Nicholas Sampson’s contract renewed despite allegations he praised paedophile teacher

The principal of an elite school had his contract renewed despite allegations he allowed an alleged paedophile teacher to remain at a Geelong school he previously helmed, it can be revealed.

Cranbrook School.

The headmaster of elite Cranbrook School had his contract renewed in 2015 just weeks after it emerged he had allowed an alleged paedophile teacher to remain at prestigious Geelong Grammar while he was the principal there, it can be revealed.

Nicholas Sampson’s tenure at Cranbrook was extended for another seven years on condition there were no “significant adverse” findings against him by the child sex abuse commission. His contract did not expand on what would constitute “significant adverse”.

The royal commission accepted that Mr Sampson would have done things differently today but found he should have notified the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

The details have emerged as the school comes under fresh scrutiny with allegations of a bullyboy culture along with the mass resignation of all but one of its school council ahead of going co-ed in 2026.

A Cranbrook spokesman said yesterday that The Daily Telegraph’s “construction of the facts (regarding the royal commission) is unbalanced and one-sided”.

Nicholas Sampson, former headmaster of Geelong Grammar and current head of Cranbrook.

Evidence before the royal commission involving Geelong Grammar had finished in September 2015, three months before Mr Sampson’s contract was extended.

In his evidence to the commission, Mr Sampson said he had not informed police or appropriate teaching authorities in 2004 when told that Geelong maths teacher Jonathan Harvey had abused a pupil at the school during the 1970s, that he had allowed Harvey to remain at the school for another six months and made no record of the real reason for his departure.

Former Geelong Grammar teacher Jonathan Harvey.

The commission also heard that Mr Sampson told Harvey that if he left the allegations would not become a formal complaint, despite mandatory reporting rules being in force at the time. He did only a “cursory” investigation, wrote two glowing letters for him and gave him an extra year’s pay.

One parent has told The Daily Telegraph how he was “amazed” that Cranbrook did not censure Mr Sampson at the time, even without waiting for the royal commission’s findings in 2017.

The royal commission said Mr Sampson should have made a documentary record of the real reason for Harvey’s departure and that his letters to Harvey were “misleading”. No further action was recommended against Mr Sampson.

It rejected Mr Sampson’s submission that the letters were private and found they were kept among the school’s formal records and “had significance beyond an informal private communication between friends or colleagues”.

Cranbrook parents said they were surprised Mr Sampson was not censured at the time.

Mr Sampson wrote to Harvey: “Thank you for your letter … advising me of your decision to retire. I understand the reasons for your decision and would like to thank you for the outstanding service you have offered.”

The commission’s report said council assisting had submitted that by leaving this documentary trail, Mr Sampson failed to “have regard for the interests of the students of any school at which Harvey may teach”. No finding was made about this other than that Mr Sampson should have left a written record.

In an email to Cranbrook parents in September 2015, Mr Sampson said that some of his testimony had been taken out of context “because of the complexity of the situation”.

In 2007, Harvey was jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty to 10 counts of gross indecency committed between 1976 and 1978.

Cranbrook this year extended Mr Sampson’s tenure for another two years.

A Cranbrook spokesman said: “Immediately after the hearings, the school council provided a comprehensive overview to the school community of the key issues.

“At the time of the contract renewal, the proceedings of the royal commission were ongoing. It was for this reason that council reserved its rights to take action if necessary when the findings were released.”