Whistleblowing in the wind...

Today is a struggle. I have had issues with anxiety most of my life. I cannot and am not attributing this struggle to one single person. However, one single person made it a lot worse.

Whilst working for her my dosage of antidepressants was trebled. And then, as I may have mentioned before (sorry), I had the nervous breakdown. I have suffered from PTSD since the episode and had two sessions of counselling. I am about to start my third.

Whilst I am definitely healing, I still have the odd panic attack and/or down days - like this weekend.

It’s the total lack of accountability. It’s the closing of ranks (leadership team, board of governors, council). It’s the unfairness. It’s the huge amount of energy spent on trying to get justice. It’s the slurs and slander.

In June 2021, nearly a year after I left, and after many weeks of preparation, I informed the head of the board of governors that a large group of us were ready to officially blow the whistle. The reason for the delay was that there was a fear that friends who were still at the school may face reprisals. Our message was acknowledged. Then nothing. For weeks.

It was only after chasing and contacting the Council several times that I was informed that the governing body had handed over duties to the Council as they deemed they were being criticised. We were never informed directly of this decision. The Council then surprisingly requested a list of all those who intended to bear witness in the whistleblowing. Surprising may not be strong enough a word considering the Council were representing the school. Unethical, ill thought out, unprofessional are probably more fitting. Particularly as certain participants wanted to remain anonymous.

This all paled into insignificance when I was called into the office of my current (and beloved) head at the end of June. She was put in the awkward position of having to tell me that I could not lead -or even go to- our Year 6 residential trip. An allegation had been made by a pupil I had taught at my previous school a fair few years back. Thankfully, this allegation was judged to be unsubstantiated but I was only informed over 10 weeks later, when such cases are supposed to be dealt with within 2 weeks. The whole thing spoilt the end of a very successful year at my current school and cast a shadow over my family’s summer despite knowing I had done nothing wrong.

Could the timing of such an allegation have just been a horrible coincidence? There is a broad consensus amongst respected ex and current colleagues, not to mention family and friends that this is highly doubtful. Just because you’re paranoid… I even put forth this question to the council. They have yet to get back to me. The person who dealt with the case could not be contacted throughout the summer and now has apparently left their position. How very convenient...

In September 2021, I was finally given the details of the mediator who was to oversee the whistleblowing and called them, they said they had been expecting my call for weeks. They looked into the case and eventually concluded that such a case was not in the public interest. Five breakdowns, over 30 staff gone, toxic culture, etc. Not in the public interest.

But I will not give up  

In the meantime, I have been for a run. My children are bouncing on a trampoline in the sun at their grandparents. I’m lying in the garden listening to lovely music. And feel a lot better. So it isn’t all bad.

Advice to union friends

Upon leaving, I also sent a goodbye message as union rep on our school's union WhatsApp group - with a few words of advice. It is a position I had taken very seriously. I was proud to represent and stand up for my fellow union members. 

It was then leaked to the leadership team, and shared with the council. Not entirely sure why. I think it is all fair enough. Maybe the profanity at the end.  I'll let you decide for yourselves.
 

I still do not know who leaked it. As far as I am concerned, it is not the action of a genuine union member and goes completely against ethics and general decency. And why it was it then shared by the head? It can only be construed as pettiness - surely? 

Oh, and I really do think laminating sucks donkey schlong...

Letter to the governors - July 2020

Here is the letter I sent to the Board of Governors upon leaving. It was acknowledged but ultimately ignored. There has certainly never been any sign that the head was held to account by the governing body - as is its responsibility. 

The DfE stipulates that governing bodies should be fully aware of their responsibilities when it comes to their staff – in relation to both employment law and equalities legislation – and also of the fact that those responsibilities are subject to scrutiny through employment law procedures. This is not the experience I have had.

________________________ 

Dear Governors,

I write to you as a teacher who has spent seven years teaching at [the school], and who feels privileged to have educated the hundreds of children who have passed through my care in this period.  I’m proud to have helped (...) children to achieve some wonderful results. As a Year 6 teacher, I helped the school to reach its current position of 15th overall for SATs results, including 2nd for Reading, in the whole borough. These results were achieved by working collaboratively with a skilled and professional teaching and support team.

The reason I’m writing is because of the substantial deterioration in the day-to-day experience of being part of the staff at [the school]. I feel that the school is now such a negative and discouraging environment to be involved with. This view is also shared by many staff.

I’m truly saddened to be leaving [the  school] but I feel I have little other option:  the past two years have without doubt been the most challenging years in my professional life. The direction the school has taken under the leadership of the current head, at hectic and unheeding speed, has caused both me and many of my colleagues a lot of concern, and indeed pain.

There have been immense and negative changes to the school culture. The staff had been assured that the new head would respect the culture that had (been) built over the years: where the staff were consulted, and felt trusted; and where a community spirit was central to our shared values and ethos. I knew a new head would seek to bring change and I welcomed new thinking, but I feel that [the head] has focused on comprehensive reform for its own sake, and it’s been quite hard to discern the reasons for many of these relentless changes and the benefits they are presumably intended to bring the school. I believe [the head] genuinely lacks the expertise necessary to give broader understanding of the bigger picture. The school does have a function and a worth beyond its Ofsted rating. I deeply regret that I just do not feel [the head] really considers children’s individual experiences; this is a devastating view to have of a head teacher, and you will think me unusually blunt, but I have formed this view because of what I have experienced day after day.

The current management style is also a huge issue and in my view it is particularly poor. Surely good leadership doesn’t seek to endlessly impose change, but instead to bring teams on board at every stage, knowing that always seeking the best outcome for the children is an aim the whole staff will share. Across the school staff each different perspective will bring an important contribution into play, but there is no sense from [the head] that she considers views different to hers may have value. She cannot work in a collegiate way as she is clearly uncomfortable with any kind of divergence to her own views, to the extent that she is frequently antagonistic and hostile to staff in both group and individual meetings, with a noticeable lack of consistency when it comes to managing staff and a lack of interest in building consensus. An example would be the early retirement taken soon into [the head]’s tenure by the cleaning staff who could not work with her management style. The four team members in question had worked at the school for many years and were appreciated across the school staff community, but [the head] deemed their views and concerns insignificant.

The narrative we, the staff, have been given by [the head] is that the school was failing before she assumed the headship in 2018, and that she, herself, has turned the school around. In October 2019 she told an all-staff briefing that [the school] had been a school ‘requiring improvement.’ You will know that 2019’s report rated [the school] as ‘good’; ‘good’ was also the verdict of the 2014 Ofsted report, and indeed the 2009 report before that. My overwhelming sense is that [the head] does not recognise the need to be reflective, or the need to bring others along with her, but has a desire to ‘be’ the change.

We have seen the union have been especially important in recent months. They are trusted by school communities to help find a way to reopen schools that best protects children, staff and the community. [The head] clearly distrusts the teaching unions and is dismissive about the value of having their representation within school. I feel this element strengthens collaboration and engagement and draws on shared values and aims, but my readiness to speak up as a union representative for the NEU and through union activity attracted only pressure from [the head] which contributed to my breakdown at the start of November 2019. In fact, the NEU has advised me and my other union representatives that [the head]’s treatment of us over the last year provides grounds for raising a grievance and/or presenting a group action for bullying. (I would be happy to provide further details of any of this.) I also fear the pressure exerted on union reps in the last year may have had the outcome (likely desired by [the head]) that people will be less willing to voice their views because they see the impact of this work on their colleagues.

My breakdown resulted from an intense ramping up of pressure and scrutiny from [the head]. I was subjected to sustained criticism of my teaching and subject leadership. After several other visiting head teachers sat in on a lesson at extremely short notice – having visiting teams join a class is something I have often been asked to do in my career and something I have no problem with - [the head] sent me a lengthy hostile email which described the many different ways she felt my lesson had been poor, as well as reproving me for my failure to follow the school policy correctly with regard to presentation, marking, layout of the classroom. I had been subjected to intense criticism over previous weeks and I understand now that this aggressive tactic on [the head]’s part was aimed to shock, which it did: it triggered my breakdown. This was despite my telling both her and other senior team members a couple of weeks beforehand that I had been experiencing high levels of depression and anxiety because of her hostility. [The head] clearly understood this because she had offered me time off work. Following my breakdown, I had an occupational health assessment which judged my stress to be entirely work-related.

[The head] has since said things that are untrue: she has said that she hadn’t known about my depression and anxiety, that my breakdown was caused by stress outside work, and that I had been struggling to be an effective teacher to the extent that she had assessed me as needing a support plan - the occupational health assessor said that [the head] had told her I had been on such a support plan for some time. When I asked [the head] about this, she said the assessor had misunderstood her and she had not said it, but it’s clear that her intention was to position me as a failing teacher. I find it unacceptable that a head teacher would attempt to smear and bully her teachers like this. 

My previous union co-representative has also suffered a great deal this year with mental health issues as a consequence of the way she has been treated, most recently regarding attempts to force through unwished for changes to her permanent contract – about which the NEU has told [the head] that she is risking legal action if she persists. Moreover, my current co-representative for the NEU has also most-likely been victimised directly by [the head]. In his case, disciplinary action was taken after he attempted to share a letter with the governing body that detailed the concerns of [the school]’s NEU members, both about my breakdown and also staff wellbeing in general. (Whether the Governors saw this letter I cannot say, but no response was received.)

Feeling that everyone at the school was personally invested in what the school can achieve was something that originally drew me to working at [the school], as it did others. But now, there is little trust in staff or respect shown for their expertise. What is especially sad is that staff had been told during an INSET in September 2019 that we now had the opportunity to take risks and to ‘throw cards into the air’. Nothing could actually have been further from the truth. In fact, the way things have been done at [the school] has become progressively more rigid, with teachers less trusted and given less autonomy, and with the head seemingly beyond accountability.

As a result, and from any perspective, turnover of staff over the last two years has been unusually high: close to twenty members of staff have left (eight of these have been teachers). While each case is of course an individual one, they have in common much unhappiness over how that team member has been treated by the head teacher, and concern about the changes that have been instigated at [the school]. This turnover is both extreme and illustrative of the impact of the current culture of the school.

I was so lucky to have found a new post very early in spring; if 2020 had been in any way a typical year I’m absolutely certain that other staff would have already secured new opportunities for September. Many feel [the school] simply isn’t a rewarding place to work anymore.  Like the teachers who have already left, I cannot work for a head teacher who does not share similar values and who does not value and support their team. Beyond the teaching staff, I’d describe important relationships across the school - with the children, their parents and carers, and with the wider school team - as disconnected, showing just how different the school has become in such a short time. 

Leaving [the school] with a letter like this is extremely sad. I opened by describing my experience of teaching at the school as a pleasure, which is true: I have taught some wonderful children and have also made great friendships with colleagues. But not sharing my concerns about the leadership in place at [the school] over the last two years would be remiss because I care deeply about the school. As I have mentioned above, I can provide more detail on any of the concerns I mention. In the meantime, I will be joining a new school to work for a head I respect, and who cherishes integrity and collaboration. I really can’t wait to start there.

Please accept my best wishes for the best future for [the school].

Alex Gwinnett

 

Bullying and toxic culture

There was a huge churn of staff after her arrival. 

As discussed in the previous blog, harassment and gaslighting was normalised through sustained victimisation focused on undermining skills and competencies. 

This led to 5 medically recognised breakdowns due to workplace stress, and numerous staff forced out after long careers at the school and clear evidence of excellent results.

Here is a summary of the staff turnover since 2017:

2017-2018 

• Class teacher left at end of year due to disagreeing with head's EYFS vision before she even began headship.

2018-2019 

During academic year:

• Special Needs Coordinator’s contract not renewed despite excellent results and years of experience (replaced with inexperienced person from head’s previous school);
• Specialist reading teacher retired early after feeling poorly treated;
• Cleaning team x4 resigned after feeling poorly treated;
• Class Teacher x 2, one left at start of year and one retired early, after feeling poorly treated.

At end of academic year:

• Class Teacher moved onto other job feeling poorly treated/disliking direction school had taken; 
• Teaching Assistant (very experienced) resigned after feeling poorly treated;
• Class Teacher (also English subject leader) moved onto other job after being poorly treated;
• Office worker (pushed out); 
• Premises Assistant (pushed out); 
• Head of governing body left due to being unhappy with new direction of school.

2019-2020 

During academic year:

• Class Teacher left before Christmas after being poorly treated;
• Teaching Assistant left before Xmas;
• Class Teacher (also union rep) left in summer term after mental health issues prompted by head;
• Class Teacher (also union rep) disciplined for breach of GDPR having raised wellbeing concerns with Governing Body using a non-work email address. School’s claims of ICO investigation disputed by ICO itself in writing. School made likely GDPR breaches in hearing; not reported. Investigation conducted by head, who was central to the raised concern, hence conflict of interests. Appeal request not engaged with; (council) unresponsive. All of this indicative of victimisation.

At end of academic year:

• Class Teacher x 2 left at end of academic year (one of them being me, also a union rep).

2020-to-date

• Business Manager & office worker leave during academic year after mental health issues caused by issues with head;
• Bursar dismissed;
• Class Teachers x 3 left (one of whom was a union rep);
• Several TAs and mealtime supervisors lost jobs in restructure;
• 3 other governors – possibly more - have also left (at least 2 because of head).

 Conclusion: a fair few people have left...

Gaslighting part one

I did not even know what gaslighting was until 2018. I did not realise I was being gaslit -that we were all being gaslit- until after my breakdown.

After a matter of weeks, a tangible uncertainty took hold of all of us. Most of us felt rudderless. Thankfully, we had each other and the children to keep us going. The first to feel the true nature of our new head were the rest of the senior leadership team. They were treated horribly: no trust, constant criticism - especially about their professionalism. People who had been teaching for years, whose track record was exemplary. They were trusted by the governors, by us teachers, by the community. One left at the end of the first year, one became institutionalised (for want of a better word). The last was on parental leave - upon their return, they were isolated in a blatant attempt to divide and rule. Then, sadly, the integrity of those that remained was compromised.

We muddled through and eight months down the line, by pulling together despite the tension, we got a good OFSTED. The year before we had been given good with outstanding. This visit was to rate whether we now deserved the outstanding accolade. Personally, and I speak for many teachers here, an outstanding rating is not necessarily a worthy goal. Far more important is the well-being of children and staff. Something to explore in a later entry maybe. 

And then we were all treated to the 'new regime' in all its glory...

Policies were reviewed in staff meetings. Compromises made. Then we were e-mailed the 'definitive' policy to find that very different ideas had supposedly been agreed upon. This was especially evident when we were presented with our marking policy.

We eventually had a union meeting to discuss problematic developments such as these. The tension is the room was high. As you would expect, the meeting was very cathartic. A lot of frustration was vented. We were united.

The next day, our daily briefing turned into a rant from the head berating us for being a 'moaning staff' and the only reason we got a good OFSTED was down to her. That in fact our previous good with outstanding was an anomaly. Our previous head had allegedly pulled the wool over the eyes of the previous team. Gaslighting extraordinaire.

Shortly after, as union reps, my colleague and I met with her. We had a relatively calm and lengthy conversation with her. One of our office workers took minutes. The agenda was lengthy and there was disagreement on certain items, but overall, the tone remained polite and collegiate. However, the next day, the minutes were shared with us via email. A lot of our discussion had been distorted and quite a few of the head's ideas had been added which had not been part of our conversations. I duly pointed all the inaccuracies out only to be told that a third party had been privy to all the discussion so no amendments could be made.

This third party has since left the school. She had a breakdown herself. She has revealed to me that once my rep colleague and I had left, the head took the computer from her and said she would write up the rest. She also acknowledged that the contents had been amended. Gaslighting? 

To be continued.