SES Forums

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Shout, I suppose this is a site for making allegations against people, but I think you need to be more careful before throwing around allegations of sexual misconduct. Sexual abuse against children is one of the most abhorrent activities, and therefore making public accusations against named individuals requires particular caution.

You should be more careful still when you make them against persons who were not directly part of the school, like the last name you mention (who I am avoiding naming in case Mike Gormez decides it should be censored for any reason). If your suggestions are "vague and unreliable" then perhaps you should avoid making them in the first place.

For my own part, after spending my entire primary and secondary education at St James I never once heard any negative comment about the last person you mention.

Shout, about your last point. It would perhaps be better to ask such a question in a seperate post, lest you put the Father in the same category as the other two. I concure with Daffy that one has be careful with allegations you can not backup for more than one reason (ethics and lawyers are two) but I feel it should be possible to ask a honest question about a person.

So I'd ask you to edit your posting and just use two posts to be safe. Also when you plan on writting a many posts which are not follow-ups could you put them in one thread?

Anyway, welcome aboard!

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Shout has contacted me by private message and he's going to edit his comments in paragraph 3.

In case anyone else isn't aware, you can edit your posts by clicking on the 'Edit' button at the top right of the post you want to change. You can, of course, only edit your own posts (unless you are Mike Gormez, the operator and moderator of this board). When editing a previous post, it is usual to indicate that you have done so, and why - otherwise people who are new to the discussion will not understand it. For instance: "3. [EDIT: I've deleted this paragraph - see below]"

Regarding Broadwith, after all this time I only have a vague memory of him, but do recall he was very quick to anger, and sometimes violence. It is indeed worrying that he is now a headmaster of a similar school to St James (http://www.ficino.school.nz/headmaster.htm). I hope New Zealand's laws relating to school discipline are less tolerant then those of the UK in the 70s and 80s.

Guttman must have joined after the mid-80s when I left, because I have not heard of him before.

Hi Daffy,
In case you hadn't noticed I have sent you a 'PM'.
Hope to hear from you,
Matthew

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St. james does have a history of allowing unethical relations between male staff and 6th form girls, and they will go down for that.

Which IS child sexual abuse, even IF the girls were over the age of consent!

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Sorry, Mark Broadwith not vindictive?!!! The man was awful. He had such a set mindset about the kind of person you should be and if you failed to conform he bullied pupils horribly.

For my sins I was/am fairly quiet and shy so what did that future headmaster do? Humiliation techniques. For several days whenever a teacher asked a question I had to be the first to answer. Which, guess what, just made me angry (still am BTW) and had absolutely sod all impact. I was not the only one he tried such tricks on.

I know others have talked about this (this is my first post) but the subtle almost mental abuse at St James is arguably its worst part. The idea you had to be this particular kind of person was so stupid. Surely good teachers encourage kids to be themselves.

You can't escape the ingrained violence among staff too. I remember getting shoved round a rugby field by teachers more times than I care to remember.

There we go, I feel better now!

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Shout wrote:Debenham took a shine to me perhaps because of my religious and military tendencies -(thankfully long gone). I think he sought a headmastership as a situation where he could be an imitation monarch. I remember the end of one assembly when I was 11. The 150+ boys of the school had not risen with enough speed or synchronicity for him to feel respected. He ordered us to sit-down, stand-up, sit-down, stand-up several times until I became dizzy and blind, and was led out.

This is exactly the kind of thing I remember from Debs.

My memories of Gutmann were:

* He joined St J very suddenly after the Secret Cult publicity and was the only non-SES teacher the time.

* He was very friendly with the class and let us get away with murder most of the time.

* He regularly invited my entire class (we were 14 or 15 at the time) to the flat he lived alone in in North London.

* I never went along because I instinctively distrusted him but I am told that he served alcohol to the boys at these parties.

* He arranged a trip to Germany with the class. Again I didn't go.

* He left the school very suddenly and without explanation.

I have heard rumours like many other people but I have no knowledge of any actual facts.

Incidentally, as I recall Gutmann was a barrister. So I suggest people are very careful.