The director of music at one of Scotland’s leading independent schools has been dismissed following a probe into allegations of inappropriate communication with a pupil.
St Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen said it had terminated Peter Parfitt’s contract after completing a “substantial internal investigation”.
Bosses stressed due diligence was carried out when Mr Parfitt was appointed as director of music in 2007. They also confirmed that references, along with satisfactory enhanced disclosure, were obtained from his previous employer.
A spokeswoman for the school said: “At St Margaret’s we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for our pupils, and the school takes any concerns brought to them very seriously.
“After a substantial internal investigation, the director of music, Mr Parfitt, has been dismissed and the relevant regulatory bodies have been informed.
“At St Margaret’s we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of care and teaching, and our absolute priority is the well-being of our pupils.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We were made aware by a school in Aberdeen about the concerning behaviour of a member of staff. The school conducted an internal investigation and officers were kept informed.
“Any information police receive in relation to this will be investigated thoroughly.”
Mr Parfitt was appointed musical director of the Aberdeen Bach Choir (ABC) in 2010. According to its website, he previously held teaching posts in Winchester and positions as director of music at schools in Hampshire, London and East Sussex.
He has also directed a number of choral and operatic societies, and appeared with many others as a soloist.
He is an external examiner for the Oxford and Cambridge examinations board and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Mr Parfitt served for twelve years with HM Royal Naval Reserves, where he specialised in submarine data communications.
The Herald attempted to reach him for comment through the ABC website.
Founded in 1846, St Margaret’s is the oldest all-through girls’ school in Scotland. Its website states that it offers a "supportive and welcoming environment, where we strive to support each girl to achieve her potential in both the curricular and extra-curricular life of the school".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here