Safeguarding weaknesses at Catholic boarding school exposed children to abuse

Safeguarding weaknesses at a leading Catholic boarding school exposed children to abuse, an inquiry has found.

The Charity Commission report on Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire found “significant weaknesses” in the safeguarding, governance and management of the two trusts involved with running it.

St Laurence Educational Trust runs Ampleforth College, an independent school on the same site as Ampleforth Abbey, which is operated by the Ampleforth Abbey Trust (AAT). Monks from the Abbey provide chaplaincy and teaching to pupils at the college.

The inquiry opened in 2016 after allegations of sexual abuse by monks of the abbey and lay staff.

The investigation then found out about nine previously unreported serious abuse allegations and/or convictions – both historic and recent – that the Abbey Board had been made aware of in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

“The majority of these were reported to have been committed or alleged to have been committed against pupils by staff and monks in place at the time,” the Charity Commission’s report said.

Investigators said they identified numerous past instances in which both charities “failed to manage safeguarding incidents appropriately” and trustees “failed to fulfil their responsibilities under charity law, which put students at the college at risk of harm”.

In November 2020, Ampleforth was ordered to stop admitting new pupils by the Government as a result of “serious failings”.

The school faced criticism in a report by an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2018.

An interim manager was appointed in 2018, who, according to the report, “identified that the trustees’ obligations of loyalty to their brothers in the monastic community could have led to decisions being taken that were not always solely in the best interests of AAT”.

The Charity Commission said both charities had made “positive strides,” with the St Laurence Educational Trust having since received a “Good” Ofsted inspection and readmittance to the Headmaster’s Conference. The Abbey Trust successfully passed an audit by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency.

Amy Spiller, head of investigations at the Commission, said: “The inquiry found several weaknesses and failures in the approach to and handling of safeguarding matters across both charities, which exposed pupils to risk of harm. We expect safeguarding to be a priority for all charities, and the lack of oversight demonstrated mismanagement in the administration of these charities.

“We recognise the progress made by both charities during the inquiry, including recent compliance with regulatory standards, but the findings of our inquiry underscored the importance of maintaining high safeguarding standards and rebuilding public trust.”