I see you.
I
have not forgotten you and I sure as hell will never forgive you.
It’s
the fourth anniversary of my nervous breakdown. The one you orchestrated. The
one that shut me down. The one which forced my uncomprehending children to see
me in tears for days on end. The one which left my wife, family and close
friends scurry around to pick up the pieces and help me function from one day
to the next – lost days and
weeks. The one that destroyed my confidence for months. The one that made me
doubt myself for years. The one you evidently could not have cared less about.
They see you.
The
others you made suffer. The ones you forced out: the ones who actually did make
a huge valuable difference to the school. The ones you punished for not
kowtowing, for not worshipping your non-existent pedagogical prowess. The
others you pushed to nervous breakdowns. The ones who you forced to choose
between friendships and obeying you. The ones who you damaged who did not even
work in your school.
The
staff who began this academic year have you figured out by now. I hear that a
sense of dread pervades the school despite losing most of your teaching staff
last year.
It
does not take long, does it? Less than half a term and already, I have reports
of new staff being unhappy, stressed and demotivated. People talk, you see. I
suppose you can control the environment within your school to a certain extent,
but unhappiness and injustice cannot stay contained. People need to talk.
People need to share their psychological burden.
And of course, the children see you.
They see you, and
they do not like what they see. Many have already left: their families
concerned about their well-being and that of the people working for you and
those purged by you.
They will see you.
One day, the wider
community will see everything. The whole toxic culture you have imposed on the
school has slowly been unravelling wider than the local community. Some
momentum may have slowed as now any children who were at school under the
previous head have left, but people are not stupid. Word will continue to get
out.
There is only so far a board of governors and a local council can remain guilty by association without being found out. You and your short-sighted enablers have built a house of cards that a growing number of staff, ex-staff and families want rid of.
