More fobbing off...

On January 21^st in a post called ‘Public Interest’, I mentioned that I had been in touch with the council linked to the previous school I worked at. The Services for Schools Communications Support team had seen fit to include the following on their website: 

The service received from the (…) comms team has been hugely professional and supportive at a time when the school was subject to false allegations with the potential to cause significant reputational damage to our community. They worked closely with us to negotiate an extremely stressful and time-pressured period and were very generous with their advice and knowledge. They were calm, knowledgeable and reassuring, and provided much-appreciated direction through the entire situation.

Nice…

On 21.01, I sent them this:

 

Dear [Schools Communications person],

 

I was shocked to see a testimonial from [my previous head] on [weblink].

 

In the interest of transparency, I would like to point out that the allegations made against [previous head] have in no way been proven to be false and are still currently being scrutinised by several organisations.

 

It may be an idea for you to -at the very least- remove that part of the quote. I am sure you would not want to be accused of collusion.

 

Regards,

 

Alex Gwinnett

 

Having received no response, I followed on with this on 05.02:

 

Dear [Schools Communications person],

 

I sent you an e-mail on 21.01.23 (see below). Not having received a response, I am writing to you afresh to ask for a comment. Having statements such as these on a webpage that anyone can access indicates a lack of objectivity.  

 

Best regards,

 

Alex Gwinnett

Finally, on 09.02, I received this response:

 

Dear Mr Gwinnett

 

Thank you for your emails dated 21/1/23 and 5/2/23. 

 

We would like to confirm that the quote you refer to has nothing in it to suggest it relates to any particular person or incident.

 

Best regards

 

Communications Team

[Local] Council

Fortunately, I was in a good mood that day, and my initial reaction was amused bewilderment at the total refusal to engage with the ethical nature of the issue. While it was not quite the response I was expecting, at least they got back in touch I suppose.

Here is my rejoinder:

 

Dear Communications Team,

 

Thank you for your email of 09.02.23. Fortunately, I was in a good mood that day, and my initial reaction was amused bewilderment; rather than frustration and anger at the total refusal to engage with the ethical nature of the issue that I alerted you to in previous correspondence.  

 

While I appreciate that the statement on your webpage has ‘nothing in it to suggest it relates to any particular person or incident’, this does little to reassure those of us who have suffered under the headship of its author.

 

I appreciate that it is your job to offer PR support to the borough’s schools. However, in my eyes and those of my ex-colleagues from that particular school, it would be preferable for those services to be provided to more deserving recipients.

 

Best regards,

 

Alex