A primary school boy was left in a school toilet cubicle on his own and without food, water or supervision from 11.30am through to 3pm, a hearing has been told
A young boy was left alone in a school toilet for over three hours without food or water, a professional standards hearing has heard. The boy secluded himself in a cubicle and was not brought water or food or checked on, according to testimony at the Education Workforce Council Wales fitness to practise committee.
Former headteacher of Waldo Williams Primary in Haverfordwest, Wales, Debbie Williams, recounted to the committee that teacher Sally Berry had failed to attend to the boy but informed his parents he had been monitored. Mrs Williams detailed how the child “took himself” to the toilet at 11.30am and remained there, door closed, until 3pm.
On April 7, the first day of the remotely held hearing, Mrs Williams said: “The young person was in the bathroom with the door closed and no one going in. He was in the bathroom from 11.30am through to 3pm. He did not have access to water or food in that time.”
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The former head, who was known as Mrs Bond at the time, also told the hearing that learning support staff were upset upon discovering Mrs Berry had misled the child’s parents about him being checked on while he was isolated in the toilet cubicle, reports Wales Online.
Mrs Williams told the panel: “One of them was really upset when the young person came out of the toilet and the feedback Mrs Berry gave to his parents. What Mrs Berry recounted to the parents was not what she (the support staff member) had witnessed through the day.”
Mrs Williams admitted that neither she nor other senior staff were in charge of the boy, and they were unaware of him being alone in the toilet until after the incident occurred. When questioned by the panel, she conceded that the staff involved did not appear to have followed health and safety procedures
The allegations against Ms Berry, dated 22 May 2023, include that she created an antecedent, behaviour and consequence chart form in respect of the incident with Child A which contained incorrect information in terms of how often she had checked him and/or the strategies used.
She also faces a further allegation that On January 26 2023, when another child, Child X, made a comment threatening to harm a child, she did not inform a Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP) and/or the Headteacher; and/or b) The Child Care Assessment Team in a timely manner.
On the second day of the hearing on April 8 learning support assistant Michela Scott told the panel that she and another LSA Samantha Thomas had checked on Child A occasionally during the time he was in the cubicle, but that Mrs Berry had not. Mrs Scott said he was not speaking or making eye contact and was communicating by turning a tap on and off, but that the door was not locked.
Mrs Scott said: “Samantha Thomas and I checked on him during lunch. I checked on him twice during lunch and then loitered around the door,” Mrs Scott told the committee. Child A went to the toilet at approximately 11am and stayed there until his dad came to pick him up between 15.20 and 15.25.”
She added that senior staff were not told about the incident until 2.25pm when Mrs Berry made them aware. During the hearing it was confirmed that Child A had shut himself in the school toilet before and used it as a “safe space” when he didn’t want to do something.
On the day in question she thought he had gone to the toilet to avoid attending school assembly. But she said she was “shocked” to hear Mrs Berry tell the boy’s parents she had checked on him herself during the hours he was in the cubicle: “She definitely did not check on Child A every five to 10 minutes,” she told the panel.
The hearing continues.
