Caro Miranda sighed and once more her gaze slid to the passing traffic. ‘Like many things,’ she said, ‘when something goes wrong, it goes wrong very, very quickly. First of all, Annie became ill – cancer, God bless her – and of course had to take time out. Davey Fletcher – he was the deputy – stepped up, but as he’d have been the first to say he wasn’t Annie. But he absolutely worked his socks off, bless him.’
She stared at her iced mochaccino. ‘We all knew the school was due an Ofsted, so it came as no particular shock when the call came. I saw the staff the day before, well, the night before. They were all there gone nine o’clock; it was that sort of place. They were all naturally tense, but no one felt they had anything to be especially worried about.’ Her face darkened. Was she aware her fists were suddenly clenching?
‘Then Neville Hilton set foot inside the building. And from the word go, nothing was right.’ Caro Miranda took a deep, deep breath – almost a gasp as if steeling herself for what lay ahead. ‘The first thing was the car parking. Why had a designated space not been set aside for him as lead inspector?’ She looked up. ‘We’re only a small school; there’s only a handful of spaces. Dolly in the office needs one, she’s due a hip replacement and can’t walk all that far. But try explainingthatto him.’
Pat, Liz and Thelma, with their own memories of Neville Hilton, silently nodded.
‘That was only the beginning. I won’t go into all the ins and outs; I get too angry. Suffice to say, for the most part the points he raised were just piffling. It was obvious from the word go that the man had no appreciation for the many, many wonderful things the staff were doing. I honestly don’t think he was capable.’
Caro Miranda paused and seemed suddenly choked on her words. The Reverend Mare laid a supportive hand on her arm. ‘You don’t have to go on,’ said Thelma gently.
‘No.’ Caro Miranda shook off the hand and the comment almost fiercely. ‘No. It’s important people knowexactlywhat that man did to us.’ She took a deep, almost shuddering breath before speaking again in a low, angry voice. ‘The Leadership and Management were judged to be Inadequate, and despite the judgements in the other areas – the wonderful things the school was doing – that’s all anyone took any notice of.’ She shook her head as if unable to believe it, even after all this time. ‘It was the safeguarding the school “failed” on.’ She made bitter inverted commas with her fingers. ‘The local press had an absolute field day … someterribleheadlines they ran.’ Caro Miranda shook her head in disbelief ‘When I read some of the things they said – it’d be laughable if it weren’t all so awful. Annie Golightly, Davey Fletcher – they knew each and every one of those kids and their families inside out and upside down and back to front.Of coursethey took safeguarding seriously!’ Her voice rose again, shaking slightly and again the Reverend Mare put her hand on her arm. Caro took another deep, shuddering breath and continued.
‘Both the days of the inspection were pouring wet,’ she said, ‘so of course the kiddies were indoors with all the issues that brings.’ Pat, Liz and Thelma – three ex-teachers – nodded with deep empathy. ‘But to say behaviour was an issue! Then there was this dance some of them were doing – something some of them had seen online, some game their elder siblings were playing. Andit had become a bit of a craze, this dance.’ Again, the three friends nodded with total understanding. ‘Evidence of sexualised behaviour!That’s what Neville Hilton said. I couldn’t believe it; I laughed out loud when he said that. I said to him that it was total garbage! You know what he said back to me? “I’m sorry and not a little concerned you find it amusing.”’ Liz thought of that awful line in the report:leaders unaware of weakness …
‘What really sunk us was the paperwork.’ Now Caro’s voice was flat and weary. ‘We had a new teacher – Chloe – a local lass, excellent teacher. And there was some error on her paperwork – something that wasn’t in place. And then some of the safeguarding training wasn’t completely up to date … Yes, technically we were in the wrong, but we could have sorted those things within hours …’ She sighed. ‘Looking back, it was a mistake to argue with the man. But he was just so blinkered and unfair! I argued, Davey argued. Davey’s partner even turned up and collared him in the car park. Maybe that made it worse, I don’t know.’
‘I presume you challenged the report?’ said Thelma.
‘For all the good it did.’ Caro Miranda’s voice was bitter. She looked squarely at Pat, Liz and Thelma, eyes now still and strong. ‘That report. That judgement of “Inadequate”. It broke my heart. And it broke the heart of everyone in that school. And then after what happened to poor dear Davey and Annie not coming back – I suppose it was inevitable that the authority should hand the school over to a trust.’
‘HowisAnnie?’ asked Liz concernedly.
Caro shook her head, the grey eyes suddenly awash.
‘Not good,’ she said huskily. Mare placed a warm hand over hers and Liz wordlessly proffered a balsam tissue.
‘You must forgive me,’ said Caro. ‘I just get so upset – seeing somewhere so good destroyed—’
‘The school is closing, I believe?’ said Thelma.
‘Not according to the Angel of the North Academy Trust,’ Caro smiled bitterly. ‘According to them the Pity Infants schoolfamily is being welcomed to the Wearside Community Primary Academy. In other words, yes, it’s closing; will close at the end of this week and all our “family” is being absorbed into some faceless, corporate three-form entry school. The site’s already been acquired by property developers for housing. The bulldozers are all set to move in.’
There was a pause as she blew her nose with a loud, angry honk.
‘Excuse me,’ said Thelma. ‘Can I just ask – you said just nowafter what happened to Davey. I wonder what you mean by that?’
Caro looked at her, her gaze bleak and clear. ‘I thought you knew,’ she said. ‘It was in all the papers. But then, you didn’t know him.’ She paused, clenched her cup. ‘He died,’ she said simply. ‘A car crash, driving over the moors. The day before the report was due out, his car went off the road. He was killed outright. And to my mind, it’s all down to that man Neville Hilton.’
She shook her head again and, suddenly, thirstily drained her iced mochaccino.
‘Evil,’ she pronounced, ‘is not a horned beast. Evil carries a clipboard and is totally secure in its own certainty.’
Chapter Twelve
Tuesday 22nd July
Text sent from Hedley Lodestone Primary Academy to parents:
Because of today’s extreme heat, children are allowed on this one occasion to come in non-uniform. PLEASE REMEMBER SUN HATS!
The white Fiat threaded cautiously in amongst the afternoon traffic on the Durham bypass.
‘I’m still not really sure about this,’ said Liz, frowning through her driving glasses. ‘I mean what are we looking for?’
‘The next roundabout but one,’ said Thelma, frowning down at her phone. ‘Signposted Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor.’
‘I mean,’ said Liz, not without a hint of exasperation, ‘at the school. I just don’t see what’s to be gained by us going there.’
