[Ammi]

..this is so tragic and a huge, huge failure of the system...taking the knife in itself was obviously extremely serious and worrying and her parents should have been called in to discuss it..but with her history of anxiety and attempted suicide being recorded as well...





A 13-year-old girl was found hanged the day after being suspended from school for stealing a craft knife.

Francesca Candita-Simpkins was discovered in her parents’ garden shed on April 23, before being pronounced dead in hospital later that day.

Southwark Coroner’s Court heard she had a longstanding history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and died after the head teacher at Newstead Wood School in Orpinton, Kent, suspended her for stealing a craft knife from the design and technology department.

According to The Times, she is believed to have stolen the knife to carry out a “blood sisters pact” with a fellow pupil, but was later caught with the blade and suspended for two days.

She killed herself the following day. After discovering the body at her home in Catford, South East London, police also found a half-finished letter in her school bag, in which she apologised to her family for letting them down.

Coroner Lorna Tagliavini said Alison Ross, the head teacher of the school, had failed to consider the teenager’s state of mind before issuing the punishment, despite it being recorded that the she had a history of anxiety and had previously attempted suicide when she took an overdose in November last year.

The coroner said Ms Ross did not consult the girl's family before deciding to suspend her, according to The Times.

Mrs Tagliavini told the court: “Francesca did not present a threat to other students.

“There is no evidence that the head teacher, Mrs Ross, took into consideration any of the evidence. Mrs Ross had already made her mind up and made the decision that Francesca would be suspended. On that basis, I do find that the school’s failings on that part have contributed to the events that occurred.

“In order to be sure that Francesca committed suicide I have to be sure that Francesca intended to harm herself and that she intended to take her own life.”

In returning a narrative verdict, the coroner added: “This was an action of self-harm contributed to by a failure to fully consider the implementation of their major behaviour policy and exclusion policy.”


http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews...ool/ar-BBmJDIS

[kirklancaster]

One failure after another. This poor child was screaming out for serious help and was failed by everyone who could have, and should have, administeed that help. So tragic.

[Ammi]

...yep Kirk, a huge concern that she took it and why she would do that..to hurt herself/to hurt someone else..?.../and the very first thing should have been to call her parents into the school...

[Cherie]

The Head needs sacking, and was there any input from her form tutor who also needs sacking, unbelievable that no links were made and her parents not informed

[lostalex]

sounds like she had plenty of serious mental issues long before she got suspended. It's her parents/family job to get her help, not the school.


The school is there to teach, not be parents/family. the school did nothing wrong.

I get so annoyed with people, especially parents who expect the school to be more in tune with their kids than they are.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by lostalex

sounds like she had plenty of serious mental issues long before she got suspended. It's her parents/family job to get her help, not the school.


The school is there to teach, not be parents/family. the school did nothing wrong.

I get so annoyed with people, especially parents who expect the school to be more in tune with their kids than they are.

It's nothing to do with the parents expecting the school to deal with their child, in this case it's the schools failure to implement their Behaviour and Suspension policy properly that is in question

[Northern Monkey]

I agree with Alex here.

Yes the school should inform the parents if they see any behaviours that concern them but as far as the suspension goes they really had no choice.
They can't just let kids run around with knives.Specially not a loose cannon like this one.This kid could've stabbed three other kids.Nobody knows.The punishment for stealing knives should absolutely be suspension at the minimum.The mental and physical health of the kid is the parents responsibilty.

[smudgie]

Her parents should have been called to collect her.
The suspension was the correct punishment.
If everybody was supposed to know she was on some sort of red alert for self harm and suicide bids then she should have been in a secure mental health unit with medical help and not school.
Too easy to blame the headteacher.

[waterhog]

shame on this country.

[Kizzy]

If the school were aware that there would be nobody at home while she was in this frame of mind then I feel they were wrong to suspend her, have her in school and in isolation.
It was made clear in the article she was no danger to anyone but herself, as schools have parental responsibility for most of the childs school life they very much do have a duty of care.
I would've thought she would also have a social worker having already attempted suicide once, there just doesn't seem to have been any communication or consideration.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by lostalex

sounds like she had plenty of serious mental issues long before she got suspended. It's her parents/family job to get her help, not the school.


The school is there to teach, not be parents/family. the school did nothing wrong.

I get so annoyed with people, especially parents who expect the school to be more in tune with their kids than they are.

I agree, Alex.

[Denver]

Parents send there children to school and leave them in the care of teachers during there duration at school.

If they sent her home without informing the parents then they failed her.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Adam.

Parents send there children to school and leave them in the care of teachers during there duration at school.

If they sent her home without informing the parents then they failed her.

Parents send their children to school to learn. Teachers aren't social workers, although they are sometimes expected to be. If her own parents weren't aware she was in a poor mental state, how are teachers expected to know?

[Crimson Dynamo]

A quick look at her file, call the parents to say what you will be doing and it may have been a diff outcome

Not sure why the head did not call the parents here?

[Tom4784]

It'll be an outrage if the Head isn't sacked, if she did her job properly then the kid would still be alive.

It also highlights how lazy and crappy a punishment suspension is. It was obviously used here because the Head couldn't be bothered to handle things. It wouldn't surprise me if the school has a lot of suspensions.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

A quick look at her file, call the parents to say what you will be doing and it may have been a diff outcome

Not sure why the head did not call the parents here?

Agree with you there LT - it's not really about the suspension or whether or not it was the appropriate punishment, or about whether or not her parents knew of her mental state (they probably did)... It's just the simple fact that a parent should have been present in a group meeting to discuss the incident and to give her any needed support afterwards.

Basically, those saying the school is there to teach and not to care, you can't have it both ways. Either the school takes the temporary role of caregiver / guardian during school hours - in which case they have a duty of care for each and every student and their wellbeing - or they don't take that role at all and are mere educators - in which case someone who cares for the child must ALWAYS be a part of these sorts of decisions.

[Dollface]

Imo the school is at fault here.

[Dominic]

that's horrible

[Anaesthesia]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Basically, those saying the school is there to teach and not to care, you can't have it both ways. Either the school takes the temporary role of caregiver / guardian during school hours - in which case they have a duty of care for each and every student and their wellbeing - or they don't take that role at all and are mere educators - in which case someone who cares for the child must ALWAYS be a part of these sorts of decisions.

Well said; I agree with you. Sadly due to the economic pressures of both parents having to work (in general; I don't know about this particular case) the school is likely to see much more of the child during an average week than the child's own parents, and I'm sure there is an in loco parentis duty of care there.

[Crimson Dynamo]

poor wee lassie wanting to kill herself at 13!

this is an area of mental health we have little knowledge of

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

poor wee lassie wanting to kill herself at 13!

this is an area of mental health we have little knowledge of

I know it's so young, poor kid. Did the school just send her home without even telling the parents what happened? That's crazy

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I know it's so young, poor kid. Did the school just send her home without even telling the parents what happened? That's crazy

and with her history

its beyond madness

[smudgie]

Going by the article, it says she was found the next day.
Had she gone missing or not carried it out until the next day.
We don't know what the parents had said to her re her getting suspended, all rather vague to be honest.

So many young kids feeling like this, self harming etc, what on earth is going wrong.

[Ammi]

..it's not really in question that the school let Francesca down in their role of care, it's the findings of the inquiry that, that's the case...it was known to them that she had attempted suicide previously, something which many members of staff would have been aware of or should have been..../this was completely ignored by the headteacher, when she gave the sanction...one of her students took a knife from her school/something that could physically harm...well no..it was a suicidal student that took a knife from the school/something that could physically harm...and it absolutely was the head's/schools duty of care to have acted on ALL facts and knowledge for the protection of Francesca, which was far from what happened...above and before sanctions and behavior policies, a school is there to protect all children in their care and always to consider information on an individual student's mental welfare..../they failed her completely...she may have taken her life anyway, we don't know... but that doesn't change the failings of the school and the head with this in her decision...

[Will.]

Children need far more support than many are getting.