37 - Bury College Moves the Goalposts on the Word “Retard”

Bury College has taken radically different positions on the same word depending on who says it.


When a tutor repeated back the word “retard” in class to a student who had said it in conversation, the College declared it to be “offensive,” “derogatory,” “inappropriate,” “bullying,” “harassing,” “alienating,” “hateful,” “unacceptable,” “not used in society,” “a hate crime,” “a disgusting word,” and “linked to a protected characteristic.” 


But when the same word was repeated to the same student by the College’s own Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), Sarah Walton, the very officer tasked with protecting vulnerable learners, the College had no issue at all with it. No investigation. No sanction. No criticism. This was despite the fact that Sarah Walton knew the word had a damaging impact.


The double standard is striking. One member of staff was vilified and ultimately dismissed for repeating the word. The other, the DSL, was fully supported and protected after doing the same thing.


This inconsistency does not just undermine trust in the College’s safeguarding framework, it shows a dangerous willingness to change the goalposts depending on who is under scrutiny. If a word is deemed inherently harmful, then it cannot be harmless simply because management says it.


By holding tutors to one high standard while exempting senior staff from the same rules, Bury College undermines its own credibility. More importantly, it raises a critical question: how can students feel safe in an environment where safeguarding is applied selectively?

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