Chesterton Cemetery

Friday 25 March 2011

Following a report of an inappropriate game of football involving some of our pupils in Chesterton Cemetery on Monday 14 March we have carried out an investigation and shared the community’s concerns with all of our pupils through our assemblies this week and reminded them about being respectful and courteous.

In our view the handling of the story by our local newspaper that chose to feature this on their front page this week was unfortunate. We have been liaising with the newspaper and anticipate they will be publishing a further article next week clarifying the original article including some of the points about this incident made below.

The school is investigating the matter further. We are always willing to work with our partners locally to resolve difficult situations and have a strong relationship with our local Police Community Support Officers and the Cotswold District Council. We do not condone anti-social behaviour and clearly the incident was regrettable.

We recognise a number of our pupils live in the Chesterton area, but it is not clear whether the young people involved in the incident on 14 March were from Deer Park.

We understand that

• The incident occurred on a day when the school was closed to pupils for in-service training.
• The young people were not in uniform and could not be positively identified as Cirencester Deer Park pupils.
• It is now believed that some young people not associated with Deer Park were involved in this incident.
• The incident was originally indirectly reported to us as an inappropriate game of football which we agreed to follow up with our pupils and have done so rigorously.
• At no time have we been made aware of our pupils being involved in any other anti-social activity in Chesterton Cemetery listed in the front page story. We understand there are no recorded incidents with the police.
• While we endeavour to instill positive behaviour and social responsibility in our learners and promote community cohesion, we cannot be held accountable for their actions out of school when they are the responsibility of their parents.
• Our pupils are to be ‘congratulated on their exemplary behaviour’ (Ofsted May 2010). Ofsted also noted, our pupils’ ‘excellent personal moral values and great concern for your community and that of the wider world’.

We fully appreciate the actions of the young people in Chesterton Cemetery was inappropriate and our pupils have been made aware of the distress incidents of this nature cause.

Chiquita Henson
Head