Statements...

The article (see previous post) was accompanied by these interesting statements from the Governing Body and the Council’s Director of Education.

Ofsted states headteacher is well supported

A statement from the chairman of governors at [the] School in November said the progress since headteacher joined the school has been acknowledged by Ofsted.[1]

Inspectors said after their May 2019 inspection: “The headteacher is an excellent role model for staff, who uses their expertise and experience from other school settings to innovate and implement new ways of working. “This has had a significant impact on the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.” Ofsted also acknowledged that since the previous inspection: “The headteacher, well supported by the senior leadership team, has successfully transformed the culture of the school. This has led to the rapid improvements.”[2]

Restructuring and finances[3]

[The Chair of Governors] said: “In common with many other schools, ensuring we use our limited resources to give students the very best outcomes has been a challenge in recent years.

This has resulted in three restructures, all focused on maximising the number of talented teaching staff who spend their time in the classrooms making the difference for our children.

This has significantly reduced staff in the school and ensured we are now in a strong financial position. Without these restructures, the school would be running a deficit budget, due to austerity measures and the costs of the pandemic.

We are confident the restructuring decisions we’ve made have prioritised the children’s safety, education and well-being.

During these restructures, the school has supported all staff, especially those who have been affected.”

Staff well-being

“During the last four years, an expected number of staff have left the school due to promotion, relocation and changes in family circumstances.[4]

The school actively supports staff training and career development, offering secondments to staff who wish to work in leadership positions and ongoing high quality professional development.[5]

We are thrilled when our highly trained teachers go on to leadership roles elsewhere.[6]

The governing body is committed to supporting staff and ensuring healthy engagement with staff is maintained.

We follow national guidance and have comprehensive, transparent procedures in place to deal with staff complaints and concerns.[7]

We always take immediate, appropriate action in response to issues raised. No such claims have been upheld in recent years.[8]

In order to ensure the board is transparent and following best practice, we regularly invite external and independent advisers for assessment.

The governing body

The governing body contains a mix of long-serving governors, some of whom have served the school for more than 20 years, and parent and co-opted governors, many selected for their legal, HR and financial skills.

The headteacher has the full support of the governing body.

The headteacher is held to rigorous account by the board[9], and is challenged to deliver consistent results.

The board also fully understands the improvements under the headteacher would not have been possible without dedicated staff.

Without the well-established culture of mutual respect and professionalism which exists amongst staff, the school could not possibly be thriving.[10]

I’m grateful for the improvements xx has brought. She has been unstinting in her quest for improvement and always has the children’s education and well-being uppermost in her mind.

The [school] difference

[The school]’s strapline is ‘Where creativity meets educational excellence’, and the improvements the school has made in recent years bear out the truth of this.

The school building has recently been fitted with solar panels, and is undergoing a deep retrofit to improve air quality in the school, and bring down the school’s carbon emissions.[11]

This has been tied in with core subject and extracurricular learning and facility improvements. As a governor, it has been inspiring to see such a project delivered, particularly when climate change is such a critical issue.

Art has become a huge focus for the school, which offers specialist art, dance and music lessons to all year groups, ensuring the children are given the cultural capital to succeed.

We retain a laser focus on ensuring our Pupil Premium children are given the opportunities they deserve.

We’re proud of the progress made and the senior leadership team have our full support as we continue to develop our school as a place where pupils and staff alike thrive.”

[The] director of education at [the] council, said: “The leadership team at [the] School are doing great work, which has been acknowledged by Oftsted, and they have our full backing and support.

We fully investigate all complaints and allegations and can confirm that none have been upheld against [xxxx] School.”[12]

 

 

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[1] As mentioned before, the previous Ofsted was good with elements of outstanding. This is complete revisionism. Shame on the governing body. Many of the governors had been in position under the previous head and had championed her achievements unequivocally.

[2] It is interesting that the efforts of the teaching staff are not mentioned here.

[3] Why was this mentioned? Not once was this brought up: by either staff in the article above, or by parents in another article about the school. 

[4] This constitutes a small minority of departures.

[5] Falsehood. Some of these secondments were, arguably, to isolate staff out of school. As for the career development meetings, I am not alone in having found these a waste of time: a vanity exercise where the head showed us what she wanted us to do, not train us.

[6] I am not aware of this happening to any members of staff who left in that period.

[7] The procedures are in place but always favoured SLT. Many grievances and complaints were made by staff and parents. None were upheld.

[8] In that case, the Board of Governors is not fulfilling its duties.

[9] Really?

[10] There was no mutual respect and the school was not thriving. This is a case of sweeping general malaise under the carpet…

[11] This is where the statement really begins to read like a sales pitch.

[12] This person was CCed into most of my correspondence with the school and council relating to whistleblowing and linked issues. I have yet to hear from her.