Day Nursery Closed - Child Images

[Guest]

A nursery has been closed by police today after a nursery nurse was found with a disc full of indecent photo's of children.

 

Is this something major or just an overeaction?

 

I do fee lsorry for the owners if they are a small chain or independant.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8090790.stm

Edited June 9, 2009 by Guest

[Cait]

Another nail in the coffin for CRB checks perhaps?

[Guest]

OMG thats dreadful!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

Obvously we do not know any facts BUT..........

 

1: How can you stopped a checked person from doing something bad when you have done all the correct checks - the owners must be mrtified as they will probably never open again?

2: CRB only refer to pending or proved police involvement.

 

WHAT CAN YOU TO PROTECT YOURSELF AS AN EMPLOYER OR NURSERY?....................

[Guest]

[JacquieL]

My goodness how awful, those poor parents and children, and all the staff who are innocent of any wrongdoing. I have so many questions, and so will everyone, and they will need answering for everyone's sakes, and for the future safety of all our children.

My heart goes out to them all at this dreadful time.

[Guest]

Just watched the news and am so shocked. What an awful situation for the children and parents of this nursery. mrsW

[Guest]

Trouble is, how can we learn lessons from this?. What is to stop ANY staff member bringing or mixing with sick people? Door entry searches?, not personal belongings inside the building? where does it stop?

[Guest]

I wonder if this will impact the use of cameras in Pre-Schools and Day Nurseries?? I feel really sorry for parents, how do they know who to trust???

[Guest]

What a dreadful dreadful thing. I can't imagine the shock all parents and staff are going through. A nightmare.

Gruffalo2

[sunnyday]

My thoughts are with the poor children and parents.

 

As has already been said - we don't have any facts yet - but it is very hard to understand how this can be 'the work of' just one individual..........hopefully the way we all work (not alone I mean) this could never happen.

 

What a sad day for all concerned.

 

Sunnyday

[Guest]

This is so worrying.

 

Not only for those involved but for, as has been said, how it will affect our settings and the use of cameras.

[Rea]

I signed a petition against CRBs last year. They are so useless its easy to see how its possible for this kind of thing to happen if someone really wants to.

[apple]

good point MrsW re the cameras

I can just hear the panic in the voices of parents tomorrow at nursery.... people will get paranoid over the use of camera's. They are such a vital part of the observation process we now will have to work twice as hard alaying any fears

[hali]

oh gosh how awful

[Guest]

OFF TOPIC

 

There was a recent TV prog on Camera's and security. One company 'forgot' to tell nurseries it had a fault and the camera were on 'free view' to all the net for 8 weeks.

 

I think there was a clause in the payment options for 'non working setup'

[narnia]

To be fair here, the news item I saw said the police don't yet know if this woman is involved or not.................her photo, with her wearing her nursery uniform, was amongst images found in Manchester and that's how police identified her and were she works.They didn't say if the womans photo was an innocent one or not.They have taken the steps of informing her employers, because they have had to seize computers cameras etc from the nursery just in case.I feel so sorry for the nursery and can only hope that they were following all safeguarding procedures to the letter, so that there is no chance that the children there were at risk.Parents must be sick with worry though.

[Guest]

oh gosh how awful

 

 

This week i did a focus activity with my key children on using digital camera ( ICT),as one of my key children love to take photos .I only allowed them to take things outside in the play grounds eg flowers, bird bath , school building what ever took there eye , the main school childen was having games lesson in the play ground i made it clear to the children they was not allowed take photo's of those children/staff . I had photos printed and the children made a photo album wrote captions of what they took ! A parent made comment to me this morning on how there child was thrilled with what she had done , thank me as it Will be nice keep sake , . Will we be know longer able to use camera's. I really hope not as they play important part in our day to day working in the pre school enviroment.

[catma]

Personally I don't see why it would result in a universal ban on the use of photographic recording - you could equally say close all nurseries just in case it happens!.......I think it is best to remember innocent until proven guilty.

Cx

[Lyanne]

From today's yahoo news, it's incredibly worse than at first it seemed. Just makes me feel sick thinking it could happen.

[Guest]

To be fair here, the news item I saw said the police don't yet know if this woman is involved or not.................her photo, with her wearing her nursery uniform, was amongst images found in Manchester and that's how police identified her and were she works.They didn't say if the womans photo was an innocent one or not.They have taken the steps of informing her employers, because they have had to seize computers cameras etc from the nursery just in case.I feel so sorry for the nursery and can only hope that they were following all safeguarding procedures to the letter, so that there is no chance that the children there were at risk.Parents must be sick with worry though.

 

I agree the parents may be sick with worry and I imagine they have not slept either. Narnia has made a very fair summary of the awful situation and the all the authorities will complete a full investigation.

 

Personally I don't see why it would result in a universal ban on the use of photographic recording - you could equally say close all nurseries just in case it happens!.......I think it is best to remember innocent until proven guilty.

 

I also agree that the innocent are that until proven otherwise. Once thing I truley deplore is trial by media and sadly we seem to be heading into that type of society

 

I really think that we must consult with children and photography is a very good media for very young children to communicate with adults, photographs about their likes and dislikes in the environment can speak a thousand words and I would encourage everyone to continue with this very good practice

[narnia]

Sadly, I have to eat my words as it seems that this woman was involved in something terrible with the children in her care as she has been formally charged on several counts.

[Guest]

From what I've heared on the news today, the photos were on a camera phone.

 

I think than looking at a ban on photos, nurseries should be putting safe guards so that only appropiate photos are taken. Thinking of this in my setting it would be,

 

a, absolutely no phones on peoples person - any phone found would result in disciplinary action (in my setting they are banned but a lot of girls still have them on them)

b, no personal cameras (we have to bring our own camera in to get photos done)

c, all photos developed by manager/deputy and checked through by them as well. (anyone in my setting can develop photos)

 

In fact when I look at the lapses my my setting, this suituation could happen to use - think I will talk with management team tomorrow...

[HappyMaz]

Sadly, I have to eat my words as it seems that this woman was involved in something terrible with the children in her care as she has been formally charged on several counts.

I don't think you have to eat your words at all narnia - you were just standing up for fair play! We'll just have to wait until all the sad and sorry details emerge during her trial - for now they're saying some of the images might have been taken inside the nursery.

 

If there are issues raised by this case that mean we need to look at our procedures and policies again then I'm sure we'll all do that - and I do believe the Independent Safeguarding Authority will plug the obvious gaps left by the CRB system following the Bichard Inquiry after the Soham tragedies.

 

Only time will tell.

 

Maz

[Guest]

Narnia, I don't think you have to eat your words you made me stop and think by your post. Unfortunately for the parents and children in this day nursery the stories were true and I wish for the sake of the children and parents, they weren't. mrsW.

[Guest]

The more i hear about this the more it sickens me. As i mother it scares me to think that this could go on in a nursey setting and as a once nursery manager i wonder how this woman was able to carry out such vile acts.

 

[Guest]

Well , I am lost for words!!!

 

How sickening . . many lessons to be learned here and I am sure the people who post here, will work towards the best practice they possibly can for the children and families who attend our settings.

 

Holds cheeks in hands, places eldows on table and wonders - why oh why!!!

[Guest]

This is awful news, those poor children and parents and staff at the nursery who are genuinely in the job because they care. At our setting I have always been vigilant about staff carrying mobiles and they are all kept in their bags. Our main digital camera never goes into the children's bathroom, and I am responsible for developing all the photo's, I take the card out every night and check on my computer. As for CRB's, I have always been told never to treat them as proof of a genuine person, it just means that each of us with a clear enhanced discloser has never been charged with anything. Again it has to be down to how staff are supervised and how are practice is risk assessed, but then it may come to light that the woman who has been charged, was the actual manager, which then throws up issues of all staff being vigilant at all times, and as a part of normal circle time sessions, perhaps using puppets, we need to support children to understand that if anyone within the setting want to take photos of their private area's then they must tell someone, I know it takes away some of their innocence, but rather that than the present situation which is unfolding.

 

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Nurse...il/article.html

 

 

Claire x

Edited June 10, 2009 by cupcake

[Upsy Daisy]

It is a sad world we live in. I feel dreadfully for the parents who are wondering what has happened to their children and for the poor children themselves.

 

I think we will all be quietly reviewing our practice in the light of this but we must remember that, sadly, people will go to enormous lengths to commit these acts. Nothing we can do will keep every child in our settings perfectly safe from every hazard and I hope there will not be too many knee-jerk reactions.

 

We need to think long and hard about how we teach children to protect themselves and what is appropriate knowledge for them to have.

 

Using cameras enhances the experiences of the children and their parents greatly and I would hate to see this being curtailed.

 

I await the details of the ISA's new vetting and barring register with interest. I wonder if any system like this would have protected these children. Only time will tell.

[HappyMaz]

I wonder if any system like this would have protected these children.

I can't really answer that - but I do know that its introduction has been delayed because the powers that be decided the system wasn't quite watertight enough, which can only be a good sign that they are not prepared to go 'live' with glitches still in the system.

 

I agree with what you say about the necessity to avoid knee jerk reactions - however we should always ask ourselves the question 'what if' and not rely on a feeling that it can't happen in our settings. These children are so very young and may not have the words to tell what may have been happening to them - I hope that the they and their families are receiving good, sensitive support at what is an incredibly worrying and difficult time for them.

 

The world seems a much sadder place today.

 

Maz