The article

Here is the article from Feb 2022 (anonymised) that was mentioned in my previous post. Below, find footnotes.

A school has denied a big loss of staff is because of the headteacher’s regime and incidents of victimisation.

Governors at [the] School, which has 379 pupils, say the mental health of its staff is a top priority – and that it had “very much normal staff turnover” for that period.

The school had 66 staff when headteacher arrived in September 2018 and now has 45. Governors confirmed six staff left in 2018-19 and two the following year[1].

Last year, 11 were made redundant and there were two retirements, while a parent working there temporarily also left.

Current and former staff have expressed their anger to the [newspaper] at [the head]’s methods.

One member of staff for 10 years, who did not want to be named, went off sick with work related-stress in September 2020 and was made redundant in March 2021.

She said: “There were some really, really unpleasant situations where the mental health of staff was put in jeopardy. One had a nervous breakdown – was howling like a dog in the school. It was a good teacher – well liked and respected but treated in an inhuman way. Confident people were reduced to a shell,” she claimed.

“It was really, really unpleasant. She claimed I was unpopular[2]. I made an official complaint and she cut my pay without any notice – but I lost and the governors found the head had acted reasonably[3]. I came to doubt whether I was any good at my job. But I now know it’s not me. I don’t understand why anyone would be so horrible to people. The culture is toxic and divisive. No one trusts anyone. Everyone just lives in fear. I feel sorry for the people who believed in it and put so much of their lives into it.”

A teacher for 12 years, who did not want to be named, said: “Everything changed after she arrived. Teachers had no voice. Ideas were foisted on us. Anyone who disagreed with her was ignored so people left – even quite strong-willed people. Her management ideas seem to come from the 1950s. She tried to promote the narrative the school had been failing under [the previous headteacher] – who was made an MBE.”

Year Six teacher Alex Gwinnett, who suffered a nervous breakdown in November 2019, said in a letter to governors in July 2020: “I feel the school is now such a negative environment. I’m truly saddened to be leaving but… the direction the school has taken under the current head, at hectic and unheeding speed, has caused both me and colleagues a lot of concern, and indeed pain. [The school] has become progressively more rigid, with teachers less trusted and with the head seemingly beyond accountability.”

He made a complaint under [the council]’s Whistleblowing Policy in September 2021 but was told by dispute resolution expert xx it was too late[4] – and a grievance procedure should be used for individual employment matters.

A teaching assistant for 23 years who did not want to be named[5], said: “In the first meeting with the teaching assistants she said we were all stale and had been there too long. She was telling us we were crap. She told me I was in my comfort zone. It was a continuous six months of battles. I could walk, but I felt sorry for staff who had to stay. Sometimes under a new head, personalities don’t fit. But this was bullying.”

A teacher there for 16 years left in July 2019, a year after [the head]’s arrival, and said when the now head started: “I felt initially she had her heart in the right place. But there was no consulting with staff. Everything was set down. There had to be a one centimetre gap between children’s artwork placed on notice boards. Each one had to be straight and aligned. You weren’t allowed to be creative. It was de-skilling all teachers. We used to create moments of wonder and awe – but that stopped. She gave me a list of what I was getting wrong. I lost a lot of confidence. It got to the stage where I did not want to come to school. I would sit crying in my car. It was impacting the children. That’s when I decided to leave. In my exit interview, I told her I was leaving because of her. There was a clear divide between the school and its community. I moved to a school just five minutes from [the school].”

Chairman of governors said: “[The school] takes the mental health and well-being of its staff and pupils very seriously, and is actually a Mental Health Hub for the local authority[6]. This means it has been highlighted as displaying particularly good practice in this field, and has been asked to share its approach with other schools in the area. Since September 2020[7] just three teachers have left, not eight as claimed. In a two-form entry school, this is very much normal staff turnover, and each had standard reasons. Most of the teaching staff remain long-standing and there is mutual respect and support between the headteacher and staff. Governors actively monitor the relationships between the leadership team and staff. Training was offered [to any underperforming staff] and staff fed back how much they enjoyed that. Performance was managed in line with [the] council and national standards. The accountability measures are consistent with the national and local authority standards.”

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[1] It would appear that the governors need to pay a little more attention. Between 2018-2019 – 13 members of staff left, as did the esteemed head of governors. Between 2019-2020 – 6 more members of staff left. There is rather a significant difference between 8 and 19.

[2] This person was highly respected by all of us for her hard work, integrity and efficiency. As far as I’m aware, the only person she was unpopular was with was the head.

[3] Another unfortunate pattern.

[4] Interestingly, a letter of commendation was written by the representative of the council’s HR and printed on this person’s website shortly after the whistleblowing was thrown out. Conflict of interest?

[5] Valued by the staff and parents/carers alike, she was -and still is- a pillar of the community.

[6] This is an outright lie. The governors had been made aware of staff mental health issues since early on in the 2018-2019 academic year. To date, they have done exactly nothing about these issues.

[7] Why was 2020 mentioned? Who made this claim? For the record, 7 teachers left in the period between September 2020 and the publication of the article. 8 if you count the teacher who left in December 2019 after being victimised by the head.