§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the outcome of the various inquiries into allegations made last September about the conduct of St. George's school, Stowmarket.
§ Sir Keith JosephAs I explained at the time, the Education Acts properly recognise the distance between the state and independent schools and give the holder of my office only limited powers in respect of such establishments. Under section 71 of the Education Act 1944 the notice of complaint procedure may be invoked only if I can be satisfied that a school is objectionable because of the unsuitability of the premises, educational provision of staff; allegation and suspicion provide no basis for intervention. To gain a proper view of the various issues, I caused the school to be fully inspected during November. At the same time, the Department pursued direct with the school those allegations on which the inspection could not be expected to bear.
Her Majesty's inspectorate's report on the school is being published today. It indicates a number of weaknesses in the school resulting in part from its rapid growth in recent years. However, overall standards of provision were found to be reasonably satisfactory and a recent overhaul of the school's organisation and policy holds out the prospeect of further improvement. The points of weakness have been drawn to the attention of the school. During the Department's complementary inquiries no evidence was provided by those who made the original allegations or by others to substantiate the few specific incidents alleged, which were directly denied by the headmaster.
Against this background, I have concluded that there is no basis for considering any formal action against the school.