WebRussell Tillson is alleged to have committed five offences of indecent assault while teaching at renowned Tonbridge School, an all-boys' boarding and day school where fees cost Sevenoaks strengths would be its diverse and international sixth form and its experience with the rigour of the IB. WebFor generations of boys, sexual abuse was part of the everyday cruelty of boarding school. What he thought he had heard was never exactly what you had said. WebCleaner Operative (Former Employee) - Tonbridge - 17 October 2019 Boarding houses are only cleaned thoroughly when there are parent visits with potential new students, shower rooms and toilets are moldy and unhygienic and there is not enough time to clean affectively. He was a head of year seven at Ravens Wood School, in Bromley, when arrested in February. Webimplement policies and to train staff for the purpose of protecting children from sexual abuse o assault. The school in Baker Lane is run by The Tenax Schools Trust and was inspected in January. My tongue sharpened itself mainly in my own defense. I was already doing Latin exercises (as taught by my mother) when I went there in 1908, and I was-still doing Latin exercises when I left there in 1910; I had never got in sight of a Roman author. That peculiar croaking or rattling cry, that, and the gray faces of all the other boys, and their deathlike stillnessare among the memories I could willingly dispense with. C.S. It wouldn't surprise me to hear such things. The inquiry team is currently investigating over 60 residential care establishments for children in order to gather, from those who ran them and others, evidence about how children who were being cared for in a range of different settings and by a number of different types of care organisations were treated. WebArrest Summary April 1-15 Kristopher Shawn Holand, 45, felony tampering with physical evidence. Tonbridge Following a search police discovered evidence showing Wells had downloaded child abuse images and videos. Almost 10,000 people have now shared testimonies of assault, abuse, harassment and misogyny. Tonbridge School review by University of Oxford student - Prep I took it all literally and had the gloomiest anticipation of adult life. He admitted later that, detecting other peoples reserve after returning home from these wartime nightmares, he had developed a manner of discussing them apotropaically, as it were, so as to defuse them a bit. Freddie saidcalling classmates out on such behaviour can be 'difficult' because of peer pressure. and play the game! the refrain of Sir Henry Newbolts immensely popular poem Vita Lampada was a guiding motto for everything from war to marriage. Novelists were telling of the dark and brutal times to be had at boarding school much earlier than the essay-writers. Do not sell or share my personal information. In a 1934 volume of reminiscences, The Old School, edited by Graham Greene, writers including WH Auden, the diarist Harold Nicolson and the novelist Eileen Arnot Robertson compared the bulldozing of children into conformity at their schools to fascism. There wasnt much food and we hadnt been given any water for quite a while. The most important fact at the moment is the horrible clothes I have been made to put on. Elitist schools can breed locker room banter, she adds, which she thinks continues to take centre stage over protecting students. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line. Nobody could have been less chauvinistic than Ian Watt but then, he was one of the few survivors of The Bridge On The River Kwai, The Burma Railroad, Changi Jail in Singapore, and other Hirohito horrors that I still capitalize in my mind. Document details. Th e Self-Harm Policy forms part of the overall safeguarding framework of Tonbridge School. Moon's letter follows the initiative Everyone's Invited, an Instagram account which was set up 10 months ago now with 42,000 followers cataloguing rape culture in British schools. 'Specific allegations are always taken extremely seriously and we work closely with the relevant external authorities when necessary. The Daily Record (Link), When I was an adolescent schoolboy at boarding school in the 1950s we all knew where we stood on the intriguing issues of sex and sexuality that were opening up in our lives. Soon, the cane was picked up again and a second tremendous crack was administered upon the trembling buttocks. Tonbridge School They said it was 'a joke' and then after called me a s**g even though I never asked or gave them permission to touch me. Follow this publisher. When he came to, he apologized for being a bore but brokenly confessed that hed dreamed he was back at Tonbridge.. Oldie lived in a solitude of power, like a sea captain in the days of sail. Its relatively easy to see why people want to exert power over others, but what fascinated me was the way in which the victims colluded in the business. Another was dismissed in the presence of the boys, with a rider from Oldie to the effect that if he were not in Holy Orders he would kick him downstairs. 'As a school, we treat allegations of this kind with the utmost seriousness. Anti-Bullying Policy (October 2021) Meet Zan Moon, The Woman Behind The Instagram Account WebSavage discipline, along with sexual confusion and formalised bullying, are so common in the schooldays memoirs of the British elite in the 19th and 20th centuries that you have These institutions were founded later there were only five public schools for girls by the end of the 19th century, all of them quite deliberately aping the boys ones. I remember years later reading about Stalin that the intimates of his inner circle were always at their most nervous when he was in a good mood, and understanding instantly what was meant by that. Tonbridge School Prospectus. Zan Moon, 24, was inundated with women sharing harrowing experiences of harassment and misogyny after appealing for testimonies last week. "The school's own investigation and that of the police found no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing connected with the school, its pupils, staff or equipment.". WebA school lab technician claims she was verbally abused and humiliated while working at one of the country's top boarding schools where she overheard a pupil say women His rages would shake the windows and make small boys turn white: his good moods were a hell to endure and a challenge to manipulate. We are in low spirits. It might, perhaps, have been expected that this story of his would presently be blown away by the real story which we had to tell after we had gone to Belsen. UK's elite schools face a reckoning on rape culture | CNN The Telegraph (Link). Intellectually, the time I spent at Oldies was almost entirely wasted; if the school had not died, and if I had been left there two years more, it would probably have sealed my fate as a scholar for good. We all like showing scars received in battle; the wounds of the ergastulum, less. In 1888, Rudyard Kipling published a heart-rending short story about little children dispatched as he was, at five years old from the colonies into the hands of uncaring adults back in Britain. Later in life I came up with the term micro-megalomaniac to describe those who are content to maintain absolute domination of a small sphere. 'They would say we were frigid if we didn't do it,' she said. Gratitude for having been spared, vague guilt at an offense I had not known about or guessed at (thought crime! Published: 08:21 EDT, 30 March 2021 | Updated: 11:22 EDT, 30 March 2021. Investigation showed the place to be a minor hell of flagellation and abuse (such a pathetic euphemism for the real thing) so I was taken away and put in a nearer establishment named Camdean. 'It is finally coming to attention how boys from the most elite schools and universities have mistreated girls for years, and somehow got away with it. Webany proposed school facility needs analysis, that relates to the potential expansion of existing school sites or the necessity to acquire additional school sites, to the planning We run workshops about healthy relationships and educate our pupils about consent. I have read of boys in the same predicament who welcomed such things as signs of growing up; I had no such feeling. A boy home from school (especially during that first week when the holidays seem eternal) likes to cut a dash. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. with events such as Pink Day supporting Breast Cancer Kent as well as one-off campaigns and sponsored events. "Trust leaders and governors must ensure that they have the knowledge and expertise to systematically review the implementation of safeguarding at the school. Good luck - don't forget to share your results with us! Annually the whole School raises over 130,000 for local and international charities. Apart from one fact, it isnt remarkable: it echoes accounts of boarding school stories in the 19th and 20th century that tell quite blithely of extraordinary violence and psychological cruelty. But as a boy, I was considered pretty, and in the boarding-school world that I grew up in, that meant only one thing: being regularly molested by other boys at prep school and again at the public school in Hampshire, the school to which generations of my family had gone and my parents had a close connection. A shed that also doubled as the changing room for his swimming pool. WebThe School community supports a range of charity partners throughout the year. I see I shall need it. If a boy became confused Oldie flogged the desk, shouting in a crescendo, Think Think THINK! The strange thing, or so I now think, was the way in which it didnt feel all that strange. C.S. Lewis & Christopher Hitchens On Abuse in Boarding Schools WebTonbridge School Policies October 2021 _____ _____ 2G.AB Last Amended October 2021 - 1 - ANTI-BULLYING POLICY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Bullying, especially if left unaddressed, can have a devastating effect on individuals. WebA former teacher from Tonbridge has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a series of child sex offences, including rape. Meanwhile, and speaking of books, the school possessed its very own library, and several of the masters had private collections of their own, to which one might be admitted (not always without risk to these mens immortal souls) as a great treat. James Priory, Headmaster, Tonbridge School: I have read this open letter with significant concern. If my parents knew what really went on at the school, I used to think (not being the first little boy to imagine that my main job was that of protecting parental innocence), they would faint from the shock. Alex Rentons Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Behaviour was positive and respectful in classrooms and around the school and pupils were confident leaders would address it in the right way, said inspectors. My brother, who has most reason to be so, for he alone knows what we are going to, shows his feelings least. After the #MeToo movement, Instagram accounts exposing allegations of rape and sexual assault have become commonplace. He called his class up and asked questions. So I followed John Smyth to the shed, the man Id met through the schools then newly revitalised Christian Forum. WebTonbridge is one of the leading boys boarding and day schools in the UK for boys aged 13-18. In particular the English department was known to be Hitchens, take that look off your face! Near-instant panic. A number of further initiatives are in advanced planning. Zan Moon, 24, was inundated with women sharing harrowing experiences of harassment and misogyny after appealing for testimonies last week, The Princes Trust charity worker, who attended the all-girls Benenden school in Kent (pictured), herself says she was assaulted by a boy from another school aged 15. 'One time I finally caved after saying no so many times and the picture got shared around Eton. Copyright Todd Wilhelm, 2018, All Rights Reserved, "'Speaking the truth in love' has come to mean that you more or less praise everything, but above all, that you never criticise any view strongly, because, after all, there is a certain amount of right and truth in everything." Audens suggestive line in one of his greatest poems [ 1 September 1939]: And helpless governors wake / To resume their compulsory game, It was indeed Auden who had been a master at such a school as well as having been a pupil at one who had said that the experience had given him an instinctive understanding of what it would be like to live under fascism. All this Yvonne saw, or I suppose I should say she somehow intuited, at a glance. Such was his temperament that when he exclaimed, as he frequently did, Therell soon be nothing for it but the workhouse, he momentarily believed, or at least felt, what he said. The cricket field triumphs and the practical jokes, the floggings and the bullies of the traditional boarding school were by the 1890s the staples of a literary genre with an audience far beyond the class that used them, or even that aspired to them. I think I wish I had not been introduced so early to the connection between obscure sexual excitement and the infliction or the reception of pain. He was shouting: No, no please dont Not any more, not again, Oh God please. Hideous noises like that. You have let yourself down. To myself I was frantically muttering: Now what? To order a copy for 14.44 (RRP 16.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Dysentery had begun to take its toll, which was distinctly disagreeable at such close quarters. My memory of how that felt was as vivid as possible. All 30 of them turned around and sang 'Get your t**s out for the lads'. They say that Eton taught us nothing, crowed the first world war general Sir Herbert Plumer at a dinner of the schools old boys society in 1916. It could be coincidence, but the 30-year decline in numbers came to an end in 2000, just as the third Harry Potter novel was published. WebTonbridge School recognises the importance of staff training to enable them to identify the possible signs of abuse and/or neglect, and to know what to do if they have a concern. No credit card required. "There is a variety of extra-curricular clubs available to take part in that are well attended, including art, drama and sports clubs," said inspectors. All rights reserved. WebSchool Guide has helped 15 million parents find the best school for their child and here we reveal the 5 best performing schools in Tonbridge. All new staff, Governors, part-time staff, volunteers and Praepostors will receive appropriate Safeguarding and Child Protection Not only that, but that I wore corduroy shorts in all weathers, blazers with a school crest on Sundays, slept in a dormitory with open windows, began every day with a cold bath (followed by the declension of Latin irregular verbs), wolfed lumpy porridge for breakfast, attended compulsory divine service every morning and evening, and kept a diary in which in a special code I recorded the number of times when I was left alone with a grown-up man, who was perhaps four times my weight and five times my age, and bent over to be thrashed with a cane. Please take off all your clothes, he said calmly. A popular Tonbridge school teacher who taught thousands of teenage girls has been exposed as a sex offender. The writer is Roald Dahl, on his school, Repton, in the early 1930s. 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Christopher Hitchens Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Eton tells ELLE UK: 'Eton insists that all our pupils treat others with kindness, decency and respect. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Computer equipment taken from his home showed he had recorded online abuse. Location: Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1JP Website: tonbridge-school.co.uk Head: James Priory, since 2018; previously Head at the Portsmouth Grammar School Pupils: 798 boys. Jan 2022 - Present1 year 4 months. WebLady Smith speaking at a preliminary hearing of the inquiry at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last week also said that more than 100 locations where abuse is said to He would rather represent his master as a buffoon than an ogre. My brother never talked much about school in the holidays. I think it's a toxic environment to try to be an upstander rather than be a bystander.'. James Priory, the headmaster of Tonbridge School, reportedly read Moon's open letter and described the alleged behaviour as 'incompatible' with the schools ethos, according to the Times. 'Our PSHEE programme is just one of the ways in which we deliver Relationship and Sex Education at Tonbridge. WebParish & Town Cllr Russell Douglas Tillson (72) appeared at Sevenoaks Magistrates court today Tuesday 22.03.22, and was charged with 5 counts of historical sexual abuse Leaders must seek assurances that external support to check the quality of safeguarding in the school provides an accurate overview of record-keeping and associated follow-up actions.". Webisi.test uses cookies to improve your web experience. TONBRIDGE SCHOOL But Moon says that her concern with private schools, specifically, is that its alumni disproportionately end up in powerful positions even running the country. The blue-eyed boy, small for his age and with rather feminine eyelashes, who is indifferent to sports and happiest in the library is buggered. Young women share their experiences on the platform in the hope to end the stigma of discussing sexual abuse and rape, which many say is rife in schools. -John Smyth, Why Choose Heterosexuality. Kevin Wells, 53, of Bishops Oak Ride, was jailed at .css-5rg4gn{display:block;font-family:NeueHaasUnica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-5rg4gn:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:-0.02em;margin:0.75rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:0.02rem;margin:0.9375rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;margin:0.9375rem 0 0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;}}Naples Is This Year's Coolest City To Visit, How to island hop the stylish way this summer, Priyanka Chopra Talks Sweet Life With Baby Malti, King Charles' Jewels: EYNTK About His Collection, How King's Coronation Will Be Different From Queen, ELLE, PART OF THE HEARST UK FASHION & BEAUTY NETWORK. The recent attention that has been focused on the alleged abuser John Smyth and the subsequent claim by his son, PJ Smyth, that he had no knowledge of the abuse caused me to think of two books I have read, one by Christopher Hitchens, the other by C.S Lewis, in which they spoke of the abuse they encountered while they attended boarding schools in the UK. Kevin Wells, 53, of Bishops Oak Ride, was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to 14 charges. Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. There, sexuality was so feared that the girls were not permitted to see their own bodies: baths were taken in tents made of calico. Decline and Fall features fictions first account of another traditional cast member of the boarding school drama, the predatory Captain Grimes. Website. Best-selling author Jane Green gives some 'brutal love' to a woman with nowhere left to turn, What it's REALLY like being married to a healthy-eating fanatic: Dr Chris van Tulleken banned ready meals, tuts at his wife's favourite Pret sandwich - and then he came for her peanut butter, Is North West going to the Met Gala? I think it was that last point which impressed itself upon me most, and which made me shudder with recognition when I read Audens otherwise overwrought comparison of the English boarding school to a totalitarian regime. Senior MP Rob Halfon today condemned the 'Lord Of The Flies culture' within classrooms, while another, Maria Miller, demanded Ofsted be tasked with leading an independent probe. By the 1920s, no crime, no brutality of those establishments was too much for their customers, or the wider public. The school for 269 pupils aged four to 11, opened in 2017 and is a Church of England School, thus part of the Diocese of Rochester. "He went further than online offending, and met with a very vulnerable and young child, where serious sexual offences took place. Sign up to our daily newsletter for all the latest Kent stories and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox. It is significant that at this time if I woke in the night and did not immediately hear my brothers breathing from the neighboring bed, I often suspected that my father and he had secretly risen while I slept and gone off to America that I was finally abandoned. Kory Daniel Evelyn Waugh portrayed a shambolic prep school in his first novel, modelled on one at which he had taught. He is already a veteran. I half divined then, and seem to see clearly now, what all his whipping boys had in common. The report and rating has been Tonbridge School had a very strong academic program. Something went wrong, please try again later. Yes, I think that must have been it. Read our Harry and his friends may well have been the best advert for private boarding schools since the Duke of Wellington boasted that Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. Heaven knows what hed been through sexually: he himself didnt stoop to fiddling with any of us but if you were occasionally favored, as I occasionally was, you would be given a copy of David Blaize or one of the Jeremy novels and asked if youd care to read it in your free time. Though I didnt have the vocabulary for this in those days, I now know quite a lot about E.F. Benson and Hugh Walpole and I sensed even then that this was the world of the smoldering and yearning and repressed adult homosexual, fixated on his own schooldays and probably most attracted to those who are themselves blithely unaware of the intensity of the attention. In an open letter attached to the dossier, Ms Moon said: 'My experience of a private education has taught me many things.