agency progress report due in January.
- By September: a full framework covering restrictive practices, safeguarding, governance, staff competency and the experiences of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Questions that remain
No arrests have been made. Six staff members found to have abused children were not dismissed, and at least one recommended referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service was never made.
The council's scrutiny committee is due to examine the response next week.
For the families whose children went through this, the plan's first promise is the one that matters most: that someone will get in touch, and that the council will find out how those children are doing today.
