Father 'fuming mad' after teacher allegedly hits daughter (From Enfield Independent)

Father Wayne Parks 'fuming mad' after Enfield primary school teacher allegedly hits daughter

1:34pm Thursday 9th August 2012 in News By Hermione Wright

A father is “fuming mad” after a teacher allegedly slapped his six-year-old daughter in a classroom.

Wayne Parks, who lives in Beaconsfield Road, received a phone call from the Enfield primary school’s headteacher on the last day of term - Friday, July 20, explaining what had happened two days previously.

According to Mr Parks, a teacher witnessed another teacher slapping his daughter Crystal on the cheek during class, which was subsequently brought to the head’s attention.

The father-of-two, who works as a sub contractor for Thames Water, said: “I just couldn’t believe it, I was just fuming mad when I found out what happened.

“It’s pretty upsetting to know that I basically went to pick her up as normal – you think everything is fine and then you find out that’s happened. Why didn’t they tell me before?”

The 30-year-old, who noticed a small red patch on his daughter’s right cheek following the alleged incident, reported the teacher to the police on Monday, July 23.

The Specialist Child Abuse Investigation Team is investigating the claim of common assault. 

Mr Parks said since the phone call, no one from the school has been in touch with the family, but he believes the teacher has been suspended.

He claimed the school is trying to “brush it off” by claiming it was an accident.

He said his wife Susan is “very upset” about the allegation and the pair of them are relieved to be moving away from the borough next month for his work.

Crystal and her ten-year-old sister Nicola are due to start primary schools in Kent from September.

Although the family were planning to move before Crystal’s issue at school, he is now relieved to leave Enfield after ten years in the borough.

He said: “We don’t want the children going back into the school or any other school in Enfield because of what happened.

“It could have happened at school many times before – maybe to our children, maybe to another child, who knows.

“I’m worried because if nothing comes of this, the person who did it will be allowed back to the school.”

He said he is willing to go to court if the teacher is not prosecuted as he would feel responsible if the alleged assault happened to another child.

A statement released by Enfield Council said: "We can confirm that the police are investigating an allegation of assault against a six year old child at a school in Enfield.

"While we cannot comment on any aspect of the case at this time we are co-operating with the police inquiry and following the London Child Protection Procedures.

"The safety and wellbeing of pupils, staff and visitors to our schools is our main priority and we take allegations of this nature extremely seriously."