Cademuir International School

Cademuir International School was the project of Robert and Anne Mulvey. set up at the start of the 1990's, the school was created with the purpose of exploiting already vulnerable children in order to profit financially. Children were appaulingly mistreated, and every Her Majesty's Inspectorate report highlighted serious concerns about student welfare.

The mistreatment taking place consisted of numerous instances of psychological and physical abuse, leaving a string of dissaffected former pupils, the school having one of the highest turnover rates of any schools in the country, as pupils realised the nature of their enviroment. some examples of abuse include, but are in no way limited to, physical assault by staff members, sexual student teacher relations, extreme psychological abuse over long periods of time, arbitrary summary punishments, and the covering up and even encouragment of numerous instances of psychological, physical and sexual abuse between pupils.

Due to serious and prolonged fraudulent financial mismanagment, the school has now, to the relief of many concerned, been forced to close recently (September 2006). Its roll had dropped from 100 pupils to only 34 at the time of its closure. This is a time for much celebration, as although nothing can take away the damage inflicted on many of their victims, whose lives have been permanantly affected by their crimes, the Mulvey family are, hopefully, at last now prevented from harming any more young children, and that is something we can all be grateful for.

External links

• Cademuir International School website

Here is a direct extract from two articles in "The Mail on Sunday" concerning the school:

Title: police probe cruelty claim at schools for gifted pupils. Date: 6/3/2001; Publication: The Mail on Sunday (London, England) Byline: MARK AITKEN

IT opened to a huge fanfair ten years ago as Britain's first centre of excellence for gifted children. Overlooking the Maxweltown Braes, the school for youngsters with special talents offers a 'specially-tailored and flexible' education for its pupils. But now Cademuir International School, which promises 'sound specialist teaching in a happy and secure environment' is at the centre of allegations of cruelty to children. Practices adopted by staff at the [pound]12,000a-year school are being investigated by police, social work officials and school inspectors. The investigation follows a damning report by HM Inspectorate of Schools highlighting a number of deficiencies in the care of the school's pupils. The school, based at Moniaive, Dumfriesshire, has also suffered below-average exam results for independent schools and its most recent financial performance - for 1999 - shows a profit after tax of just [pound]1,000. Officials from HM Inspectorate spent the last week at Cademuir after accusations by parents and former members of staff. They went to the school after visits from police and social workers acting on the same information. The new investigation comes after the school was criticised last year by Scotland's Chief Inspector of Schools, Archie McGlynn. In his report, he said the turnover of staff in the school was too high and that staff and pupils were unsure of the procedure for reporting child abuse. At the time, school principal Robert Mulvey accused Mr McGlynn of being 'alarmist'. Yesterday he declined to discuss the latest visit by HMI officials. There are currently 81 pupils aged from three to 17 at the school, which attracts children from all over Europe. Social workers and the police have received a number of complaints over the past four years about the treatment of pupils. In one alleged incident, a boy who cut his wrists was not given immediate medical treatment. It is claimed another boy was allegedly forced to put his soiled underwear on his head. HMI officials have made several visits to the school in the past month as part of an inspection. A spokesman for HM Inspectorate of Schools said: 'A report will be published in due course.' The visit was made after a meeting between the HMI, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the police. A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Council said: 'Officials agreed to an inspection to satisfy themselves regarding arrangements to safeguard the welfare of children at the school.' Cademuir's exam results have been branded 'a disgrace'. About 31 per cent of its fourth-year pupils gained five or more Standard grades in 1999, compared with 98 per cent of pupils at George Watson's College, Edinburgh.

Title: Cruelty probe at 'genius' school. Date: 1/7/2001; Publication: Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) Byline: RUSSELL FINDLAY EXCLUSIVE

STAFF at Scotland's only school for gifted children have been accused of cruelty to their pupils. The exclusive Cademuir International School has been probed by police and social workers after accusations by parents of ex-pupils and former staff members. Now, HM Inspectorate of Schools is being sent a report from Dumfries and Galloway Council's social work department into the £12,000-a-year boarding school at Moniaive. Nicknamed the "school for superbrains", it was opened 10 years ago by headteacher Robert Mulvey. But it was criticised last year by the Chief Inspector of Schools over high staff turnover and a failure to deal properly with troubled pupils. And social workers and police have received a string ofcomplaints in the last four years. In one alleged incident, a boy who had cut his wrists was not given immediate medical treatment. Another boy was allegedly forced to put his soiled underwear on his head and paraded from class to class. One council insider revealed: "It was claimed that a child was held down and force-fed medicine." One police source said: "We investigated many allegations but they were not of a criminal nature." Cademuir attracts kids, aged three to 17, who either have high intelligence or learning difficulties, from across Europe Last night, Mr Mulvey said: "There is a vendetta going on here."