Principal steps down 'temporarily' after details of incidents emerge
Arts Educational School on Bath Road
The Arts Educational School has issued a statement saying that it has been made aware of allegations of ‘serious historic misconduct’.
Details of the nature of the allegations have not been given other than they took place between 2012 – 2017 in the Higher Education institution and involved students 18 or older.
The school says that it does not have full details of the allegations but the Trustees of the school have opened an external investigation into the matter and have engaged an independent QC, Rebecca Tuck, to lead that process.
The Principal of the school Chris Hocking has agreed to step down ‘temporarily’ to ensure that the investigation is ‘as rigorous and independent as possible’.
The schools statement says, “We support his decision and have appointed our current Deputy Principal Jane Morton to take on the role of Principal while the investigation is carried out.
“The welfare and safety of our students is our highest priority, and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination or abuse.
“We have robust policies and procedures in place to protect the welfare of our students, and as part of this process, we encourage staff and students to bring any incidents, of any kind, to our attention.”
It is not known if the allegations first emerged on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ web site which saw over 5,000 testimonials published about abuse in schools across the country including some of the most exclusive private schools. There have been no reports to date of the Arts Ed being complained about on this site.
A new email address has been set up for anyone to report any misconduct - reporting@independentinvestigation.co.uk.
The schools says that any information that comes to light within this investigation will be shared with the relevant authorities.
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June 12, 2021
