List 99

List 99 will be replaced in the U.K.

October 26, 2008 - There are 8,036 people on List 99, a secret register kept by the Department for Children, Schools and Families of those banned from teaching that now includes anyone convicted of child sex offences even if they have not worked with young people.
The blacklist also includes some who have been found guilty of professional misconduct or banned on medical grounds.

Two years ago it was discovered that at least 88 sex offenders had been left off the blacklist, with one allowed to get a job as a PE teacher.

The list will be replaced by a register where sex offenders and violent criminals will be automatically prevented from teaching by the new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

The downside? Everyone on List 99 will not automatically be prevented from working with children. All will be reviewed by ISA. Those barred for medical reasons including mental illness, alcoholism or drugs, will not be automatically excluded from working with children. Nor will those presently banned for professional misconduct.

Beginning in October 2009, nurses, social workers and teachers, as well as all individuals working or volunteering with vulnerable adults or children will have to pay £64 to register with the ISA in England and Wales, and £58 in Northern Ireland.

Location, Location, Location

There's only one little problem.

August 18, 2008 - This AFP (Agence France-Press) story about cameras in the classroom carries no location. While the original clearly indicates the location is London, U.K.

U.K. Pedophile

British teacher who raped 5-year-old girl worked in American summer camps.

From BBC News: June 20, 2008 - Neil Challis, 35, a teacher who taught in 13 different schools across Derbyshire, has admitted repeatedly raping a young girl and taking photographs of pupils.

The girl, who was not a pupil, was five when he started abusing her and it continued for five years. When arrested, police found 3,940 indecent images on his laptop. Most of the images were downloaded from the internet, others from a camera used to secretly take photographys up the skirts of girls he taught. Some of the pictures were of the attacks on the girl.

Police said they would hand over their files to authorities in the US, where Challis worked in summer camps.
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IF YOU RECOGNIZE the name or the picture, you can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at their 24-hour hotline or report online at their CyberTipline.

The Center is a private, non-profit agency established by Congress. Largely funded by The US Justice Department, it is the clearinghouse of information and as a contact point to parents, children, law enforcement agencies, schools, and communities in cases of child abduction, child sexual abuse and child pornography.
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SENTENCED July 8 - The camp where he worked was in Poland, Maine, a a popular destination for the children of New York bankers and lawyers. British authorities said they discovered underwear from campers in the man's Derby, England, residence and that some of the 4,000 indecent images of children found in his possession may have been taken at the camp.

According to current and former campers and their parents, Mr. Challis was a well-liked counselor and camp photographer at Tripp Lake, which costs about $10,000 for seven weeks

Challis was sentenced to 14 years in prison and could be kept longer if it is determined he is still a danger to the public.

Incompetent Teachers

It is just as hard to fire incompetent teachers in the U.K.

May 1, 2008 - "Teachers: constantly scrutinised but among the hardest to dismiss:
A reluctance to speak up against colleagues means the inadequate may stay in a job"
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TT - If they had as many cameras in the classroom as they do to watch the public, they might be able to document the incompetents. We've long advocated cameras in every classroom so that school administrators will have no excuse when they fail to oversee teacher performance.

Knife Scanners

It's the privacy that matters.

In the U.K., because of a rising incidence of "knife crime", they may begin installing knife scanners "at the school gates.

Search arches similar to those at airports will have an alarm activated when pupils with suspicious metal objects pass through. Children will not be forced to empty pockets before going through, reducing fears that the controls will compromise their privacy. All pupils will have to face checks to avoid accusations that stereotypes are being targeted.

The knife scanners in the U.K, will, of course and predictably, "protect student's privacy." (pronounced PRIV-asee)

- Jan 20, 2008 Guardian news story.

Laugh of the Day

LAUGH OF THE DAY
February 22, 2007 -

A GROUP of Iraqi teachers and schools inspectors persecuted under the rule of dictator, Saddam Hussein, have visited Wyre Forest to learn about trade unions to help rebuild democracy in their country.

The delegation, who are meeting Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at Downing Street today, stopped by last week. All 12, who have travelled around the country, have been guests of The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers - NASUWT.

The union's national deputy general secretary, Jerry Bartlett, of Aggborough Crescent, Kidderminster, said the aim of the trip was to give the Middle Eastern visitors an insight into how unions operated.

TT - Well, American parents and taxpayers can tell you straight out - "Don't go there!"

What money can't buy...

August 17, 2007 -

St George's is an all-girls independent boarding and day school set in 30 acres of fields, woods and heathland close to Windsor Great Park.

It has about 300 pupils aged between 11 and 18, including 150 boarders. Fees are £7,200 a term for boarders and £4,650 for day pupils.

And the head of history who taught Princess Beatrice admits grooming young girl on the web. Richard Findley, 42, the father of three children, had, apparently, a lot of time for online conversations with what turned out to be a Scotland Yard detective in the Paedophile Unit.

After the paedophile started sending sexually explicit text messages from his mobile phone, "police swooped in" and arrested him in January. Finley pleaded guilty.

TT - At the current rate of exchange, the fees are $14,267.84 for a live-in and $9,215.76 if you drop in for daily instruction. You'd think for that kind of money, they could guarantee pedophiles wouldn't be on the staff.

She's the daughter of Andrew and that redhead.