The GSD says it is concerned at the “apparent failures” by the Department of Education to ensure safeguarding standards were applied at Westside School in the child grooming case reported yesterday.

A statement continued: “Children are put in the trust of teachers and that trust should not be abused. Grooming of children is completely unacceptable. Children should be safe in schools and parents satisfied that children are safe.

“The GSD notes the findings of the independent investigation conducted by the Government into the grooming of a child by a supply teacher as well as the concerns on the case expressed by the teachers union NASUWT.

“Teachers must be supported in their call urging Government to use the findings of the investigation to take immediate action.

“Indeed, whilst we applaud the actions and vigilance of teachers and senior management team at Westside School who had highlighted and reported the inappropriate conduct of the individual teacher to the Department of Education, it is a grave concern that there appears to have been failures either in the way this was handled by the Department and/or failures in the system/protocols and/or their implementation.

“We have not had sight of the full report of the independent investigation and, therefore, do not know whether these failures were systemic or due to individual errors or a combination of both. Either way lessons must be learnt and decisive immediate action is required to allay the concerns of both teachers and parents. We need to ensure that the risk of this ever happening again is minimized and that means using the failures in this case as an opportunity to review safeguarding protocols, codes of conduct and child protection policies, so that they are fit for purpose and implemented accordingly - from the highest education official right down to the most junior member of the profession.

“The Opposition further notes that Government, through their own press release, have condemned these actions and are committed to ensuring that schools remain a safe haven for students. However, there is an urgent need to inject confidence in the system by reviewing existing procedures so parents can be reassured that their children attend school without fear of this happening again.”