Royal Commission : Cranbrook Parents Fear for Principal

By Eryk Bagshaw
Sydney Morning Herald
September 11, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/royal-commission-cranbrook-parents-fear-for-principal-20150910-gjk3le.html

Parents and students at Sydney school Cranbrook fear that the career of their headmaster may be over after damaging revelations at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Cranbrook headmaster Nicholas Sampson: wrote to parents. Photo: Craig Sillitoe

On Thursday the school's headmaster, Nicholas Sampson, admitted he paid a teacher at his former institution, Geelong Grammar, to retire early to avoid any formal complaints of child sex abuse being made against him.

The commission also heard that Mr Sampson allowed the teacher, Jonathan Harvey, to remain at the school teaching maths for a further six months after the allegations were raised and that he failed to report the matter to Victorian Police and the Victorian Institute of Teachers.

After he suggested Harvey retire, Mr Sampson wrote handwritten notes to him praising his "outstanding service" and for his "friendship and kindness towards my family", before authorising a payment of $64,348 for an extra year in which he did not work.

Cranbrook College in Sydney. Photo: Danielle Smith

Harvey was jailed in 2007 for 10 months, with a further 22 months suspended, after pleading guilty to abusing a former student known as BLF between 1976 and 1978.

Mr Sampson told the commission that his response "was just not good enough" but that he acted in the best interests of the victim at the time.

A parent at the Bellevue Hill school said that the school's reputation had been tarnished through the ordeal.

"It's such a shame seeing Cranbrook being dragged through the mud for something that happened at another school so long ago," said a mother of a child in year 9, who asked not to be named.

"It could be all over [for Mr Sampson]," said a father of a student in year 11.

Students at the school were divided. One year 9 student said he would be very upset to see Mr Sampson leave.

"He's a very good headmaster," he said, while another group of boys in year 10 were unequivocal, stating "he's got to go."

Another father of a child year 10 criticised the schools handling of the situation. "It has been very poor, we only know what's going on through news reports," he said,

A statement from the school's president, Helen Nugent, said that the school would communicate with parents as soon as possible.

"As you will appreciate, the hearing is continuing and under those circumstances we are unable to comment at this stage."

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, has put his support behind the beleaguered headmaster.

"The Anglican Church has full confidence in the leadership of Mr Sampson as headmaster of Cranbrook School," he said in a statement.

The church, which controls two seats on the school council, had earlier indicated it was "disappointed in his evidence" given at the commission in Melbourne on Thursday.

A career educator, Mr Sampson has been the headmaster at both Geelong Grammar in Victoria and at Marlborough, a co-ed boarding school in the UK, before taking up his position at Cranbrook in 2012.

Cranbrook is due to make a formal statement to parents next week.