‘Dreadful abuse’ of pupils found at military boarding school

Children at a military boarding school in Dunblane were subjected to “dreadful” historic abuse, an inquiry has found.

Lady Smith, chairwoman of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), has published her findings into residential care for children at the Queen Victoria School (QVS).

She said “numerous abusive practices” perpetrated by members of staff and pupils went unchecked over decades – with abuse taking place as recently as 2019.

Lady Smith said: “The pupils at QVS were all boarders and they were exposed to risks of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. For many of them, those risks materialised and children suffered abuse.”

QVS has apologised for the abuse experienced by children who had been entrusted into its care.

The Ministry of Defence said the experiences of past students were “totally unacceptable.”

Lady Smith said that “cruel and terrifying behaviour” by older boys towards junior boys was commonplace in the senior boarding houses.

She added: “A small number of teachers abused children physically and emotionally under the guise of corporal punishment, using belts, slippers, a cricket bat, and heavy wooden dusters, and instilling fear.

“Violence by older boys towards younger boys was endemic.

“It included unofficial punishments by boys in authority, either prefects or monitors, especially up to the 1980s.”

QVS was constituted by a Royal Warrant initiated by Queen Victoria but enacted by her son King Edward VII, who signed it in 1905.

The initial aim was to provide support and education, in a stable boarding environment, for sons of Scottish servicemen of ranks other than officers.

The inquiry noted that oversight and management was carried out by HM Commissioners who were, and are, largely made up of senior military officers of the services of which pupils’ parents are members.

Lady Smith said: “It was mistakenly assumed the background and governance of the school would be enough to provide appropriate residential care.

“Throughout many decades, particularly the late 1950s to the early 1990s, that assumption was ill-founded, and, in fact, children for whose care the school was responsible were abused.”

Lady Smith said that abuse by older pupils included tying boys to chairs, putting bags over their heads, and, in one case, threatening to throw a child down a lift shaft.

She noted that a concerned teacher wrote to the press in 1991 to expose his “genuine anxieties” about bullying and violence.

His actions contributed to improvements in child protection being achieved.

In 2010 the Directorate Children and Young People (DCYP) was formed and assumed responsibility for QVS.

The head was responsible for school leadership and safeguarding of the pupils – however abuse continued beyond this point.

The inquiry said the current management of QVS, HM Commissioners, and the MOD now understand that there is “no room for complacency, given the abuse that has taken place since 2010, despite the child protection systems and policies that were put in place.”

Lady Smith said: “I have no difficulty in finding that children were abused by staff whose abusive practices were such that they must ­or at least ought to have been obvious to those in positions of responsibility.

“Further, they were abused by senior and other pupils, some of whose practices must or ought to have been obvious.”

She said that factors that enabled abuse to happen included inadequate management and oversight, not enough staff, and “undue adherence to a robust military culture”.

The inquiry noted that two teachers also sexually abused pupils, in different decades.

Ben Philip, a teacher at QVS between 1973 and 1993, groomed and then abused multiple P6 boys.

The inquiry said that his behaviour and use of innuendo was well known throughout QVS, yet the school took no action.

James Clark, a drumming instructor, abused seven female pupils between 2011 and 2019, including indecent assaults.

The inquiry said: “When his conduct became known about, it stunned QVS; a system for child protection had, by that time, supposedly been established.

“The existence of the system did not prevent the occurrence of significant abuse, nor did it give rise to the abuse being promptly detected.”

An MOD spokesperson said: “We have worked extensively with the inquiry and the school is committed to ensuring this never happens again.

“The school has multiple ways for students and staff to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, so that pupils are confident they are studying in an environment of transparency and trust.”