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.

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.

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.

Photographic evidence of Angie Cranston "touching up" a student denied by Moon

A number of parents have found a photograph of Angie Cranston putting her gloved hand up the inside of a young student's clothes a major concern. The photograph appeared in last week's newsletter. For the student's privacy I won't post the photo on this blog.

One parent claims she contacted Neil Moon about the photograph last week, telling him she believed it was inappropriate. The parent claims that she was concerned about the photograph breaching the students privacy and being against child protection rules.

"I couldn't believe it, I opened up the newsletter and you have Angie with a gloved hand putting it up the inside of his clothes. If she was doing a procedure on him it shouldn't be in the newsletter and if she wasn't, it's clear child abuse."

Neil Moon responded to the parent by claiming that the photograph only appeared in the draft newsletter and was removed by office staff before being circulated. He said that she was the only one who saw the photo. The parent says that she has contacted other parents who claim the photograph appears in their newsletters as well.

"This Neil Moon is a liar. He tells so many lies he doesn't even know what's true anymore. How can this incompetent man be the principal of Carenne?" asked the parent.

Carenne is a school so entrenched with problems that it can never be fixed without dismissing most of the staff and re-staffing it. The culture of silence and lies that has existed for at least ten years continues under Neil Moon, the school's leader for a year and a half. It is time that Peter Harvey finds the guts to take action about the school.

Moon blamed Auld for poor records, missing property

According to education department whistleblower, Carenne Special School has a history of its property going missing and during a recent audit, principal Neil Moon laid the blame squarely at the feet of Michael Auld.

According to SEA Snitch, the school's annual audit found that a number of new items obtained by the school had not been entered into the school's asset register and had gone missing. "Nobody at Carenne knows where anything is according the auditor. He said that you can walk out the door with something and nobody would ever know it was there to begin with because there are no records," said the whistleblower.

"The department gave Carenne a number of new computers, none of which were entered into the asset register. Asset management should be able to look at the system and see where everything is at any given time but someone at Carenne couldn't be bothered to enter it."

SEA Snitch said that ordinarily, the school's principal and administration manager were responsible for ensuring assets were entered into the asset register, but Neil Moon claimed that he had delegated the task to Michael Auld.

"When the chips were down for Moon, he quite plainly said 'I told Michael to do that, I didn't know it wasn't done'."

According to SEA Snitch, a number of school items had been loaned to staff but there was never any proper record of who it was lent to.

Carenne staff have told Carenne Gate that Michael Auld was made responsible for ensuring electronics such as CD players, TVs, projectors and computers were recorded properly. They claim that most often he didn't do it and items curiously went missing.

"I don't know how many CD players that have been bought or donated for the one room because others have gone missing. Of course, Michael Auld who has been seen at the school of a night loading things into his car denies knowing anything."

One of the Carenne Saviours alleged that Michael Auld and Angie Cranston were responsible for thefts of staff items at the school, including a teacher's purse.

Is Angie Cranston the aide from hell?

The Carenne Saviours have contacted Carenne Gate concerned about staffing adjustments being made at Carenne Special School due to her relentless bullying and harassment of other staff. Despite a history of incompetence, sexual misconduct, misuse of school equipment and being named in bullying complaints, Neil Moon does nothing about Cranston's misconduct.

"Angie is part of Neil Moon's inner circle" said one Saviour.

The Saviours allege that Angie Cranston, along with Simone Russell, Michael Auld and Margaret Rowe was responsible for spreading rumours throughout the school that Prue Luffman was having an affair with Peter Richards, leading to Mrs Luffman's nervous breakdown and resignation from Carenne. They also claim that along with Lucy Thornton, Angie Cranston hid or destroyed evidence that Carenne Support were not providing therapy to students which they had claimed they were doing therapy on.

The Saviours claim that Barbara Woolfe resigned from Carenne after working with Mrs Cranston, who made several serious allegations about her including claims that Mrs Woolfe was abusing children.

Earlier in the year, Kelly Thompson, a teacher highly regarded by parents was forced on to stress leave after she was bullied and harassed by Mrs Cranston. The department has since relocated her to Bathurst West Public to take her out of the stressful environment at Carenne.

The latest teacher to fall victim to Mrs Cranston is Matt Casey, who now refuses to work in the class despite being offered block work on that class. According to the Saviours, Mr Casey claimed he could not work with a woman like Mrs Cranston who pushed staff around and who neglected the welfare of students.

The failure of Neil Moon and Peter Harvey to take action against Mrs Cranston shows the special treatment members of the so-called Carenne Klan receive from the department.

DET whistleblower claims Carenne has more worker's comp claims than other schools in Bathurst

A DET whistleblower has told Carenne Gate that he has been concerned about the lack of action at Carenne on OH&S matters with the school having more worker's compensation and injury claims than any other school in the Bathurst district.

The whistleblower claims that the school has an abnormally high number of claims for psychological injuries with back injuries also higher than most other schools.

"You can tell Peter Harvey time and time again that something needs to be done at Carenne but he just doesn't listen, he says the stress issues are caused by external factors," said the whistleblower.

The whistleblower claims that a number of staff at the school are repeatedly named in claims as causing problems, yet the department doesn't do anything about it. "You often see Angie Cranston named as being a bully at the school, yet the school won't do anything about her."

It shows that the environment at Carenne is a major concern which department officials are taking a blind eye to.

Molenkamp, Cranston commit "sexual misconduct": SEA Snitch

Bathurst Schools Office whistleblower, "SEA Snitch" has spoken to Carenne Gate advising that a number of departmental rules were broken on Friday night at the controversial Dinner Dance where staff took a vibrator as an "unusual item" in the presence of a young lady and staff.

The whistleblower said that the most serious incident would involve the sex toy, which was bought to the function in the presence of a young person. SEA Snitch claims that the conduct of Karina Molenkamp and Angie Cranston in showing the sex toy and slapping each other with it is considered sexual misconduct and as such they have to stood down and subject to investigation.

"We already know that Peter doesn't take these seriously. There were allegations of reportable conduct made about Churches and Russell neglecting their own children and he covered those up," said SEA Snitch.

SEA Snitch also said that principal Neil Moon should have intervened and reported the incident under child protection guidelines.

SEA Snitch said -

"The fact that the youngest person there was 16 is still covered by the child protection guidelines and legislation. She is a young person and their behaviour is sexual misconduct. If Moon doesn't report it then he should also be sacked for covering it up."

SEA Snitch said that the use of alcohol while a young person was disallowed under the code of conduct as far as they are aware. SEA Snitch lays the blame fairly at Carenne Support who organised the event and the school executive, who should have known better in their assessment.

"The code of conduct is clear, there is to be no alcohol at school functions where young people, children or students are present. Obviously this wasn't followed in this case," complained SEA Snitch.

In addition to charges of sexual misconduct and breaching the code of conduct through the use of alcohol, SEA Snitch says that the conduct of those who bought the vibrator to the function could amount to sexual harassment, which is illegal in NSW and something which is prohibited by the code of conduct.

SEA Snitch said that they were also concerned about the negative impact the behaviour of staff will have on the school and the wider public education system in NSW.

Sex toy features at Dinner Dance, event a disgrace say attendees

Last night's Dinner Dance for Carenne Support Limited, the organisation central to the Carenne Gate affair was a complete disgrace according to a number of attendees. The Dinner Dance was held at the Bathurst RSL Club to raise funding for a sensory wall at the school. Attendee and Carenne Special School whistleblower nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she was shocked at the conduct of some of her colleagues and at Paul Knight's speech where he took aim at whistleblowers.

Paul Knight's speech mentioned that the school had been engulfed by problems for the last two years and that the only way for Carenne Special School and Carenne Support to survive was to "stick together". Attendees said that it was obvious that Mr Knight was having a shot at whistleblowers who are attempting to clean up Carenne Support and Carenne Special School.

According to nedkelly's estimates only around 80 people were in attendance and of those only two were parents not employed by or associated with Carenne Support or the school. "It was pretty bad considering that they told us that there would be at least 150 people there," Ned told Carenne Gate.

"It just shows how much support the school has lost, the school is really unpopular in the Bathurst community now, people are really over it all."

Another attendee told Carenne Gate that he wasn't surprised by the lack of interest and found it comical that after all the promotion of the event that hardly anybody showed up. The attendee said that it was apparent that the school no longer had the support they once had and that the bus debacle had made the public think twice about giving any money to Carenne Special School or Carenne Support.

"How do you know the money is going to Carenne for what they say. The whole community thought the buses were for the school, nobody told them that they weren't to be owned by the school but an organisation attached to the school which uses them to earn a huge profit," said the attendee.

Another attendee said she was surprised by the absence of Carenne fan Gerard Martin. "Gerard continues to support the rorts at Carenne yet didn't even show up for a supposed charity event for the school."

"I wonder if people know that because of Carenne Support using the buses for themselves that students in wheelchairs can't go on overnight excursions" he said.

All of the attendees who sent complaints to Carenne Gate complained about the conduct of staff at the charity event. One attendee said "how we as staff behave in public is how the school is perceived by the public, when you carry on like they did last night it sends a negative message to the public about the school."

Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that Carenne Support employee Mary Housler, known for attacking people on this blog was terribly drunk and had to be told not to stand on tables and "sexually harassing" a number of attendees including Paul Knight and Geoff Salmon. Nedkelly claims that she was "overly friendly" with Geoff Salmon who appeared very uncomfortable with Mrs Housler's advances.

According to one attendee, he was completely shocked when Karina Molenkamp and Angie Cranston showed the secret item they had bought to the event. "I'm not easily shocked but I couldn't believe it when they pulled out a vibrator, it was so inappropriate. How the department can let this happen is just beyond me, it has to be some sort of serious misconduct to take a sex toy to a school event at a place like the RSL" said the male complainant. Another attendee commented that Mrs Molenkamp and Mrs Cranston's behaviour was unacceptable and that it was only because they shared a table with Lee Churches, Margaret Rowe and Kym Tattersall that they got away with it. "If it had been anyone else, Neil Moon would have thrown them out."

Comments were also made about staff absences from the night. Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she couldn't believe that Anne Baskerville, one of the people calling for a sensory wall didn't show up. Another attendee commented about Michael Auld breezing in and out of the event. "He might as well not have came along," said the attendee.

According to Carenne Support, they have raised enough money for the sensory wall they want for the school.

Saviours concerned about Jindabyne excursion arrangements, claim corrupt staff allocation made by Moon

A number of Carenne Special School staff are concerned about the supervision arrangements for the planned excursion to Jindabyne later in the week. According to staff, Peter Richards is not medically fit to supervise students so far from home and Angela Cranston is someone who is known to neglect her duties as an aide.

One of the Carenne Saviours told Carenne Gate -
"I am really concerned for both Peter and the kids, Peter has been having frequent epileptic seizures of late and it worries me that he will be responsible for children on this excursion. Another thing that worries me is if he drives and has a fit, even though he has been having fits at least twice a week and he still drives. What if he has a fit while driving on the highway, what about the students on the bus."

Another Carenne whistleblower told Carenne Gate that Angela Cranston was only selected to go on the excursion because she took an extra week's holiday in June for which she was unpaid and that the excursion would entitle her to extra pay which would cover the excursion. The whistleblower said "it's another case of Neil Moon looking after his friends, he couldn't care less about anyone else, he looks after Angie."

The whistleblower also claimed that Angela Cranston's conduct earlier this year when she neglected her duties as an aide and sent a group of students unsupervised back to the school after a teacher was injured while delivering circulars showed she was incapable of providing adequate supervision. "Just think if she leaves kids unsupervised in Jindabyne, it's frightening. She couldn't care less about students, she just wants the money."

Another whistleblower said "This is a woman who thinks its acceptable to supply a child with cigarettes, a child who was just 8 at the time. How can this woman, a child abuser be trusted on an excursion?"

Michael Auld wasting school resources: nedkelly

With Neil Moon telling his staff to reduce their use of the school's colour photocopier due to high costs, former klansmen turned whistleblower nedkelly claims that this misuse can be put down to a minority of staff not the majority.

Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that she is "fed up" with being leered at by school administrator Helen Windsor and questioned when she uses the colour copier/printer to make resources for her class. Nedkelly said she probably makes no more than 20 colour prints per week but she is made to feel bad for doing so, despite the resources needing to be in colour.

Nedkelly said -

"It really pisses me off being treated like some sort of criminal because I use the colour copier on occasion, a little misuse comes during school hours but most of it is after hours, this abuse is costing the school money which impacts on the school's programs."

Nedkelly went on to lay the blame with a number of Carenne staff. She claimed that she had often seen Michael Auld printing colour materials for the Riding for the Disabled Association and St Vincent de Paul using the colour copier. She also claimed that Auld asked for the security system to be modified so staff could enter the photocopying room after hours and over school holidays, something verified in part by meeting minutes obtained by Carenne Gate in Term 2.

"I have seen Auld print hundreds of pages at a time, all related to RDA. When I complained to Neil about it, I was told to mind my own business," said nedkelly.

nedkelly also says that the setup of some computers is to blame. She said that some of the new computers received by the school and set up by Michael Auld had the colour printer set as default. She claimed that most staff are so technically illiterate that they are unable to change the printer when printing and most students would make the same mistake when printing. Nedkelly told us -
"It shows the complete incompetence of Michael Auld, he has no idea what he is doing, he is a complete f--- up."

nedkelly went on to allege that Melinda Gavin, Janelle Kemp, Paula Hundy and Angela Cranston all used the colour printer to print personal colour photographs.

Carenne teacher falls into drain

From the Western Advocate with commentary from Carenne Gate
A woman was taken to hospital after getting her leg stuck in a stormwater drain while delivering the free weekly newspaper yesterday.

The woman, a teacher at Carenne Public School, was with a group of students delivering the Western Times.

As she put her foot down where the cement drain meets the grass on the corner of Rankin and Browning streets, her leg disappeared into the drain.

Carenne principal Neil Moon said the children went back to the school to let someone know what had happened.

Read on.

Commentary

According to "hatho" Angela Cranston, the School Learning Support Officer stayed with the injured teacher while students walked back to the school unsupervised in a serious breach of child protection guidelines. Hatho claims despite it being school policy to take a school phone with them when leaving the school with students, neither Ellen Sutton (the injured teacher) or Angela Cranston took one.

Parents appalled at "anti-semitic" newsletter

A number of parents have contacted Carenne Gate bloggers appalled with a photograph of a student holding a Reichskriegsflagge prominently displaying a Swastika in the latest school newsletter. Parents claim the photograph appeared on the page of Kelly Thompson and Angie Cranston's class. Parents say the photograph is anti-semitic, in poor taste and should not have been published in the newsletter.

The newsletter page says that students were learning about World War II with Anzac Day just around the corner but parents aren't impressed.

"I can't believe the poor taste in displaying a student with a Nazi flag with a Swastika on it. Prince Harry got grilled for wearing a Nazi uniform, this is just a disgrace, it is so anti-semitic," said one parent.

"What sort of an idiot would allow this photo to be published in the newsletter, who checks it?" said another parent.

"You might as well fly it on the flag pole at the front of the school, there isn't much difference. What if there is a Jewish parent? How will they feel. These people do not think" said another.

"Just because the school has Nazis in control of it doesn't mean that they need to be parading around a Nazi flag in the newsletter. What an incredible lack of judgment on the principal's part. He ought to be sacked for it."