City school abuse scandal

It seems like there may have been the wrong kind of sex in the City as the papers have been humming with the news that the City of London School for Girls has been rocked by the allegations of an inappropriate relationship between a 26-year old teacher and an under-16 year old pupil. The woman was apparently arrested on Monday and has been suspended pending further investigations although that point seems somewhat procedural as the school heads into the summer holidays.

Today’s Daily Mail has named the teacher concerned:
“Helen Goddard, 26, a trumpeter known as ‘the jazz lady’ by her pupils at the £13,000-a-year City of London School for Girls, was arrested on Monday and released on police bail”

Whilst the investigation is yet to determine exactly what went on I’m sure the school will be hoping that it’s robust response to the allegations will allay the fears of parents and also demonstrate to the various City institutions that support it that they have handled the situations well.

The school has 700 pupils aged from 7 to 18 and has been on its Barbican site since 1969 and is a very highly-rated school indeed which has top-rated examination performances and has had agony aunt Claire Rayner, TV presenter Claudia Winkleman and singer and musician Dido as pupils in the past.

There’s some confusion over exactly when the school started as their own website has the confusing sentence:
“Founded by a City merchant, William Ward in 1881 City of London School for Girls opened in Carmelite Street in 1894”

Eh? The Time quotes the 1881 date but the school seems to consider its birth year as being 1894 though as they recently celebrated their 110th birthday in 2004-2005.

City of London School for Girls
http://www.clsg.org.uk/