Joanna Sugden
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A dinner lady is facing the sack for breaching “pupil confidentiality” after she blew the whistle on school bullies.
Chloe David, seven, was tied up and whipped with a skipping rope by fellow pupils at Great Tey Primary School in Essex.
Her parents, Scott and Claire David, received a letter from the school which said only that Chloe had been hurt by some other children. It did not mention that she had been tied up.
Carol Hill, who serves food at the school, told Mr and Mrs David the full story of their daughter’s ordeal.
“She had eight knots around her wrists and had been whipped across the legs with a skipping rope,” she said.
“I took her into the school, along with the four boys who had been seen with her. Two admitted it,” she told the Colchester Gazette.
But Mrs Hill, 60, has now been suspended while the school investigates if she is guilty of gross misconduct for discussing a pupil outside of school.
Mrs Hill saw Chloe’s mother shortly after the incident. “As I was talking to her I said I was really sorry about what had happened and then it became clear she did not know the whole story.
“I had to tell her because she then realised there was more to it.”
Mrs David said she was angry she had not been invited to school to discuss what had happened, especially as the parents of those accused had been called in for a meeting.
“The headteacher had written a note saying Chloe had been hurt by some other children and she was sure she would tell me all about it, but I should have been told the full story,” Mrs David said.
Chloe and her brother Cameron, five, have been taken out of the school by her parents. “I could not send her back, as I can only think about her being tied up,” Mrs David said.
Her husband has informed police about the incident.
The school says that Mrs Hill should not have discussed a pupil outside school.
Debbie Crabb, headteacher at the school, confirmed that an incident took place during the school lunchtime. “The matter is being dealt with internally in accordance with our behavioural policy and all the relevant parties have been informed.
“It would not be appropriate to discuss this in any further detail.”
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