Councillors speak out about safeguarding following murder of Sara Sharif

The 10-year-old had been subjected to physical abuse for at least two years before she was found dead at the family home last year.

Councillor Nigel Yates highlighted the “very sad case” at Thursday’s full Staffordshire County Council meeting, where information on future commissioning of alternative provision for children and young people was included in the Leader’s Statement. Alternative provision is education provided away from a normal school setting and can be on a short or long-term basis.

Councillor Yates said: “You had a child who presented herself at school with obvious injuries – and as a result of the preliminary investigations the parent decided to take that child out of school and home-school, with disastrous consequences. I want to reiterate the importance of making sure there is an absolutely holistic approach, that when there are difficult decisions to be made about schooling, whether it be the provision of homeschooling or alternative schooling, where there is a break in potential continuity, we have systems in place to ensure that tragedies do not happen at all.”

Councillor Jonathan Price, cabinet member for education and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) responded: “You are absolutely right to raise that. I was extremely horrified when I saw that on the news.

“Our elective home education team are extremely good. We have a register of those children we feel may be potentially vulnerable at home and we also have educational welfare officers who go out to make sure that education is in place.”

A report to a recent cabinet meeting stated that during the 2023/24 academic year, there were 455 pupils in Staffordshire being educated in a setting other than school. The most common reason was because of health, but there were also pupils who had been permanently excluded from school, children without an appropriate school place or lack of other specialist provision.

Council leader Alan White also spoke to condemn the actions that led to Sara Sharif’s murder. He added: “We have inspections for home-educated children and the lists of vulnerable children to make sure we are on top of that.

“These cases are always tremendously difficult. It is a sad fact that all of us can recite a roll-call of children who tragically died at the hands of parents and carers who should have been charged with ensuring their very best outcomes in life and instead chose to take a life – often in an extremely cruel way.

“Names that spring to mind include Victoria Climbie, Baby P and others who I could list ad infinitum sadly. We will always in this county do our level best to ensure these sorts of cases never arise.

“But you cannot underestimate the malevolence of some individuals and the spite they hold towards their very own children. Therefore we cannot give guarantees – all we can do is try our best and we will continue to do so.”

Staffordshire councillors have said that measures are in place to safeguard children who have been taken out of school – the day after the father and stepmother of Sara Sharif were found guilty of her murder.

The 10-year-old had been subjected to physical abuse for at least two years before she was found dead at the family home last year.

Councillor Nigel Yates highlighted the “very sad case” at Thursday’s full Staffordshire County Council meeting, where information on future commissioning of alternative provision for children and young people was included in the Leader’s Statement. Alternative provision is education provided away from a normal school setting and can be on a short or long-term basis.

Councillor Yates said: “You had a child who presented herself at school with obvious injuries – and as a result of the preliminary investigations the parent decided to take that child out of school and home-school, with disastrous consequences. I want to reiterate the importance of making sure there is an absolutely holistic approach, that when there are difficult decisions to be made about schooling, whether it be the provision of homeschooling or alternative schooling, where there is a break in potential continuity, we have systems in place to ensure that tragedies do not happen at all.”

Councillor Jonathan Price, cabinet member for education and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) responded: “You are absolutely right to raise that. I was extremely horrified when I saw that on the news.

“Our elective home education team are extremely good. We have a register of those children we feel may be potentially vulnerable at home and we also have educational welfare officers who go out to make sure that education is in place.”

A report to a recent cabinet meeting stated that during the 2023/24 academic year, there were 455 pupils in Staffordshire being educated in a setting other than school. The most common reason was because of health, but there were also pupils who had been permanently excluded from school, children without an appropriate school place or lack of other specialist provision.

Council leader Alan White also spoke to condemn the actions that led to Sara Sharif’s murder. He added: “We have inspections for home-educated children and the lists of vulnerable children to make sure we are on top of that.

“These cases are always tremendously difficult. It is a sad fact that all of us can recite a roll-call of children who tragically died at the hands of parents and carers who should have been charged with ensuring their very best outcomes in life and instead chose to take a life – often in an extremely cruel way.

“Names that spring to mind include Victoria Climbie, Baby P and others who I could list ad infinitum sadly. We will always in this county do our level best to ensure these sorts of cases never arise.

“But you cannot underestimate the malevolence of some individuals and the spite they hold towards their very own children. Therefore we cannot give guarantees – all we can do is try our best and we will continue to do so.”

Staffordshire councillors have said that measures are in place to safeguard children who have been taken out of school – the day after the father and stepmother of Sara Sharif were found guilty of her murder.

The 10-year-old had been subjected to physical abuse for at least two years before she was found dead at the family home last year.

Councillor Nigel Yates highlighted the “very sad case” at Thursday’s full Staffordshire County Council meeting, where information on future commissioning of alternative provision for children and young people was included in the Leader’s Statement. Alternative provision is education provided away from a normal school setting and can be on a short or long-term basis.

Councillor Yates said: “You had a child who presented herself at school with obvious injuries – and as a result of the preliminary investigations the parent decided to take that child out of school and home-school, with disastrous consequences. I want to reiterate the importance of making sure there is an absolutely holistic approach, that when there are difficult decisions to be made about schooling, whether it be the provision of homeschooling or alternative schooling, where there is a break in potential continuity, we have systems in place to ensure that tragedies do not happen at all.”

Councillor Jonathan Price, cabinet member for education and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) responded: “You are absolutely right to raise that. I was extremely horrified when I saw that on the news.

“Our elective home education team are extremely good. We have a register of those children we feel may be potentially vulnerable at home and we also have educational welfare officers who go out to make sure that education is in place.”

A report to a recent cabinet meeting stated that during the 2023/24 academic year, there were 455 pupils in Staffordshire being educated in a setting other than school. The most common reason was because of health, but there were also pupils who had been permanently excluded from school, children without an appropriate school place or lack of other specialist provision.

Council leader Alan White also spoke to condemn the actions that led to Sara Sharif’s murder. He added: “We have inspections for home-educated children and the lists of vulnerable children to make sure we are on top of that.

“These cases are always tremendously difficult. It is a sad fact that all of us can recite a roll-call of children who tragically died at the hands of parents and carers who should have been charged with ensuring their very best outcomes in life and instead chose to take a life – often in an extremely cruel way.

“Names that spring to mind include Victoria Climbie, Baby P and others who I could list ad infinitum sadly. We will always in this county do our level best to ensure these sorts of cases never arise.

“But you cannot underestimate the malevolence of some individuals and the spite they hold towards their very own children. Therefore we cannot give guarantees – all we can do is try our best and we will continue to do so.”