the way back

In early 2022, I made a Subject Access Request to both the local council and its LADO as they had not been as transparent as they should have been after my issues with my previous school and their reluctance to help me with my whistleblowing.  I did eventually get a general SAR back from the council. However, it was woefully lacking in its content – mirroring the SAR experience I had had with my previous school.  They recommended that I contact the ICO if I was unhappy with their response. Not one to give up, I did so immediately. It has taken months for the ICO to get back to me. But at least they have… _____________ 30 November 2022  Dear Mr Gwinnett Thank you for contacting the ICO with your concerns about (the) Borough. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you. We contacted the Council for further information about the handling of your request and have just received their response. However, we can now provide you with an assessment in this...

It is now five years on from the onset of a mass exodus of excellent and experienced education workers. Three years on from my breakdown (followed by 4 others leaving due to their worsening mental health) and general gaslighting/victimisation of union reps -and to be honest- anyone ‘in the way’. Two years of exploring various avenues to try to get some form of accountability, acknowledgement, apology – justice basically. So much time and so much effort. Hours on the phone, hours writing e-mails, letters, and this blog. And for what? Very little indeed. We have been let down by the establishment. Sure, there has been the odd sympathetic ear, but they have been able to do very little. An article was written in a local newspaper: this got the story out to a certain extent but nothing came of it. I have been informed of many other instances of manipulation, untruths and incompetence from the school since the article. Children are leaving. Parents are angry. The staff is inc...

In response to an online article written by my previous head about women in leadership (which for obvious reasons I cannot include), a person -who is very close to me- wrote this comment: A bland piece which in no way reflects the typical working style of the author, who since the start of her headship has been responsible for a huge churn of staff and concerns over her approach from colleagues, parents and the wider school community. There are multiple allegations of the head bullying and victimising staff, yet here she writes about nurture and building aspiration through ‘living your values’ and ‘having a strong sense of moral purpose’. It’s hard to see how this is real when she has created a culture where staff and children have been made really quite miserable. It would be wonderful if you could say the head was enthused by leading and developing her team rather than spitefully victimising so many of them, or that the children feel supported and encouraged when she has never show...

Three years ago, virtually to the day (05/11/19), I had my horrific nervous breakdown. Since then, my life has changed in many ways.  Initially very unpleasant.  I was quite ill for a long time preceding the breakdown but far worse, and for far longer subsequently.  I am still dealing with PTSD. But I have been healing thanks to my family, friends, and current school. The ethos of my current school is very much based on nurture. Its headteacher is loved by children, parents, and last but not least: its staff. She cares deeply about all of us. She knows we care deeply about the children, and (I hope) her. She trusts us. We trust her. She lets us take risks. She is an inspiration. Unlike a certain other person… Recently, my PTSD reared its ugly head unexpectedly and sent me on a downward spiral. It happens.  I will never be able to forgive the person who caused this but this time  I have taken concrete steps: I have talked it through with my GP, ...

My local authority/council have begun a new campaign. I could not believe it.  A friend recently sent me the picture above of a poster seen in town. Ready to shake things up: my arse. This is the council that has done absolutely nothing to protect its teachers and other school staff from a narcissistic head. This is the council who has refused to meet me to discuss the wrongdoings of the head and board of governors of my previous school. This is the council who has to all intents and purpose served me with an unofficial cease-and-desist: o     11/03/22: extract of Re: EMAIL COMMUNICATION WITH [SCHOOL] Your emails to the School are causing the members of staff a great deal of stress and they themselves feel that your actions constitute a course of conduct that amounts to harassment. In the circumstances we require that you immediately refrain from emailing of contacting any member of staff or Govern...

Continuing on the theme of smoke and mirrors: at the end of autumn term 2019, my union caseworkers requested to meet with my head to express their concern at and investigate the way reps were being treated at my previous school. As I have detailed in previous posts, my breakdown had been brushed aside by her and the board of governors. An anonymous letter to the Chair of Governors had not only been ignored but had led to the good friend, who had taken up my position as union rep in my absence, to be given a fraudulent disciplinary. The other co-rep in their turn had also been victimised leading to a nervous breakdown: they never returned to the school. This all took place within a month: it was textbook union-bashing. In my mind, it is a travesty that this in itself was not considered in the ‘public interest’ and investigated immediately by the governors and local council. However, it was not, and things got progressively worse for staff and by extension children at the school. I d...

Last week, I wrote a piece entitled ‘Duty of care’ putting the onus on the Chair of Governors (CoG). Here is a companion piece. As I have mentioned in the past, I put in a number of subject access requests (SARs) to the school. Amongst the myriad irrelevant documents sent my way, and despite the huge number of documents that were not sent, some extremely revealing emails were included. Some of these were emails between governors, and between the CoG and the head. It is clear in all this correspondence that the governors unconditionally stood by the head in late 2019 - despite my nervous breakdown and staff concern.   It would appear that impartiality and duty of care were never even considered. As I mentioned in the previous post, shortly after my breakdown, a letter was sent to the CoG by a member of staff, on behalf of other union member staff who wished to remain anonymous. It raised concerns about the Head's management of me and about her responses to concerns around wo...