Parent claims Terry Mahony misled special transport over escort

A parent has come forward and claimed that she was asked to sign a pre-written letter in 2008 telling the special transport branch of the education department that she would be happy for Jeremy Russell to be the escort on the bus that her child took to school. The parent claims that Mr Russell had been the escort on the bus for sometime and she was puzzled as to why she would need to sign this.

With the letter was a covering letter explaining that Mr Russell had been trialled on the bus and that if they were happy for him to be the usual escort to sign the attached letter. The attached letter said they had seen him work with Carenne students and made no mention of this trial period.

The parent claims that she was asked to sign a document which was intended to mislead the transport branch.

YOUR SAY: What should the review focus on?

With the terms of reference being kept as a closely guarded secret, what do you believe should be focused on in the review to be conducted at Carenne Special School?

School review letter light on detail says expert

A senior officer of the NSW Department of Education and Training has criticised the letter sent home to parents by Neil Moon informing them of the forthcoming school review. The expert claims that the letter doesn't specify what type of review is being conducted nor the terms of reference.

The expert, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said "Neil Moon needs to be frank and open with parents and tell them exactly what the review is. You can't say there is going to be a review, it will be transparent and not give the detail."

The expert told Carenne Gate reporters that the NSW Department of Education and Training has three types of reviews under its School Development Policy.

"The SDP allows for Education Support Teams, School Program Reviews and Management Reviews. ESTs are usually used to develop programs, SPRs to repair existing programs and management reviews are used where the management of the school is malignant,"

"Carenne is facing a Management Review," he said.

According to the department's policy, management reviews are used where "there is substantial evidence of significant dysfunction in the operation of the school as identified by the school education director."

This indicates that the department is well-aware of the poor management of the school by executive staff and the plethora of issues at the school.

The expert then said that the terms of reference of the review should be communicated to the school community.

"Why hasn't Neil Moon told parents what the terms of reference are, it is a transparent review, they should know what is being looked at."

He claimed that reviews do not guarantee confidentiality but anonymity, of which there is a significant difference. He went on to say:
"Neil Moon has made a right proper mess of the communication surrounding this review and parents have every right to be concerned, it shows the issues with the management team at Carenne."

Parents concerned about school self-evaluation

As part of the external review of Carenne Special School to commence next week, parents have been sent home school self-evaluation surveys. These surveys rate the areas of communication and culture from a parent's perspective.

Some parents have contacted me concerned about how confidential these evaluations will be. One parent said "They don't ask for them to be sent back in an envelope or anything, you are to send them back to school with your child, they will know who wrote what and we know how much some staff like to bully parents, it just won't be confidential."

Another parent said "This entire review process is just a front, if they were serious about sorting out Carenne they would have used a team from outside of the department, the problems at Carenne are far more serious than the department can handle itself, its just an attempt to slap on the window dressing."

These comments and concerns demonstrate the amount of faith parents have in the Department of Education and Training to conduct a fair and proper review into the issues at Carenne Special School.

Principal, teacher lose student, aide abuses him

It has been reported that one day last week, the principal of Carenne Special School Neil Moon and one of his teachers Nadine Dwyer went looking for a student who had ran away from school and into the park across the road. It is claimed that the student walked out the front door of the school, across busy Browning Street and into the park where he lit up a cigarette.

The incident was repeated on Monday and Tuesday of this week. On Monday nobody went looking for the student and on on Tuesday Karina Molenkamp stood opposite the park and yelled "get your fucking arse back here *****." A number of onlookers were horrified at the language used by Mrs Molenkamp towards the student.

It demonstrates how student safety is low on the list of priorities at Carenne Special School.

Parents claim school review will be biased

The Department of Education and Training is conducting an external review of Carenne Special School and parents claim that the review will be biased.

A letter sent to parents last week claims that an external team led by the Western NSW Schools Development officer will visit the school over the period 15 - 17 March. Parents have been advised that they may be invited to be interviewed by the review team and a random selection will be given survey forms to complete.

Parents have also been told that their children may be involved in interviews with the team.

The purpose of the review is to interview and survey parents and students and to analyse policies, procedures and documentation. The principal will be presented with a report discussing culture, communication and leadership which will be used by the Carenne executive to support forward planning.

One parent told me "They will only select parents who will say what they want for this review, they won't choose those of us who have concerns with the school, they will want to keep them under their hat," the parent said that she was concerned that the letter claimed all information will be confidential and protected by a code of conduct.

"They had a code of conduct when Lee Churches harassed that parent on that Indymedia website and they did nothing about it, it's not adequate protection."

Another parent said "They need to look at culture in the place alright, they need to look at the bullying and snowjobs."

Another attack

This blog has been repaired after yet another attack by 'omerta' this morning. The attacker posted a photograph of the front of the school with the message - "the site is closed. This is an illegal website full of lies that is just a vehicle for abuse."

The original article by 'omerta' has been re-written to retain the comments