936. Shirley Oaks Children’s Home / Lambeth children’s home

Lambeth children’s home also known as Shirley Oaks Children’s Home was in operation from 1903 to 1982. The responsible owner was London Borough of Lambeth. So far 1887 victims have been identified having been suffering various forms of abuse.

The investigation has been subjected to attempts of having it covered up, properly due to the ownership which could affect the careers of politicians, who basically have neglected their duties to supervise the facility.

It could not have been fun to be there as a child and have been subjected to abuse.

Sources:

• Culture of cover-up saw hundreds of children abused in Lambeth, report finds (BBC)
• Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme (Lambeth Counsil Service)
• ‘Like hell’: what former Lambeth children’s home residents told abuse inquiry (The Guardian)
• Hundreds of children abused while in care of Lambeth council, inquiry finds (The Guardian)

930. Sacre Coeur orphanage

The Sacre Coeur orphanage was founded around year 1901. It continued to house children until the 1980’s. The last part closed down in 1996. As result of the media coverage of Haut de la Garenne, investigation was broadened to other facilities on the Jersey Islands which then brought the Sacre Coeur orphanage into focus. Allegations include sexual abuse

Jimmy Savile which since his death had been recognized as an abuser has been mentioned in relationship with this facility.

It is safe to say that it could not have been fun to be there as a child.

Sources:

• Sacré Coeur Orphanage (The Island Wiki)
• Jersey care inquiry: ‘Brutality and abuse at orphanage’ claims (BBC)
• How ‘house of horror’ investigation brought Jersey abuse to light (The Guardian)
• voiceforchildren (Blog covering the Jersey children homes)
• Jersey care inquiry: surge in Sacre-Coeur witnesses (BBC)

910. St Joseph’s College

St Joseph’s College was founded by the De La Salle Brothers, which is a order of monks. The school opened in 1937.

Like to many boarding schools run by religious orders, claims of abuse has risen. Around 20 ‘old boys’ have since written in to allege physical and sexual abuse by teachers at the school between the 1960s and 1980s. The Suffolk police has started an investigation.

Articles speak on an environment you will not see as fun to be in when you are a teenager.

Sources:

• ‘I feared abuse by school monks was imaginary’ – Judge Dredd author on experience at Ipswich school (East Anglian Daily Times)
• Catholic priest jailed for St Joseph’s College sex abuse (BBC)
• Catholic Abuse – Breaking the Silence (CPFS BBS)

908. Loretto School

Founded in 1827 over the recent years the school has been known in the public for its past consisting with incidents of both bullying and sexual abuse. The present school management has apologized for past managements failures to protect students.

Past managements not only failed to protect the students but also provided good job references to teachers who had committed incident act which must be regarded as a double failure.

Sources:

• School apologises for giving good job reference to sexual predator teacher (The Argus)
• NEIL MACKAY’S BIG READ: Boarding school survivors reveal their horrific stories of childhood abuse in ‘MeToo’ moment (The Herald)
• ‘It is deeply troubling. I’m not sure I’ve fully processed it’ – Loretto School head tells child abuse inquiry (Edinburgh News)
• Beatings, bullying and paedophile teachers are ‘a potion for private schoolkids of the British elite’ (The Daily Record)

876. Brookside School for Maladjusted Children in Shropshire

The Brookside School for Maladjusted Children in Shropshire was a school used by the authorities as an exile for children who had case files taking up time for case workers in the social services system.

At the school close to 100 children were subjected to rape and abuse. Most survivors mention former head master Jack Mount. Among the victims were children aged down to 10.

Why the authorities never managed to bring the head master to justice for his actions is a rather complicated legal question which is impossible to answer.

But the emotional scars, he inflicted on the children does not require any legal advice for us to understand. That burden is hard to bear through life.

Hopefully such places will be subjected to close supervision in the future so these awful things would not repeat itself. It could not have been fun to be there as a child.

Sources:

• The boarding school ‘monster’ who always walked free (BBC)
• Brookside School Abuse Survivors Hope Others Will Speak Out (Simpson-Millar)
• SICK SCHOOL We were sexually abused for years by paedo headteacher who’d beat us & nailed windows shut so we couldn’t escape (The Sun)

866. Gordonstoun School

The Gordonstoun School has the infamous reputation that it inspires the concept of wilderness therapy in the United States which is a concept which have claimed the lives of many teenagers. The founder Kurt Hahn had a misguided vision of what modern people can endure

Beside that Gordonstoun School is also know as a place where rape and child abuse took place. Prince Charles did apparently not remember the school for many good memories but at least he had personal to ensure his safety so he did not fall victim for some of the more cruel things which happened to other students.

It is safe to say that the school for some was not a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

• Rape, child abuse and Prince Charles’s former school (The Guardian)
• Gordon School: Abuse inquiry hears pupils suffered at the hands of staff and fellow boarders (The Scotsman)
• Author who made shocking claims of abuse at Gordonstoun school flooded with support from ex-pupils sharing horrific experiences (Daily Record)

861. Loretto School

Loretto School located near Edinburgh apologized for the abuse some of the former students suffered by the hands of employees who were working there when the abuse took place.

Former students took the brave step to come forward and testify about what kind of abuse they suffered and as result further investigation took place.

It cannot have been fun to be there as a student when the abuse took place.

Sources:

• Boarding schools apologise ‘unreservedly’ over abuse (TES News)
• Professor tells of sex abuse at top school Many prominent men were victims at Loretto over 16 years, claims academic (The Herald)
• Sexually abused during his time at Loretto School, Don Boyd returns to Edinburgh and launches a book incorporating his abuse (The Scotsman)

857. Carmel College

Carmel College was founded in 1948 and closed in 1997. It was intended as a Jewish alternative to the traditional English boarding schools based on so-called Christian values. While successful in giving many young children a good education, it also allowed a now convicted Housemaster and French teacher to prey on the children in the years between 1968 and 1988. The children often lonely and far away from their support-network and families were easy victims.

It could not have been fun to be a teenager victimized by this person.

Sources:

• Dark Modernism : the forgotten story of an abandoned Jewish boarding school (Explorabilia – Alternative Travel Experiences – blog)
• Carmel College sex abuse: Victim speaks of childhood ordeal (BBC)
• Acclaimed composer tells of sexual abuse at Carmel College (The Guardian)

821. Windermere School

Windermere School is a boarding school founded in 1863. The price tag for a stay of a child is around 30,000 pounds per year. Unfortunately the price tag is no guarantee for a quality and supportive stay at the school. In 2020 a 14-year-old boy died after intense bullying. One example is that his his classmates smeared faeces on his pillow.

Short to say that it cannot be fun to be there as a student.

Sources:

• Bullied boy, 14, at £30,000-a-year boarding school took his own life after his classmates smeared faeces on his pillow, an inquest heard (The Daily Mail)
• Boy, 14, killed himself after boarding school bullies smeared faeces on his pillow (Metro UK)
• (The Izzy Dix Anti Bullying Memorial Group)

817. Bryn Estyn care home

The Bryn Estyn care home which have been closed was in the news due to the trial against a former employee. The buildings now house a conference center named Erla Centre. Former employees were sentenced for offenses like violating boys as young as 12, offences of buggery, attempted buggery and indecent assault.

It is safe to conclude that it could not have been fun to be there as a child.

Sources:

• Calls for former care home Bryn Estyn to be demolished to give closure to abuse victims (Daily Post)
• Welsh care home investigation: Police findings published today (Wales Online)