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Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Gordonstoun uncovers 11 alleged abuse cases

Gordonstoun private school in Moray has uncovered 11 alleged incidents of abuse as well as 82 claims of bullying between pupils, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has heard.

Principal Lisa Kerr spoke of her shock after learning that some ex-pupils had been sexually and physically abused.

She said there had been cases of severe bullying in the 1970s and 1980s.

But she denied that action had not been taken in a bid to protect the school's reputation and financial position.

She told the inquiry that in the 1970s and 1980s there was "a completely unacceptable view that these were just things that happen."

She added: "This will not have been about image, I think it will have been about a lack of awareness of how to keep children safe."

Gordonstoun is one of the UK's most prestigious private schools. It was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh and his three sons. Prince Charles has previously spoken about how he hated his time there and is reported to have described it as "Colditz in kilts."

The inquiry heard that the school had adopted a child protection policy in 1995 and that "significant" disclosures of abuse were made in 2013.

The school subsequently contacted former members of staff and thousands of former pupils and searched its archives.

"What had been reported was so against the founding ethos of compassion that had been at the heart of the school," said Ms Kerr.

"Things have gone wrong along the way but it's the contradiction with that culture that's so distressing."

Gordonstoun was founded in the 1930s by Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist who had been imprisoned for his opposition to the Nazis. One of its first pupils was the Duke of Edinburgh. 

The inquiry was told that Mr Hahn had opposed corporal punishment and the school did not feature other practices common to boarding schools such as "fagging."

Ms Kerr said: "Gordonstoun's reputation by and large has always been inaccurately negative compared to the reality of the school."

The school has previously issued a "sincere and unreserved apology" to anyone who was abused while in its care, while noting that a survey of more than 1,000 former pupils dating back six decades had "unearthed very little unpleasantness."

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