Should Have Been Closed Down Decades Sooner

A Memory of Delamere.

I attended Delamere from 1994-1998. I have to say that Delamere was the worst experience in my life. I hated it. No good memories at all! I was bullied, tormented, abused and molested by other students to the point where it was a fight for survival. I didn't have a single friend at this school.
Steven Lewis was the headmaster until 1997.
If one child was punished he would punish the entire school. Every Saturday the children would go for a walk in the forest, regardless of the weather - rain or storm. He would do bedroom inspections where even a crease in the sheets was unacceptable. I remember him spanking a child with his slipper and another time with his shoe for tantruming. He favored certain children over others and gave them special privileges.
However, he was not that bad compared to Jilli Vegoda, the headmistress who took over in 1997.
Mrs Vegoda would constantly yell and shriek at anyone around her, that even the care staff were afraid of her. She would belittle the children and speak in a cruel and demeaning manner.
She definitely was a control freak too. She took away freedom and choice. Vegoda made the children have assigned seating at meal times, which meant you had to sit at the same table as your bully. You were no longer allowed to bring your own food and drinks from home, so you had no alternatives from the nasty school food. After school you had to do 'set' activities in groups, whether you liked it or not, instead of being able to have play/free time like before. This was Vegoda's attempt at bringing structure to Delamere, but all it did was cause conflict and frustration.
She would make the religious services so long that the children had a hard time standing. It even caused a child to faint on one occasion. As well as forcing the children to take part in religious services, she would also force the non Jewish children to take part.
If a child complained about being picked on or said anything negative about the school Vegoda would blow up on them and accuse them of making it up.
The school was run poorly. Children with learning disabilities were put into the same classes as children with emotional, which is a restrictive environment for the children who did not have learning disabilities. Children in a class were taught the same work, even though each child was at a different academic level. I didn't learn anything in the entire 4 years I was at Delamere.
Children were restrained on the floor, often by two members of staff. The only time a child should be restrained is to prevent them from hurting themselves or others and should only be done using a basket hold. However, Delamere did not follow this and staff were often seen sitting on children's heads.
Children were not given options and were often told no. There was no support offered to the children and there were no counselors on the staff.
The staff were uncaring and inexperienced. They also hadn't received any training to care for children with special needs.
The teachers and staff would turn a blind eye to bullying, which would include; name calling, bruises and even broken bones. Some of the students would sexually abuse the younger children. When the staff found out they always chose to ignore it.
When the staff discovered I was molested, they offered no sympathy and told me I should have left the room (even though another child had barricaded the door).
Whenever I reported bullying they didn't take it seriously and did nothing so it continued.
I remember being forcefully taken from my dorm outside by 2 older kids and beaten. When I came back inside I got into trouble for not being in the dorm. Many times I was bullied in front of teachers but they took no notice.
On one occasion we were told we were being taken on a weekend trip away. The children had to share beds on this trip. I refused and slept on the floor with no blanket.

The staff at Delamere were all local villagers that only took the job as they needed the money and not because they liked children.

My traumatic time at Delamere has caused emotional scarring and other mental health issues. I am alert and hypervigilant from having no 'felt safety' during my time at Delamere.

Like others have posted, I have experienced pain and rejection from my parent sending me to Delamere. My siblings got to stay home whilst I was sent away. Children need their parents, not staff. I was too young to have been sent away and for no good reason. Visits were very traumatic and were followed by tears when I had to say goodbye to my family. Seeing them leave was awful and so was having to go back to the train station after a home visit. Letters would often be smudged by tears.

To sum up about Delamere:
* Lack of discipline and consequences for bullies and children that sexually acted out
* No process for children to complain or express their views
* Poor level of education, especially for children with no learning disabilities
* Badly run stuff, with no therapists or care managers
* Untrained staff with no experience with special needs, trauma or behavioral issues
* Children were not protected or taken care of
* Children's emotional needs were not met
* Children were not listened to
* Staff did not use positive reinforcement
* Children were not given choices
* Children did not feel safe
* Children were made to share bedrooms with children with significant age differences, such as an 8 year old with a 16 year old. Anything more than 4 years should have not been allowed.
* The older children bullied the younger children
* Cheshire is freezing and the children often caught coughs and colds which they were not given any medicine for so I had to suffer.
* The food was bad. Good food was only given when important visitors such as governors visited the school.
* Children were denied drinks and snacks, including water on a hot day
* Children had no privacy, as there were glass windows on each bedroom door
* Mrs Vegoda should not have been allowed to work with children
* Delamere should not have taken in children so young. I don't think Delamere should have been around to begin with, but if it had to be they should only have taken in older kids. I think in general boarding schools should only be for 14-18 year olds (although I am anti boarding schools). Delamere could not give the care or nurture that children need.
* Delamere felt like more of an institution than a school.
* Delamere did nothing to prepare the older children for adulthood and independent living.
* Delamere was isolated in the middle of no where, far away from resources, services, cultural events, medical care and the jewish community
* I'm glad to hear Delamere finally closed down

I thought I'd throw in a couple of positives after writing all this. Every Purim Mr Pink would come to the school from Manchester and give out sweets.
Once a year an elderly governor named Mrs Conway would come and give £5 to the child with the tidiest bedroom. Quite pathetic that I couldn't think of anything else.

Names of children I remember:
Faith Gardie, Alex Goldstone (female), Adam Cole (rumor has it is deceased), Elliot Elaini (expelled for punching and breaking a handicapped kids nose - the ONLY time something was actually done!!), Paula Rudolf, Marlon Fullick, Jeanette Potter, Gabriel Salinger, Benjy Silver, Marc Butcher, Louise Hickson (day pupil), Yossi Kaye (this kid was hilarious). I remember twin girls from Manchester but forgot their names.

Staff - Ms Drinkwater (had a dog named growlpull), Jenny Armstrong, Angela Parrot (quite a character), Ms Bailey, Ms Davies, Ms Williams, Mr Wordell (fired for molesting a female child), Yvonne Wright.

Teachers - Ms Lighthouse, Ms Holmes, Ms Wallace (shouted a lot), Ms Bennett (timid and ignored bullies), Ms Hunt. Mr Jackson was the PE teacher and was always late.