Shoesmith

It may be a surprise, however, to anyone who had been led to believe by the reports of the Sun newspaper or the actions of former children's secretary Ed Balls that the blame for the tragedy lay solely at the feet of hapless social workers and the sacked former Haringey children's director, Sharon Shoesmith.

The Baby P case has been treated dismally by politicians Patrick Butler 2010

Here are a couple more local stories from the Herald, about Shoesmith and Reavis schools which describe as LSCs consistently performing extensive searches and looking for the best fit for the school, even in cases where an internal candidate is heavily promoted.

Julie Woestehoff: Education "Reformers" Next Target? "One-Size-Fits-All" Democracy Julie Woestehoff 2011

What's curious is that the first SCR, written under the auspices of Shoesmith, comes to the same conclusion about the culpability of the various Haringey safeguarding agencies, from Great Ormond Street hospital to the Metropolitan police.

The Baby P case has been treated dismally by politicians Patrick Butler 2010

Balls's clumsy handling of the case, and the botched sacking of Shoesmith, created a spectacular (and avoidable) ongoing crisis in children's social care that has seen thousands of children taken into care and cost hundreds of millions of pounds, with no discernible evidence that at-risk children are any safer or better off.

The Baby P case has been treated dismally by politicians Patrick Butler 2010

Shoesmith, who may return to the courts soon to appeal her dismissal, famously declared in a Guardian interview that the actions of Balls had created "a local tragedy and a national catastrophe".

The Baby P case has been treated dismally by politicians Patrick Butler 2010

Here are a couple more local stories from the Herald, about Shoesmith and Reavis schools which describe as LSCs consistently performing extensive searches and looking for the best fit for the school, even in cases where an internal candidate is heavily promoted.

Julie Woestehoff: Education "Reformers" Next Target? "One-Size-Fits-All" Democracy Julie Woestehoff 2011

MPs grill Ofsted head on ‘glowing report’ it gave Shoesmith

Our Former Leaders – Smith, Blears and McNulty. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009

Senior officers should realise that misinformation and trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes is not acceptable either to the public or junior officers and hiding behind statistics to excuse failure is not on IE doing a “Shoesmith”

You Have Mistaken Me For Someone Else « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009

Here are a couple more local stories from the Herald, about Shoesmith and Reavis schools which describe as LSCs consistently performing extensive searches and looking for the best fit for the school, even in cases where an internal candidate is heavily promoted.

Julie Woestehoff: Education "Reformers" Next Target? "One-Size-Fits-All" Democracy Julie Woestehoff 2011

It is easy to suspect that Balls was anxious to justify his sacking of Shoesmith, and distract attention from difficulties with Labour's child protection reforms, which were supposed to prevent the very inter-agency failings that the SCR described.

The Baby P case has been treated dismally by politicians Patrick Butler 2010