Leis shafted by KLAN

Coleen Leis has been the latest victim of the Carenne Special School KLAN, following a finding by EPAC that she engaged in misconduct. As a result of the finding, Mrs Leis has been forcibly transferred to Denison College - Kelso High Campus.

The investigation, carried out by Malcolm Barnett was initiated after a complaint by Angie Cranston, an aide at the school known for her constant bullying and the making of complaints to serve her own interest.

In Term 3, Cranston made a complaint to Barnett who was relieving as manager of EPAC's serious misconduct team alleging that Leis had leaked information about the school, was incompetent, had bullied her and was abusive towards her and other staff. Cranston's complaint came after an incident where Leis observed Cranston dragging a student by his hair along a corridor.

Leis intervened and took the student to Neil Moon's office to report the incident, only to see nothing happen and face departmental charges herself. Cranston's claims were backed up by statements from Neil Moon, Margaret Rowe, Michael Auld and Melinda Gavin.

Leis was informed of the investigation result in November and told that she either had to accept a transfer to Kelso High or resign.

Carenne Gate can reveal that the investigation, carried out under the guidance of Malcolm Barnett was not carried out properly and failed to consider Cranston's short but checkered history at Carenne. Staff at Bathurst SEA informed EPAC that Cranston had been the subject of a number of workers compensation claims and OH&S reports due to her relentless threats, intimidation and harassment.

EPAC was aware that Cranston was part of the reason Barbara Woolfe retired, when Cranston told staff she would expose Woolfe for not reporting therapy not being done on a student which ADHC had paid for, despite also being the aide in the class. They were also aware of Cranston being the cause of a nervous breakdown suffered by Kelly Thompson, a promising special educator who had to be relocated to Bathurst West Public and the refusal of all staff except Terry Neal to work with her last year.

In just four years at Carenne, Cranston has been the subject of many complaints and has been reported on this blog for:

• Making students walk back to the school unsupervised after a teacher fell down a drain,
• Being involved in corrupt excursion arrangements
• Taking a sexual device to a school fundraiser
• Stealing items from the school
• Inappropriately touching a student, and
  
• Not properly supervising students.

Despite objections by Neil Moon, officials at SEA have called for Angie Cranston to be sacked only to be told by EPAC it is not possible. It is apparent that EPAC are relying on unreliable information from a woman with a particular agenda to push.

Another Carenne Support director and questionable business practices

Carenne Gate can reveal that Carenne Support director and bank employee Paul Knight has been engaging in questionable business practices on Internet auction site eBay. On the site, Knight uses the name slater2703.

Back in July, Knight posted the name of a buyer as feedback, calling them a "wanker". After being mentioned on this blog, Knight has set his feedback profile to private so it is no longer available to be read by other users. This shows that Knight has something to hide.

Knight isn't the only Carenne Support director caught out engaging in questionable business practices, with Geoff Salmon's company wound up for being in excess of $6.1 million in debt.

Carenne music teacher/bus driver impersonates Lee Churches

Carenne Special School's music teacher and a bus driver for Capebase, one of Carenne Support's competitors, Steve Minshull has attempted to impersonate disgraced former Carenne assistant principal and Carenne Support director Lee Churches.

Earlier today Minshull posted under the name "Lee Churches" claiming that court documents posted by Mary Housler were not the original copies and that they would ask Carenne Support's board of directors to investigate. He then posted that the allegations were true but were not part of the court case.

Mr Minshull's postings show the cut-throat competition amongst bus drivers and operators at Carenne and how they will do anything to discredit each other.

Robyn Graham abuses student

Despite being under close scrutiny, staff associated with Carenne Special School in Bathurst continue to act inappropriately, unprofessionally and worst of all - continue to abuse children. Carenne Gate has learned of an incident involving Robyn Graham, wife of Dave Graham and escort on Carenne Support's Lithgow run at the end of November.

Without approval from the Special Transport Unit, and while claiming for running two buses, at the end of November Dave Graham combined the Lithgow and Kelso runs and performed it himself, with his wife as escort.

During the run, Robyn Graham hit an indigenous student across the face and forcefully held him to the seat while using racial slurs to refer to the student. When the student became agitated, Mrs Graham threatened to sit on him to ensure he remained seated. The student's parent noticed bruises on his arm that afternoon and asked Mrs Graham what had happened. She told the parent that he wouldn't remain in his seat so she restrained him.

One of the students on the bus then began to tell the parent what had happened and spoke of the language used by Mrs Graham towards the student.

The incident was reported to Bathurst Police, who advised that the school would need to look into the matter. A complaint was made to Neil Moon, who promised to look into the incident but as usual with child protection complaints at Carenne nothing appears to have been done. It appears to be Mr Moon's practice to drag these matters on so the evidence is destroyed or the complainant goes away. In this case, the parent took photographs of the bruises on their child's body as evidence of the attack.

Frighteningly, Mrs Graham remains as a SNTS escort on Carenne Support's Lithgow run.

According to Barracus and nedkelly, staff at Carenne were briefed about the incident by Neil Moon and told to say nothing if interviewed by Police or staff from EPAC.

It's time that the authorities get real and take action about the continued abuse being suffered by students at Carenne Special School.

UPDATE: Mary Housler and Carenne Support breach company law

Yesterday I reported that Carenne Support, the corrupt organisation at the centre of the Carenne Gate Affair hadn't lodged it's financial statements with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in an attempt to hide its financial position from the general public.

In my article I wrote that it was optional for Carenne Support to lodge financial statements, but it was correctly pointed out by one of our readers that I was wrong.

I am not the only person who was wrong, with Mary Housler, company secretary of Carenne Support claiming:

"There is no requirement for us to send them to ASIC and have them placed on the public record for the likes of Brian and Nathan Carter to use against us in court and for them to be plastered all over this blog.

It's about time you c---s realise that you have no right to know anything about Carenne Support."

Due to its status as a deductibe gift recipient, Carenne Support is required under company law to lodge an annual report with ASIC no later than four months after the end of its financial year (or 30 October 2011). Failing to lodge on time is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of six months jail or a $3,125 fine and both the company secretary and company itself can be charged.

Those wishing to report the matter should contact ASIC on 1300 300 630.

Carenne Support's latest transport breach

Carenne Support has once again been caught out breaching the rules of the Special Needs Transport Service while at the same time neglecting a student.

Today, the escort on Carenne Support's Kelso run was observed in the front seat of the vehicle while students requiring an escort were still on board the vehicle. One student in particular is known to run off and needs constant supervision. It is the escort's duty to ensure that this supervision is provided.

Under the rules of the SNTS, escorts are to be seated in the rear of the vehicle as close as possible to the student requiring assistance. They are never to be seated in the front of the vehicle. The driver should not have driven the vehicle without the escort in the correct position.

Carenne Support continues to break the rules without any penalty from the department.

Carenne Support fails to make financials transparent

The corrupt organisation at the centre of the Carenne Gate Affair, Carenne Support Limited has failed to lodge its annual financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission this year. It had until October 30 to do so.

Despite only being required to if requested by ASIC or 5% of its members, in the past, Carenne Support has lodged its financial reports with the regulatory body. To stop lodging its reports, Carenne Support looks as though it is trying to hide something and should not be trusted by the general public.

It has already been publicised that key people associated with the charity are unsuitable, with Christine Porter accused of defrauding ADHC and neglecting students, Geoff Salmon running his own company into massive debt and attempting to carjack a Carenne protester, Paul Knight defrauding people on eBay and Terry Mahony telling the Bathurst community that the two buses being purchased were for the school.

Any person considering making a donation to the organisation should be careful as it obviously has something to hide and is not being open and transparent in its operation.

The organisation is not the first charity associated with Carenne to change its practices to avoid scrutiny, with the Bathurst Riding for the Disabled Association changing its structure to avoid transparency.

It's time that the authorities look into the plethora of issues surrounding Carenne Support.

Parents, staff unimpressed with presentation day

Parents and staff at the maligned Carenne Special School have complained about the annual presentation day held at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre today. Complaints flooded into Carenne Gate about how the ceremony was ran, speeches, musical items and stickers given out at the door.

Attendees claimed that the day, organised by Neil Moon and Janelle Kemp was poorly planned and not to the standard of previous years. Instead of being a showcase of student's achievements, the presentation day ceremony was a chance for the school and its staff to spin and attempt to talk up a very troubled school. Attendees claimed the order of the ceremony, the reduction in the number of musical items and lack of time management showed the complete incompetence of Mr Moon and Ms Kemp with organising such a function.

Attendees were given a sticker saying "Friends of Carenne" made by the education department's disability programs officer Linda Cormack, which they were encouraged to put on their cars to show support for the school. Ms Cormack claimed that she thought of the stickers during a dream and went on to speak of her fondness for the school.

A number of parents were disgusted with the stickers, with one parent saying they were 'demeaning' - "What sort of idiot would make a sticker that looks like it was created by a pre-school child. It's pathetic and demeaning, most students at the school would be capable of making something far better but of course arrogant b****es like Linda Cormack wouldn't be able to see that, they think disabled kids are incapable."

Another parent told Carenne Gate that he thought the bumper stickers showed the desperation of the education department. "Obviously when you have to hand out a sticker to get from free advertisement you are in trouble," said the parent.

Attendees also attacked Neil Moon's 'principal's report', which ran for almost half an hour. Staff and parents complained about how his speech was long, boring, drawn out and full of spin. He spoke of what he considered to be the school's achievements this year, which staff criticised as an attempt to make himself look as though he was in control. Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that Mr Moon spoke about achievements that wouldn't normally be considered achievements because he had nothing else to speak about.

Moon's speech also mentioned how the school had valuable partnerships with corrupt organisations Carenne Support and the Riding for the Disabled Association and of partnerships he claims to have built with the community.

The musical piece by Carenne's guitar teacher, Steve Minshull was another segment which drew criticism from attendees, with many claiming it was 'atrocious' and 'appalling'. The students, despite being taught by Mr Minshull all year were unable to play the guitar with Mr Minshull stealing the limelight with his performance. One staff member complained that the choice of song - Under the Boardwalk was inappropriate for a function for a school where students from pre-school to Year 12 attended.

Another staff member claimed that the song was a poor choice as it was far too complicated for the students in the group to be able to play -

"For someone with years of experience as a music teacher you would think that he would be able to pick an appropriate song for the students to play. Instead, he chose something that was too complicated for them to be able to play and used it as an opportunity to make himself look good while making the students look bad. One parent commented to me about how the students looked out of their depth and how some in the audience made fun of them. You should celebrate what these students can do, not make them look bad."

Once again, staff at Carenne Special School forgot about the true purpose of the day and used it to further their own agenda.

Neil Moon's $16,000 lie

Once again corrupt Carenne Special School principal, Neil Moon has defrauded the Bathurst community by making claims that are not true. The Bathurst Bulldogs Rugby Club recently donated $16,000 to the school so that the school could continue its hydrotherapy program.

In a statement to the Western Advocate, Mr Moon said that the $16,000 would go towards funding an "ongoing hydrotherapy program" and possibly the purchase of iPads for students.

Mr Moon neglected to tell his donors that Carenne has had a hydrotherapy program for many years under an agreement with Bathurst Hospital which costs the school nothing. In the past, the department had planned a hydrotherapy pool for the school - the same as the Anson Street Special School in Orange, however Michael Auld and Terry Mahony's lobbying to have the Riding for the Disabled Association moved to the rear of the school ended these plans. It was realised that due to Auld and Mahony's incompetence that there was no room to build the facility, which could have benefited a greater number of students.

According to nedkelly, the school's purchase of iPads is only to secure Christine Porter's position at the school. "Christine claims that they have to be setup and monitored by a speech therapist, so the whole idea of the iPads is to make sure she still has a job even though ADHC are employing therapists independent to Carenne Support."

Neil Moon has once again shown he is not to be trusted and that he will lie and defraud the Bathurst community.

Sexist staffing practices at Carenne

It can be revealed that once again, Carenne Special School has bypassed proper merit selection procedures and appointed staff based on their gender and Carenne staff's own beliefs.

At the beginning of November, two School Learning Support Officer positions were filled through the ordinary interview process, with the positions going to Adam Ryan and Zach Baker. An aide who has been involved with the school for a number of years, Sue Sewell was passed over because the school needed male aides according to Neil Moon.

Moon's claim that Mrs Sewell was less suited to the job than Mr Ryan and Mr Baker because she is female is a case of blatant sexism. Staff outside of the KLAN believe Mr Ryan and Mr Baker to be immature and inexperienced. Carenne whistleblower Barracus told Carenne Gate that she believed Sewell to be a much better choice -

"Sue has worked at the school for a number of years and is a far more capable aide than Adam or Zach. Adam and Zach are immature, inexperienced and incapable of performing to the standard that Sue is."

nedkelly told Carenne Gate that the staffing decision was influenced by Ros Luther, Terry Neal, Angie Cranston and Nadine Dwyer, with the foursome telling staff that Ryan and Baker would get the job because they were just what the school needed and because they "fit into Carenne."

Once again Neil Moon demonstrates his lack of leadership and bias.

Students exposed to exhaust fumes by Carenne Support

Students on Carenne Support's wheelchair bus run under the Special Needs Transport Service in Bathurst are being exposed to deadly exhaust gases from its Toyota bus following its quick fix on its back window.

Over the weekend, the rear window of the vehicle was smashed and on Monday, Carenne Support bus coordinator Dave Graham was forced to place a plastic sheet over the window and tape it on after Mary Housler refused to confirm if the damage was covered by insurance or if Carenne Support would pay for it to be repaired.

Students were driven around in the vehicle by Mark Sealey with the rear window missing and unsealed, exposing them to deadly fumes. Under guidelines for the Special Needs Transport Service, Carenne Support may only use a vehicle which is roadworthy and must have sufficient backup vehicles to cover any issues which may arise with the normal vehicle. Carenne Support has no backup vehicles.

The incident shows how Carenne Support puts profit before the safety of students.

Special treatment for Carenne staff and associates' children

Carenne Gate can reveal that special arrangements have been made for Geoff Salmon and Melinda Gavin for their children to remain at Carenne Special School for another year, despite other students graduating at a lower age.

Mr Salmon's son will be turning 20 next year and will remain at the school, while Mrs Gavin's daughter will turn 19. Many other students are made to leave the year of their 18th birthday. According to Carenne whistleblower Barracus, Neil Moon has directed that the two students be held back as their parents are unable to make alternate care arrangements for 2012.

"I remember some time ago there being a student in my class who hadn't been at Carenne long but who was made to leave when she was 18, despite their being no suitable post-school programs. Terry Mahony didn't care, she was gone. You have other students like Gavin and Salmon who stay as long as they like because of who their parents are,"

"Neil Moon has explicitly stated that they are to stay back," said Barracus.

Another Carenne staff member said that an autistic student who graduated two years ago should have been held back, but Terry Neal, relieving principal at the time said the student was "too much of a handful" to be kept at the school. She said that because of this he was "booted out" of the school.

Carenne has long been accused of favourtism amongst students whose parents have a close association with the school - this favourtism has included access to programs other students miss out on, therapy and equipment.

Once again, Peter Harvey and Neil Moon have shown their utter incompetence with the management of Carenne Special School.

Parent observes Melinda Gavin abusing student

A stunned parent has reported seeing Melinda Gavin striking a student while driving past the school today.

The parent claims that at 1:30PM today she was driving along Research Station Drive when she saw Melinda Gavin walking a student along the ramp near the demountable classrooms on the back oval. She saw Mrs Gavin raising her arm and then striking the student. The stunned parent stopped near the fence of the school and observed Mrs Gavin striking the student across the face and back another two times. She tried to get a photograph but having only a mobile phone on her it couldn't capture Mrs Gavin who was around 50 to 100 metres away.

The parent rang the school and asked to speak to the principal, Neil Moon but was told by Helen Windsor he was busy. She told Mrs Windsor that she was parked near the back fence and had observed the abuse of a student, to which Mrs Windsor said "rubbish" and hung up on her.

The incident is another in the long history of improper behaviour management techniques at the school amounting to abuse.

Carenne/RDA beg for money at McHappy Day

On the 20th anniversary of McDonalds' McHappy Day to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities, Carenne Special School and the Bathurst branch of the Riding for the Disabled Association were at the day asking people to donate to them.

One Carenne staff member was shocked when she walked over to the gazebo where Carenne and RDA had set up and overheard Adam Ryan asking people to make a donation to the Riding for the Disabled Association or Carenne. "I couldn't believe it, they took the therapy farm animals down there and set up just to beg for money," said the staff member.

It was only on Friday that Carenne was presented with a cheque for $14,000 from the V8 ball held in October for the races at Mt Panorama.

Corrupt therapist teaching at Carenne

A concerned parent has contacted Carenne Gate about their concerns surrounding corrupt Carenne Support therapist, Christine Porter teaching his son in Michael Auld's class on Tuesdays. The parent says he was contacted by his son from the school today, who told him that Mrs Porter was again teaching the class and that Mr Auld and his aide Melinda Gavin were not in the classroom.

As usual with Michael Auld and his newsletter pieces where he talks up his allies, Mr Auld mentioned in the school newsletter that Christine Porter had been doing a communication program with his class as well as also working with a small group of the class' students. Mr Auld mentions that "Class A is privileged to have a speech therapist working with us."

In the past, Mrs Porter has been accused of incorrectly leading people to think that she is employed by the school, defrauding DADHC, obtaining emails leaked from the special transport unit to supply to a hacker and covered up the neglect of a student.

According to a whistleblower at the school, Mrs Porter is trying to expand her influence at the school and her program has been part of her studies. "I believe she is trying to become a teacher, what a joke that is," said the whistleblower.

How Neil Moon can allow someone like Christine Porter to remain at Carenne Special School is of serious concern. It's time that this woman, who has been involved in a number of serious issues is sacked and shown the door.

Western Advocate gets only half the story

Staff and parents associated with the troubled Carenne Special School were surprised to open Friday's Western Advocate to find that the East Bathurst Rotary Club, under president Terry Mahony donating two Apple iPads valued at $1,200 to Carenne.

The article fails to mention that Mr Mahony was principal of the school in the past and is a director of corrupt school-based charity Carenne Support.

The article also mentions that Christine Porter is the school's speech therapist, despite her not being employed by the school but instead by Carenne Support. It is not the first time Ms Porter has attempted to present herself as being an employee of the department.

According to Carenne whistleblower "nedkelly", Porter likes to take credit for the iPad project at the school, despite having nothing to do with the initial planning for it. "Christine, as usual likes to talk her f---ing self up. She had nothing to do with using iPhones and iPads as communication tools, that was done by other people. Just like her Powered for Participation day, she likes to plagiarise and take the credit,"

"How come children who's parents work at the school get put ahead of others with this? As usual they look after their f---ing mates," said nedkelly.

As usual, the public is being shown only one half of the story by the local media.

Another scamming bus operator at Carenne

Carenne Gate can reveal that the bus operator who was falsely claiming for taking a Carenne Support director's son home to Oberon instead of to Kelso where he had been taken, Dick Spears has been performing another scam for the best part of 18 months.

Some 18 months ago, when another student was allocated to his Oberon district bus run, Mr Spears re-negotiated his contract with the Department of Education and Communities (then the Department of Education and Training) so he could purchase a larger vehicle. He told the then manager of Special Transport, Gail Vasic that he needed a larger vehicle and that his expenses (such as fuel) would go up because he had to use a different vehicle.

Despite claiming this to the department, Mr Spears uses his new vehicle only once or twice per week, using his old Ford Spectron van the rest of the time, despite being paid by the department to use his other vehicle.

Besides scamming the department, Mr Spears' Ford Spectron is unroadworthy and full of rust according to parents. One parent told Carenne Gate "I have concerns about him using that old bus of his, it has rust everywhere, what happens if he hits something, my son is dead."

The parent claims to have made a complaint about the vehicle to Neil Moon, principal of the Carenne Special School only for nothing to be done about it. "As usual with Mr Moon, nothing gets done, I'm treated like an idiot by him," said the parent.

It's time that the department, Mr Spears and Mr Moon realise that the money going to these operators belongs to the NSW taxpayer and that we expect a decent level of service for disabled student transport, not for them to be riding around in deathtraps like Mr Spears' Spectron.

Carenne Support driver reported to police

The driving of Dave Graham on his Lithgow bus route was of so much concern to one Carenne staff member on Thursday that she reported it to the Police.

The staff member told Carenne Gate that she was overtaken by the bus, driven by Dave Graham near the Lithgow jail at 4:15pm. She said he overtook her like she was standing still and would of been doing at least 120 kph in a 100 zone. "To not even be at Lithgow by this time is a bit strange and to drive like this to make up time is dangerous," said the witness.

The witness claims that Graham was flashing his headlights for others to get out of the way and was swerving between lanes.

It shows the utter incompetence and lack of regard for safety that Dave Graham and his employer, Carenne Support have.

Fresh child protection claims surface at Carenne

Carenne Gate has been contacted by a parent, concerned about the behaviour of Carenne Special School School Learning Support Officer, Adam Ryan towards students at the school. The parent alleges to have make a report to Neil Moon, which was never recorded or investigated.

The parent alleges that she has observed Mr Ryan being 'all over' two female students and 'roughhousing' with male students on the lawn at the front of the school in direct breach of child protection policies of the department.

She claims to have reported Ryan's conduct with the two female students, which she claims to have observed over a period of two months to Neil Moon who promised to do something about it but never got back to her. She said she contacted EPAC today and was told that no report had been made about her report to Mr Moon, despite Moon requiring to notify them.

It appears that once again, Carenne Special School are covering up complaints of a child protection nature.

The Carenne art scam

Carenne parents are being asked to pay $30 for artwork created by their children as part of the Carenne Family Fun Day on 19 November.

Parents have been told that to get their child's artwork that will be exhibited at the family fun day that they will need to pay $30 to cover the cost of creating it, despite it being paid for as part of the school's art budget.

"Carenne has a significant amount of funding for the creative arts KLA," said Barracus.

"I am not sure why the school is spending the KLA money and then wanting parents to pay it back. It seems to me like Neil Moon is trying to use the money somewhere else."

Parents were also critical of the request, with one telling Carenne Gate that she wouldn't be going to the Family Fun Day and that she wouldn't be financially supporting the school in future. "This is just typical of Carenne since Neil Moon came on the scene, he does everything he can to make parents fork out money," said the parent.

A staff member at the school said that spin had been put on the day. "They are making out that local artist Martin Coyte is doing the school a favour by opening the exhibition at the family fun day, but he is not doing it because of the school, he is doing it because his son goes there."

Neil Moon needs to come clean on exactly what he is doing with the money from the day.

Ungrateful, homophobic Michael Auld discriminates against MRR contestant

A committee member of the Riding for the Disabled Association, Michael Auld has attacked a contestant in the My Recipe Rules competition being held for the benefit of the association due to his belief that the contestant is homosexual.

In the email sent by Auld to Christine Porter, Mary Housler, Nola Ramsay, Clare Moore and Ros Luther, Auld says that he doesn't think that RDA should be associated with homosexuals and makes an allegation that the contestant is a pedophile.

The ungrateful Carenne teacher and RDA committee member doesn't realise that without contestants there would be no competition and no funds for RDA. It's time that the DEC investigate Auld and his serious misconduct.

RDA takes a safe bet using Gavin to speak to the media

Following the response to a report of a $1,000 donation to the Bathurst Riding for the Disabled Association in the Western Advocate where Lauren Dare and Michael Auld spoke to the media, it seems as though RDA has taken a safe bet using the more experienced Melinda Gavin to speak to the media.

Unlike Lauren Dare, Mrs Gavin didn't make false promises for the money, simply claiming that it would go towards the "upkeep of the animals", something RDA has had trouble funding since the Snowden Review found that funds had been siphoned from the school to look after RDA's animals.

Gavin's discussion wasn't without gaffe though, with the Western Advocate reporting that Carenne Special School owned eight horses as well as donkeys, rabbits, sheep, pigs and goats. According to nedkelly, Gavin wasn't misquoted -
"Gavin said that to the paper, she said that the school paid for the animals and they were the school's."

This blog has long been critical of the relationship of RDA and Carenne. Carenne has a limited budget, which the likes of Michael Auld, Melinda Gavin, Clare Moore and Paula Hundy have allowed to be siphoned to RDA for minimal benefit. Part of the funding for the yet to be constructed Trade Training Centre found its way to RDA with little scrutiny.

Neil Moon's latest Carenne Support spin

Neil Moon has once again talked Carenne Support up to parents, sending parents an update about the organisation. In the newsletter, Neil Moon mentions how Carenne Support provides the school with therapy assistance and resources and how these services could not be provided if it wasn't for the valuable support the school receives from Carenne Support.

In the mini-newsletter, Moon also expresses thanks to Christine Porter, who co-ordinates services at the school.

One parent contacted Carenne Gate to report that they were told last year that Christine Porter had stepped down as therapy co-ordinator. "It sounds like that was a blatant lie by Neil Moon," said the parent.

Porter was heavily involved in students not getting therapy and it being covered up and the defrauding of the state Department of Disabilities. nedkelly told Carenne Gate that Porter had been implicated in an investigation into services funded by ADHC. She said -

"It was found that Christine Porter herself was responsible for lying to ADHC and receiving money for therapy wasn't being done. She blamed Coleen Leis, Peter Richards, Barbara Woolfe and Angie Cranston for it but the truth is that Carenne Support was being paid to use therapists to do the therapy not the school for staff to do it,"

"Porter nearly ruined Marion Baker when she exposed the fraud going on with Carenne Support,"

"Even after Carenne Support lost ADHC funding, Christine still co-ordinated therapy involving other organisations such as GWAHS and ADHC. She interfered in their work so much that numerous complaints were made about her to the department."

Neil Moon had the opportunity as a principal from another school to come into Carenne and fix the problems, but he has instead shown that he is as corrupt as the rest of them.

Carenne Support refuses to answer questions at AGM

The Carenne Support AGM held at Carenne Special School last night was a farce according to one source in attendance. The source, who has a child at the school decided to go to the AGM after receiving a memo from the school inviting her to attend the Carenne Support AGM to discuss Carenne Support.

According to the source, the memo mentioned that Carenne Support was a worthwhile cause and they used their funds for physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy on students. "I have read the blog where you say that most students don't receive therapy so I went along to see for myself, it was the weirdest AGM I had ever been to."

The source claims there was a discussion about Carenne Support's financial position, where Graeme Grundy said the organisation was receiving increased revenue from the education department but was spending more on therapists. The source said she found it unusual that the financial statement wasn't circulated at the meeting.

The source asked Carenne Support what therapy they gave, knowing that her son only received therapy provided by NSW Health. Mary Housler became defensive and told her that the client list and their details were confidential. "I wasn't asking for details, I wanted an overview," said the source.

It's time that Carenne Support realises that as an organisation which claims to be a charity, it is accountable to the public and should be ran transparently.

Abuse by Melinda Gavin ignored by Neil Moon

Staff at the Bathurst Christian Life Centre on Friday reported the physical abuse of a male Carenne student to Neil Moon on Friday, only to be told that they had "misinterpreted" the situation.

Christian Life Centre staff contacted Carenne Gate after being brushed off by Neil Moon. They claim they observed Melinda Gavin forcefully grabbing a student by the arm and pushing him into a bus, while telling him "stop your f---ing shit." The incident was witnessed by four staff, one of which immediately contacted the school.

One of the staff said -

"I couldn't believe the principal's attitude, he told me you don't understand how to deal with these sorts of kids, they need to be treated like this sometimes. You misinterpreted the situation."

According to the staff, Mrs Gavin was responsible for the supervision of a male and female Carenne student at the church, with no teacher present. This is a serious breach of the Department of Education and Communities' child protection policies and guidelines set by the Public Service Association. Even after repeated reports of these breaches on this blog, Neil Moon continues to ignore policy and allow aides to be solely responsible for the supervision of students.

Neil Moon has had numerous opportunities to fix the issues at Carenne and has done nothing and should be stood down and replaced by a real leader.

Staff development day "laughable" say staff

While staff and students at virtually every other school in NSW returned to school for term 4 today, staff of Carenne were relaxing at Yarrabin Guest Property near O'Connell under the guise of "team building" in accordance with recommendations in the Snowden review into the management of Carenne.

As with most things organised by Neil Moon, the day was poorly organised with staff told to come to school and get on Carenne's buses to go to the farm. Unfortunately, the buses weren't big enough for all of Carenne's staff.

Once at Yarrabin, staff were once again briefed about this blog and how to deal with the stress that comes from it, with staff being told not to contribute to or read the blog. Staff were told that the blog was not widely read by the community and was only known to the school and the "troublemakers" trying to destabilise the school.

Staff were reminded to focus their efforts on the students and not to tell anyone outside the school what happens in the school.

Some team building exercises were then carried out before some relaxation.

Despite the actual planned activities going for two hours at most, Melinda Gavin was outside playing with Yarrabin's horses instead of taking part in the activities.

Carenne whistleblower nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she knew most of the comments about the blog were false -

"They can say all they f---ing like that this blog is not read by ordinary people. I know it is. I have been attacked in the street by people telling me that I am the c--- mentioned on the blog."

Barracus told Carenne Gate that she believed the day was a waste of time and effort -
"As usual with these kinds of things, it was a complete waste. Nothing was achieved. Any staff development day organised by Carenne is a joke. The only time staff development is done is when we go to Dubbo or MTC."

Once again, parents have been duped and taxpayers have been ripped off.

Is this Bathurst's biggest con-artist?

Once again, corrupt Carenne Special School teacher, Michael Auld has been involved in the deception of donors to the Bathurst branch of the Riding for the Disabled. The Western Advocate reported today that campers at Mount Panorama had donated $1,000 to RDA for it to purchase equipment for a new horse and riding boots for participants taking part in the program.

Carenne Gate received an angry response from staff and parents at Carenne saying that students didn't wear special riding boots when going horse riding and that there organisations far more deserving of the $1,000.

Parents told Carenne Gate that they had to pay around $100 per year for their child to take part in the horse riding program in addition to fees for the therapy farm. They said they did not know where these fees went.

In the article, Michael Auld claims to be a coach at RDA - a claim that is completely false. The only coach at RDA is Melinda Gavin, which is why whenever she is unavailable the program is suspended (without parents being refunded). A trainee coach, Lauren Dare has only recently become involved in the association, following it being grilled for over a year by parents and this blog.

The question must be asked, with the continuing rip offs by RDA, including part of the $3.7 million trade training centre to be established behind Carenne, all of which involve Michael Auld - is Michael Auld Bathurst's biggest con-artist?

Neil Moon breached self-evaluation committee guidelines, attempted to mislead in annual school report

Regular readers of this blog would be well aware of the general level of incompetence displayed by Carenne Special School's principal Neil Moon. Moon is known as someone incapable of dealing with the serious issues at Carenne and who will lie and mislead parents and the public at every available opportunity to make himself look better.

Each year, every school in NSW has to publish an Annual School Report about the school. These reports include information on student numbers, staff numbers, student performance, school self-evaluation and areas identified for improvement. These reports are part of the department's requirements for transparency and accountability to parents, the school community, the department and the federal government.

As part of the reporting process, the principal appoints a self-evaluation committee consisting of community and parent representatives, teachers and executive staff members.

In 2010, Neil Moon breached departmental guidelines by not having a community or parent representative on the committee. In the report he lists Simone Russell, a school learning support officer at the school as the parent representative. He also lists Janelle Kemp as a teacher, despite her acting as an assistant principal at the time of the report. Given the history of both Mrs Russell and Mrs Kemp, parents and the public at large should be concerned about their appointment to the committee and Mr Moon's misleading statements about who they represented on the committee.

Once again procedures developed by the department for transparency and accountability are being sidestepped by Neil Moon who continues to cover-up the mass of issues at Carenne.

The police impersonator

Over the past several days a poster claiming to be the Bathurst Police has made a number of comments on this blog. This person is not the Police but an impersonator.

To assist police in their investigations I have revealed their IP address here.

As I told Sgt Fawkner in 2009, I am prepared to speak to Police and make a statement so long as the investigation is not being ran by officers in the Chifley Local Area Command.

Carenne staff development day a farce

Next Monday, when staff and students at every other school in NSW return to school, Carenne Special School staff will be at a resort near Oberon for what Neil Moon has told staff is much needed "R&R" under the guise of team building. The day will cost taxpayers around $8,000.

Carenne applied to the education department to be allowed to change one of its end of year staff development days to the beginning of term 4 so it could work on recommendations in the Snowden Review of 2010 (which has been kept from parents). One of those recommendations was for interpersonal relationships between staff needed to be developed, staff needed to be able to trust each other and a more cohesive culture needed to be fostered.

Unfortunately, it is the cohesive culture that has developed at Carenne that has made it such a toxic environment for staff and students. This culture has allowed the development of a klan mentality where wrong-doing (from incompetence up to child sex abuse) is never reported because it is seen as "snitching on your mates". It is this culture that needs to be broken.

Once again it shows the continuing joke that is the Carenne Special School under the leadership of an incompetent and corrupt principal.

Mary Housler's stupidity and a rebuttal of her claims

Last evening, Carenne Support secretary and employee - Mary Housler posted on this blog refuting allegations that she had posed as Carole McDiarmid and put a letter to the school community about the claimed death of Terry Neal. She challenged me to provide evidence that it was in fact her that posted it, so here is the evidence for all to see.

In her posting she also claims:

• That she has not posted since January 2010. This is false, there are a number of documented postings by Mary Housler, usually under the name "Mary H", but some also under "Anonymous" and "Guest" on this blog which are associated with her IP and email addresses.
• That Malcolm Barnett, Peter Harvey, Neil Moon, Paul Knight and herself have invited me to meet with them. This is not true. I have requested a meeting with Lyn Duncan, Neil Moon, Peter Harvey, Carole McDiarmid and Peter Riordan in the past. All of them have declined for me to meet with them. Malcolm Barnett contacted me after the site was hacked by Anonymous requesting a meeting, however I declined his meeting as I saw it as a case of too little too late. If Mr Barnett was serious he would have met with me sooner. I have never spoken to Mary Housler or Paul Knight.
• That nobody who posts on this blog is of the caliber of Carenne's staff. This is probably true as most of the people who post on this blog are against child sexual abuse, assaulting disabled students, corruption and down right incompetence. It takes a special sort of person to be able to do this to the level that Carenne staff do.

It is about time that the department take action against Mary Housler, an appointed representative of Carenne Support.

Carenne Support secretary's sick joke

Last evening, a series of posts relating to the claimed suicide of Terry Neal appeared on the blog. The first of these postings was made by someone purporting to be Carole McDiarmid, director of the NSW Department of Education and Training for Western NSW.

Following this, two more postings were made by the same person, one claiming to be Michael Auld and another under the name hatho. All three postings were linked to the same address. Carenne Gate made some inquiries and learned that the address matched that used by Mary Housler to send emails to a number of people earlier in the day.

The postings show the extent supporters of the Carenne Klan will go to to post incorrect information on this blog. It also shows that the likes of Mary Housler are only too glad to pose as other people on the blog.

Carenne Support's travel support rort

A Carenne Support whistleblower has come forward to expose the latest rort by the corrupt Carenne Special School associated organisation. It has been learned that for almost two months, Carenne Support has required two travel support officers on its Lithgow bus - one for the student from Lithgow who was locked in the Carenne torture room and sat on and another for the rest of the students on the bus.

According to the whistleblower, Dave Graham claimed that the student from Lithgow required a male to accompany him to and from school. This was granted by the education department, who is now paying for two travel support officers on the one run.

According to the whistleblower, the new escort was part of a rort organised by Mary Housler, Geoff Salmon and Dave Graham. Carenne Support recently learned that next year it will only be paid from the time it picks up its first student unless it has to detour by more than 5 kilometres to pick up the escort. As the travel support officer on the bus was Dave's wife, Carenne Support would not be entitled to the extra money so Carenne Support decided that a second travel support officer needed to be allocated to the run so it could be paid the 15% travel support loading next year.

"Mary Housler told me herself that they wanted another travel support officer allocated to the run so that they wouldn't be as out of pocket for as much next year," said the whistleblower.

"Mary wanted the travel support officer allocated early so it didn't look like they were trying to rort the system,"

"Now the department is paying double for the travel support on that run."

It is yet another example of the continuing protection being provided to Carenne Support and the continual defrauding of the NSW tax payers by the organisation.

We have control

Updated by Libertarian 19.09.2011

The owners of this blog now have regained access to it.

Just when you thought the directors of Carenne Support couldn't get any stupider...

The Bathurst Bulldogs Rugby Club have once again been duped by Carenne Special School principal Neil Moon and the directors of corrupt school-based organisation Carenne Support. The Bathurst Bulldogs have been a loyal supporter of the school, running a number of fundraisers for the school.

The Bathurst Bulldogs paid for the Carenne Special School decals on Carenne Support's Toyota bus, presumably being led to believe that the bus was owned by the school. Was the club aware that the bus is one of three used by Carenne Support to generate in excess of $130,000 per year under contract to the education department?

On the rear of the bus is a label saying that the bus is proudly supported by the Bathurst Bulldogs Rugby Club. Just what support is being provided to Carenne Special School for the bus, which is actually owned by Carenne Support?

Are they aware of the evidence provided by hacker group Anonymous showing that Carenne Special School has been charged by Carenne Support for using buses which were purchased for it?

It appears that once more Neil Moon, principal of Carenne Special School and the directors of Carenne Support have once again misled the Bathurst community for their own gain. It is time for the education department to take serious action against Neil Moon and Carenne Support for their ongoing corruption.

Carenne teacher sex case in court next week

David Withyman will take his case to the Supreme Court in Sydney next Wednesday, seeking leave to appeal against the decision of the court in September last year.

Also listed on the same day is an appeal by Anna Blackburn after she was found to have been in a sexual relationship with the disabled Carenne student.

What the DEC and Police did about Russell school sex allegations

An email between Lyn Duncan and a member of Bathurst SEA staff shows what was done regarding the allegation that Jeremy Russell had sex with Melissa Harris at Carenne. In the email, Duncan outlined what had been done since the allegation surfaced.

The email is consistent with the chat transcript leaked by Anonymous to their blog.

Frighteningly, the email shows that Carenne were aware of the allegations the day after the incident is alleged to have occurred, however in contravention of child protection policies, it was not reported to EPAC by the person receiving the complaint (Terry Neal) or Duncan herself. Only when a whistleblower at the school contacted Gary Bevan did EPAC become aware of the very serious allegations.

The email indicates that there was an allegation that the student was offered a bribe if she said that she was raped by a student and not by Jeremy Russell and that Duncan had been managing the issue of inappropriate messages between Russell and the student.

The incident and subsequent events were investigated by Constable Haertsch and Senior Constable Rasmussen who after interviewing only Lyn Duncan decided that nothing had happened. Duncan then contacted Detective Fred Hennessy who gave her the email address of the whistleblower who made the complaint to EPAC, once again showing the complete disregard for confidentiality in the local Police.

Once again, Carenne failed to follow proper protocol and procedure. Duncan should have reported the allegation to EPAC as soon as it became aware of it, but instead chose to deal with a serious sexual allegation locally in order to cover it up.

Spears breaks SNTS rules again

Another bizarre set of circumstances involving Carenne Support Director, Geoff Salmon's son and his transport provider Dick Spears was observed today. In the past, Mr Spears has been reported on this blog as making special arrangements for Mr Salmon and defrauding the department.

It is well known that the only days Mr Spears takes Mr Salmon's son back to Oberon is Friday. For the rest of the week, he uses an extra vehicle driven by his wife to take the student to Kelso. Today, in breach of SNTS rules, Mrs Spears was observed driving around Kelso with Mr Salmon's son in the bus.

It is obvious that on this occasion that Mr Salmon was using Mrs Spears as a babysitter until the student's carer was home. Under SNTS rules, if there is not an appropriate person to meet the bus, the special transport unit must be contacted and alternate arrangements made. Instead, Mrs Spears drove around until the carer was home.

Harvey, Simone ordered ICAC coverup

A number of sources both inside Carenne Special School and at the Bathurst District Schools Office have claimed that the Department of Education and Training knew of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's investigation into Carenne Special School prior to it raiding the school in early July.

One source claims that staff were interviewed prior to the school being raided, giving them a "heads up" on what was going to happen.

Staff allege that at the direction of Peter Harvey, Bathurst's School Education Director and Tony Simone, Information Technology Operations Manager both told staff that key evidence at the school was to be destroyed prior to the ICAC taking further action.

Whistleblowers claim that some computers at the school containing evidence went missing prior to the ICAC raid and were taken to Melinda Gavin's property at Caloola while others were wiped of information by DET IT support staff. The student laptops which were kept in the storeroom were removed, with staff told to tell the ICAC the school never received them if asked.

Incriminating emails were deleted by IT staff, with logs also changed to show that they were never sent. Documents detailing complaints of child abuse were also destroyed.

Documents providing evidence of corruption involving Carenne Support and the Riding for the Disabled Association were destroyed using the school's paper shredder and then taken to Wattle Flat, placed in a 44 gallon drum and burned.

It shows the lengths the DET will go to to cover up the corruption and abuse at Carenne Special School.

When will Peter Harvey act on Neil Moon

Neil Moon's tenure as principal of Carenne School has been nothing short of appalling. He inherited a school with serious issues, however in the space of 18 months has done absolutely nothing to resolve them and in some areas the school is far worse than it was when he took over from Terry Neal who was principal in a relieving capacity.

As School Education Director, Peter Harvey should be looking at Moon's performance closely and taking some serious action. How Neil Moon hasn't been placed on a Performance Improvement Program (PIP) is always a hot topic of discussion at SEA.

A Performance Improvement Program is implemented for a principal when they fail to meet key requirements of the position. These objectives fall into the area of educational leadership, educational programs, learning outcomes, student welfare, staff welfare, management and development, financial and physical resource management and school and community partnerships.

Educational Leadership
Neil Moon has failed to ensure the education and welfare of all students, ensuring effective teaching and learning practices throughout the whole school and has failed to collaborate with the school community.

Students in certain classes learn while others do not. There are a number of teachers at Carenne who are of concern to SEA, notably Michael Auld and Ros Luther. Both of these teachers have a poor history of educating students at Carenne, with Auld being more interested in pet projects such as RDA. These projects are taking away from student's education while being supported by Moon.

Moon has never collaborated with the school community. The results of the school review were covered up and major changes have not been communicated to parents and carers.

Educational Programs
Educational programs is an area where Neil Moon has improved the school. He has required more realistic work experience and has more students participating in vocational programs. He has also implemented the QuoCKA and PBL programs.

His only let down in this area is by letting Auld do what he likes with agricultural programs while neglecting students other curricular needs.

Learning Outcomes
In a school like Carenne, learning outcomes are hard to measure. If you look at how many students go on to successful post-school programs and how many students receive their HSC in Living Skills, Carenne has always done well.

Again, Auld is the let down of Moon in this area. He is allowing too many of the schools resources to be allocated to agriculture programs that students and parents are not interested in.

Student Welfare
This is one of the most important areas for a principal to manage and Neil Moon has performed abysmally. Most parents do not believe that Neil Moon can guarantee safety of their children and many are aware of the documented cases of abuse which has occurred at the school.

The school's policy of supplying tobacco to a student, sitting on students to restrain them, calling the Police when Autistics are having an episode, threatening students with violence and allowing students to be sexually assaulted by other students and staff all cause Moon's complete failure in this area.

Staff Welfare, Development and Management
Another important area and another complete failure for Moon. During Moon's time as principal the number of workers compensation claims has skyrocketed. The culture of the school is poisonous, with there being obvious divisions and a pack mentality among some staff. The school's decision making is seen as autocratic and most staff are unaware of their obligations under the Code of Conduct.

Staff such as Auld and Luther should have been placed on improvement programs but have not, causing students to suffer.

Physical and Financial Resource Management
This is another area that Moon has done poorly on. He has allowed for school funds to be diverted to programs such as RDA and the Therapy Farm without consulting with Finance. Some individual class budgets ran out last year and resources are wasted on programs that benefit only a small number of students.

School and Community Partnerships
No principal at Carenne will ever come close to Terry Mahony in this area. Terry was able to forge relationships between Carenne and almost anyone. Under Neil Moon, the views of parents and the school community are seen as unimportant, support for the P&C has been minimal and the perception of the school in the community has been mediocre.

It's time that Peter Harvey does what parents and students expect and deserve and take action against Neil Moon.

Further incompetence surrounding RDA uncovered

Carenne Gate has uncovered further incompetence surrounding the Riding for the Disabled Association in Bathurst. Carenne Gate has learned that the structure of the organisation has been changed from an incorporated association independent of its members and administered by the Office of Fair Trading to an unincorporated association which is no longer separate from its members.

RDA has come under attention on this blog for its incompetent management and corruption in the past.

The change means that RDA no longer has to submit annual reports to the Office of Fair Trading which include details of its financial affairs. It also means that RDA no longer needs to keep:

• a register of committee members, available for inspection by anyone
• a record of any committee member conflicts of interest, available for inspection by members
• a record of the association's financial transactions and position
• all minutes of the proceedings of committee and general meetings.

On Friday, Carenne Gate spoke to the Registry of Associations and Co-Operatives in Bathurst and asked why an organisation would choose to do this. His response was -

"It's crazy. Now each member is responsible for the affairs of the organisation. If it's sued they can all be sued. Any contracts are made by a member on behalf of the organisation, not in its name. It's no longer distinct from it's members. It's crazy. Who ever did this would have to be crazy. You would only do this if you couldn't afford to pay the $49 per year or you were trying to hide something."

Once again it shows the complete incompetence of the committee running RDA in Bathurst and the secrecy surrounding the organisation.

The great therapy scam

It has been known for sometime that Carenne Support defrauded the Department of Ageing, Disabilities and Home Care with its therapy program. This fraud led to the deterioration of a number of students who DADHC had paid Carenne Support for to provide physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

This great therapy rort led to the replacement of Christine Porter as therapy co-ordinator. Christine had told DADHC that students were receiving therapy when they were not.

According to Geoff Salmon, the therapy program would be open to anyone in the area, but Carenne Support had a rule that referrals for Carenne students would take priority. Despite this, Carenne Support only offered to provide services to people in Bathurst and Oberon.

Carenne Support charged DADHC $60 per hour for therapy with a minimum of 10 hours per week to be provided for.

It is yet another example of the fraud committed by Carenne Support and it's directors.

DOCS discontinues abuse investigation

The parent of a student who she alleges was physically assaulted by Terry Neal in May last year has told Carenne Gate that the Department of Community Services has discontinued its investigation after being unable to prove that he abused her son.

The parent claims that her son came home from Carenne one day and had bruises on his leg. When the parent called Yvette Smith, who she was friends with at the time, she was told her son had been hit on the leg with a bat by Terry Neal when he wouldn't do an activity in the mini-gym.

The parent reported it to Neil Moon, who told her she was a liar before then reporting it to DOCS. She was advised by the Allegations Against Employees Unit this week that DOCS had been unable to find any witnesses and had decided to discontinue the investigation.

It is yet another example of the abuse inflicted on students at Carenne Special School and the entrenched culture of silence.

Carenne raided a month ago

The maligned Carenne Special School in Bathurst, where there have been complaints of child abuse and corruption was raided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over the school holidays. According to sources at the local school's office and staff questioned by the ICAC, computers and documents were seized in the raid.

The raid is a slap in the face for Neil Moon and Peter Harvey who have claimed the concerns at Carenne have been fabricated by disgruntled ex-employees. Whistleblower deepthroat told Carenne Gate -
"This has been a long time coming, the KLAN has been influencing Carenne for far too long. They have done some terrible things not only to students but also to other staff including myself."

According to sources at the local school's office, Peter Harvey was asked to stand particular staff down pending investigation but refused to do so. He also asked Grant Hatch to ensure the media did not report on the raid, as it would be damaging to the school's reputation.

Carenne Gate did not report on the raid when it first learned of it, as it did not wish to jeopardise any investigation into the abuse and corruption going on at Carenne.

Student threatens to commit suicide over cigarettes

It was panic stations at Carenne Special School today when a student threatened to commit suicide after being refused cigarettes by staff.

The student, who the school has been supplying cigarettes to since he was the age of eight threatened to kill himself shortly after 2:00PM today when Police and Ambulance officers were called according to Carenne Klansman turned whistleblower nedkelly. The student was taken to the local hospital for assessment.

"This student has a history of this when he is stressed, Carenne is a pressure cooker at the moment, everyone is stressed from the hackers and the blog. People are being held to account," said nedkelly.

Only last month another student was taken to hospital after being neglected by Carenne Special School staff.

Further abuse by Steve Minshull observed

A concerned parent contacted Carenne Gate and informed us of his observations today as he was driving along Lambert Street past Bathurst Public School at 8:50AM. They observed seeing Steve Minshull at the side of the bus restraining a small male student while he was yelling at him. Staff of Bathurst Public looked on in horror.

While Mr Minshull was outside the vehicle, another small child was running up and down the aisle of the bus as there was no adult inside the vehicle.

It is yet another example of the complete incompetence of Steve Minshull, Capebase bus driver and Carenne Special School music teacher.

Student in front of bus almost causes an accident

Today, Matt Casey was observed by a parent driving Carenne's bus along George Street with a student in the front seat without a seat belt. The student grabbed the steering wheel, yanking it causing the bus to swerve narrowly missing a median strip.

The parent said she was shocked the student wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was in the front of the bus.

According to a department official questioned by Carenne Gate, teachers should be in the rear if the vehicle supervising students while the aide drives. To not do so is a breach of child protection guidelines.

Auld boosts numbers in Bill Sewell's class

Bill Sewell, a staunch supporter of Carenne Special School when he owned Bill's Pet Paradise continues to be looked after by Carenne.

Already Bill's wife Sue, also Di Poole, an officer at district office's sister has been guaranteed block work resulting from her husband's former support. According to jrosenberg, Sewell is an incompetent aide and shouldn't have a job at Carenne.

Bill Sewell is a teacher at Bathurst TAFE where he teaches animal studies. At the beginning of this year, enrollment numbers dwindled so Michael Auld conspired with him and fellow Labor Party man Mike Clancy to enroll students in his course. Without these students Sewell would have been without a job.

One patent contacted Carenne Gate to report that their child was forced to do the course and didn't wish to do it.

It shows how Carenne continues to protect it's depends while doing little for students.

Richard Webster suspended by Carenne Support

Nedkelly has contacted Carenne Gate concerned about the treatment of Carenne Support buds driver Richard Webster. Nedkelly claims that Mr Webster was advised by Dave Graham that he was suspended from duty pending investigation.

Nedkelly claims that Mr Webster is under investigation for being seen with Carenne Support competitor Cheryl Chaplin and his negligent driving charge. She also claims that an unapproved driver was used on the run with no escort even though one is required.

Helen Windsor, who has to approve payments to escorts was told of the arrangement and said she would sign Mark Sealey's form as the department couldn't know there was no escort.

Carenne Support has a history of shady employment practices with Brian Carter and Jenny O'Neill both suing them.

Carenne related blogs attacked

This blog, carennetruth's blog and hatho's blog have all been attacked by a group of online jackets calling themselves Anonymous. The organisation, known for similar attacks claims they are carried out as part of Operation ability.

Carenne Gate is looking into whether the attacks on this blog were ordered by the Department of Education and Communities, someone associated with Carenne, were random or connected with legal threats received by our writers.

Student in hospital after Cranston and Casey's negligence

A student at the much maligned Carenne Special School was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Friday after falling down a flight of stairs. The student, who has difficulty walking without assistance was unsupervised at the time with his teacher Matt Casey and aide Angie Cranston in the classroom when the accident happened.

The student was believed to have been laying outside in a pool of blood for five minutes before staff contacted the school's first aid officer and the ambulance.

Gretel told Carenne Gate that she believed Cranston should be sacked.

"Angie has been involved in so many dramas at Carenne it isn't funny. She was the aide on playground duty and for the student who was attacked with a cricket bat, she was the aide for the student who was supposed to be receiving therapy and wasn't, she was the aide when Ellen Sutton fell down the drain and she sent kids back to the school unsupervised and she was the person blamed for at least two bullying complaints by staff. She's a real problem."

It is not the first time that students have been injured due to poor supervision at Carenne. In 2008, a student was hospitalised after being attacked with a cricket bat due to the poor supervision of Kelly Thompson and Angie Cranston; In 2009, a student was rushed to hospital after overdosing on Louise Smith's pain medication that was left in the classroom and in 2010 a student was raped by another student due to poor supervision by Sandra Lynch.

It's time that Peter Harvey sack Angie Cranston, who's history at Carenne is nothing short of appalling and that an independent inquiry be established into the very serious issues at Carenne Special School.

Melinda Gavin stopped extra help at RDA

Carenne Gate has learned that the School Learning Support Officer used to run the horse riding program at the Riding for the Disabled Association, Melinda Gavin refused to allow someone else to be trained to do her job. Parents and staff have routinely complained about how the RDA program is placed on hold whenever Mrs Gavin is away, despite parents now being asked to pay for their child to attend.

We can reveal that last year, Jasmine Ryan, who has experience working with Carenne's students as an SLSO and extensive experience with horses offered to become an RDA riding coach but was told Melinda Gavin had refused to allow it. As a result, there is no backup person at RDA for when Mrs Gavin is away.

A whistleblower told Carenne Gate that they were concerned about the level of control Michael Auld and Melinda Gavin had over RDA. "It's like their own personal business, nobody else is allowed in unless they are trusted by those two. Jasmine would of been great as Melinda's relief but Melinda wouldn't allow it."

It is obvious that there is much to hide at RDA, an organisation which has been hindered by problems ever since the involvement of Michael Auld.

Carenne continues to break departmental guidelines on work experience transport

The executive of the troubled Carenne Special School continue to breach departmental child protection policies with its transport arrangements for taking students to and from work experience according to whistleblowers at the school. Carenne has been beset with child protection issues for some time, from the poor supervision of students, locking them in a torture room, physically abusing them and the sexual relationship between a teacher and student that was proven in court.

Despite Carenne's history of child protection issues, the school executive continues to breach child protection guidelines relating to the supervision of students by requiring School Learning Support Officers to transport students to and from work experience by themselves. Under departmental guidelines, SLSOs are not to be solely responsible for supervising students, a teacher must be present at all times.

Concerns about work experience arrangements have been raised by staff over a number of years with former principals Terry Mahony, Lyn Duncan, Terry Neal and current principal Neil Moon. According to savecarenne, she was told by Mr Mahony that the travel arrangements were approved by staff at the district office and that the rules had been bent for Carenne.

It's time that Carenne starts taking its duty of care to students seriously, that the department forces it to comply with child protection policies and that the entire executive of the school which is obviously incompetent is replaced.

Auld's latest excuse

Michael Auld has once again been caught lurking around the troubled Carenne Special School during the school holidays despite no longer being the school's computer co-ordinator. Passers-by reported on Wednesday that Auld was parked inside the neighbouring university, possibly attempting to avoid suspicion for being at the school.

Today, Auld was again observed at the school, again parked in the university grounds while being on the school's grounds. Carenne KLANsmen turned whistleblower 'nedkelly' contacted Carenne Gate concerned about Auld's peculiar behaviour. "The f---wit is no longer the school's computer person but he is there all the time. His excuse now is RDA, it's bullshit. He just snoops around and gets into other people's things," said nedkelly.

How Neil Moon and Peter Harvey can allow Auld, who isn't even a member of the school executive unlimited access to the school is concerning.

There's something about Peter Richards

It would seem that Peter Richards, a teacher at the problematic Carenne School is like a cat with nine lives, being protected by someone high up in the department.

Peter Richards' behaviour first came to SEA staff's attention when he was reported for using inappropriate behaviour management techniques. A parent complained that they had gone to the school and observed their son sitting at a desk outside the classroom with one arm tied to the desk. The parent untied their child and had a heated argument with Mr Richards.

When Lyn Duncan was asked about the arrangement, she denied that it happened and claimed that she was aware of who made the complaint and that they were known to staff at the school for being liars.

Complaints have been made about Richards leaving his classroom through the middle of the day, leaving students under the sole supervision of the class' aide so that he can go outside the school for a cigarette. This is a serious breach of both the department's duty of care to students and child protection guidelines.

Richards was then under the spotlight when it was discovered that he had been having an extra-marital affair with an aide at the school - Prue Luffman. This was not behaviour which upheld the reputation of the department or acting ethically and responsibly and breached the code of conduct. Despite this, nothing was done about it apart from Prue Luffman being offered no further work at the school.

In what should have been the straw that broke the camel's back, it was learned in April that Peter Richards had a drug problem, being a habitual marijuana smoker for years. He was admitted to hospital to get off the drugs but later relapsed, with his addiction being so bad that staff at Carenne have smelt the smell of marijuana on him when he is at school.

Richards' use of marijuana breaches the code of conduct, yet Peter Harvey has done nothing about it. The department has in the past dismissed employees who were charged with drink driving, claiming that it proved that they had an unaddressed alcohol problem.

Why Peter Richards receives special treatment compared to other teachers in the district remains a mystery.

Catherine Bird resigns from Carenne Support

On June 13, Lee Churches bragged on this blog that Carenne Support had bought in a well respected member of the Bathurst community, Catherine Bird as a director. It seems as though the relationship between Bird and Carenne Support was shortlived with Bird resigning as a director on 22 June 2011.

According to records held by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Catherine Bird was a director from 1 March 2011 to 22 June 2011. Documents were sent to ASIC by Carenne Support on 30 June 2011 indicating that Mrs Bird was no longer a director.

What did Mrs Bird learn about Carenne Support while she was a director that she didn't like and made her bow out?

Neil Moon uses former student to improve school's reputation

Staff at the problematic Carenne Special School in Bathurst have complained about Neil Moon's use of a former student to attempt to improve the school's reputation amongst the school community. The recent newsletter mentioned that former student Tim Seager from Seager Productions returned to the school to present a perpetual visual arts award to a student.

Staff were appalled that Neil Moon was so low as to use a former student who was abused by numerous staff to attempt to improve the school's reputation.

Gretel told Carenne Gate that there was no such business as Seager Productions and that the whole presentation was a sham. "There's no business and the student's mother should hang her head in bloody shame. This is a student who was continuously abused by Laurie Clifford and Juliette Van-Emmerick, Laurie didn't understand his unique needs and terrorised him while he was in her class."

It is well known that the student was one of the first to be suspended in years at Carenne, after allegedly assaulting staff. At the time, jrosenberg reported that the student was harassed by Clifford and Van-Emmerick.

It's apparent that Moon has no leadership skills and no sense and is not a fit or proper person to be principal of Carenne.

New email address

There is now a new email address to contact contributors to the blog. It is det.gate@aol.com.

After issues with our previous hotmail accounts we have decided to use a single address at AOL.

Embattled Geoff Salmon still a director of Carenne Support

Despite a belief that Geoff Salmon has been sacked from the board of Carenne Support, he remains a director despite being under investigation over his shoddy business dealings, his own company going broke and assaulting a Carenne whistleblower.

Documents received from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission indicate that Carenne Support retains Lee Churches, Geoff Salmon, Graeme Grundy, Terry Mahony, Paul Knight, Carol Smith and Darryl MacAuley despite adding Catherine Bird as a director since 1 March 2011.

The only change involving Mr Salmon is being removed as the company's secretary (the person who deals with ASIC) in November 2010, to be replaced by blog addict Mary Housler. This is probably an attempt by Salmon to avoid ASIC looking into Carenne Support with his own business dealings being under investigation.

Why Mr Salmon is a director of Carenne Support while receiving free therapy for his own son is an interesting question. It is obvious that his sole purpose in setting up the organisation was to milk it for his own benefit and to give Christine Porter a job.

It is not the first time there has been confusion over the board of directors of Carenne Support. In November 2009, Christine Porter removed herself after being exposed on Sydney Indymedia in October of that year for receiving remuneration from the organisation while she was a director, contravening taxation laws and Carenne Support's fundraising licence. Most people had been led to believe by Porter that she resigned from the board when she started being paid.

Anybody for a scallop? Salmon's company in over $6.1m in debt

The company belonging to one of Carenne Support's most well known directors, Geoff Salmon is in excess of $6.1 million in debt according to records from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The company, Salmon & Speck Pty Ltd has been in liquidation since November 2010 after creditors called in an administrator. At the creditors meeting, Salmon was the only person who voted against the company being wound up for failure to pay its debts.

The company is due in the Supreme Court for a number of appearances over the next few weeks due to its debts and according to the administrator, there are "ongoing investigations" into the company's management (which includes Mr Salmon).

In the administrator's six month report to ASIC it has been revealed that of the $6,399,397 owed to creditors only the secured amount of $224,696 has been paid (or 3.5% of the amount owed).

Mr Salmon is not a suitable person to be running a non-profit organisation like Carenne Support that holds charity status when it is obvious he couldn't run his own company and owes a fortune to others.