Questions regarding Department of Education Protocols Remain Unanswered in the Westside School “Grooming” incident.

TG is profoundly concerned by the failure of internal protocols exposed in the recent  case of grooming (as defined by the investigation led by Gillian Guzman QC) at  Westside School. It has been brought to the attention of the party (which has been  supporting and making representations for the family of the student these last six months) that Westside teachers notified the Department of Education of the  inappropriate behaviour as early as the beginning of 2019, and that the Department  had already produced safeguarding reports about this issue in March 2019. Also, the  party has been made aware that evidence of the behaviour was presented to  members of the Department, who, instead of immediately removing the teacher from  service, decided to place her in a Primary School. 

TG believes that this issue should be investigated further and the criteria for this  decision disclosed. It is the belief of the party that, if the aforementioned  circumstances are proven true, this decision placed other children at risk, and  displays intolerable failures in the Department’s safeguarding protocols.  

The teacher was interdicted as soon as Gillaine Guzman QC’s board was convened,  in June of 2020. However, notwithstanding this interdiction and the two ongoing  investigations (by the “Gillaine Guzman Board” and the RGP), the teacher was  allowed to go back to work at a primary school at the start of term in September  2020. She was finally removed from her post two days later. 

Together Gibraltar urges Government and its HR department to complete their  internal investigation as soon as possible. It is the belief of the party that after a 12  month, in-depth investigation by an independent board, all of these issues must have  been well documented and presented to the relevant authorities. If the well-being of  children in our community has been put at risk it must be made known to the general  public, and steps must be taken to ensure that those responsible face  consequences, and that these safeguarding issues do not reoccur.