Exclusive: Teacher at troubled Yorkshire high school arrested in sex offences investigation

Robert Harrison, who works at the troubled Endeavour High School in Hull, is on police bail after his arrest earlier this year.

Neither Humberside Police nor Hull Council would comment on the nature of the alleged offences and whether they involved a child, either at the school or outside.

Mr Harrison, who was an associate headteacher at Endeavour, declined to comment, only responding: "I've got nothing to say on that."

It is understood he is no longer an associate headteacher although the loss of position is believed to be unrelated to the arrest. He remains head of humanities at Endeavour, although it is understood he is suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry.

Endeavour headteacher Chris Straker declined to comment.

A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "A 46-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday January 20. He has been released on police bail, pending further enquiries, to a date in March. He was arrested in relation to alleged sexual offences. At this stage it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Chair of the Hull Safeguarding Children Board Nigel Richardson said: "The Hull Safeguarding Children Board takes any allegations very seriously and the relevant agencies work together to investigate the situation.

"Current national guidance states that we cannot comment on any individual case while such enquiries are under way."

Mr Harrison has also been the subject of a complaint about alleged bullying of a child at the school, which has been reported to the Hull Safeguarding Children Board.

Endeavour was seen as a flagship development when it was opened nine years ago after being built at a cost of 15m.

But the Beverley Road school is in special measures for the second time and education chiefs in the city recently had to admit it had effectively been built in the wrong place.

It currently has 685 pupils on the roll, with a capacity for 1,200, and plans for a new school in West Hull means Endeavour is likely to close.

The school went into special measures in March 2004 before coming off the blacklist in December 2005.

It was plunged back into special measures in June last year, although an inspection in December deemed it was making satisfactory progress.

Endeavour has a challenging intake with more than one-in- five of its pupils speaking English as a second language.

Its academic record ranked among the worst in the country when the latest GCSE results were recorded. Only 26 per cent of pupils gained the Government's benchmark five passes at A* to C including English and maths.