13 out of 23 teachers have left Halling Primary School in Medway. or handed in their resignations since January 2020, including three members of the Senior Leadership Team, with seven having gone at Christmas, and another three handing in their resignations in February, along with four Teaching Assistants. The previous Chair of Governors suddenly resigned, ending a 25 year association with the school, citing an irreconcilable difference of opinion between the headteacher and himself. Other members of staff and supporters of the school have also severed their connections.
There are reports of a toxic atmosphere within the school staff, and the considerable concerns expressed by parents being addressed by a Social Media Policy, whose main thrust appears to be to threaten parents who speak out, including taking legal action and calling in the police. A letter from the new Chair of Governors to parents indicates that she is happy with the current situation.
The big puzzle to me is that Halling, the second school in the Cliffe Woods Academies Trust, having joined in April 2019, appears to have had no benefits from the halo surrounding Cliffe Woods Primary. The latter has an Outstanding Ofsted and reputation, with Principal Tim Muggeridge, also CEO of the Trust, being well aware of the issues at Halling, although without signs that action is being taken.
I have the names of all the staff who have left or resigned and considerable detail about other issues which have contributed to this dreadful state of affairs, but which must be known to governors. A well-being questionnaire was sent to staff, many of whom are reported to have responded robustly, and which has been seen by the new Chair of Governors, although there is no report back, no awareness it has been shared more widely, or any indication that the concerns have been followed up.
The Headteacher, Soumaya Selmi, was appointed for January 2020, having previously been Acting Headteacher at the small Downsview Community Primary School in Swanley, and before that a class teacher at the school, which had been through major difficulties. In the month after her departure, Ofsted reported that: ‘The quality of education pupils receive is very variable. The many changes to leadership and staffing in recent years resulted in the school losing its way. Staff want pupils to do their best but people have had different ideas about how things should be done and initiatives have not always been seen through. Consequently, pupils have not achieved as well as they could and standards have slipped’. Not perhaps the best recommendation for a young headteacher starting out, and there are too many examples quoted of her inexperience, which have led to problems within the school. Dr Nicki Kessel, a parent Governor as well as being Chair, has expressed her confidence in Ms Selmi, in a letter to parents justifying the large teacher turnover and the concerns it has created.
Local ex-parent, Mark Tickner the previous Chair of Governors, began a very personal letter to staff informing them of his resignation: ‘You probably would have heard by now that I made a very sudden and unexpected decision to resign as chair of governors. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would leave under these circumstances or in a way where I would have been unable to say a proper farewell. I want to reassure you that my resignation was in direct response to an irreconcilable difference of opinion between Soumaya and myself, in response to references she made to me about my lack of support for her. I have always considered myself to be a very supportive person and during my role as chair of governors I genuinely believed that I have supported the school, staff and, in particular, the headteacher, sometimes to the detriment of my work and personal life. So you can imagine my surprise and shock at being told otherwise in an email’.
I have included the new Social Media Policy in the enclosure, intended to combat the spreading concerns from parents. Most schools will have a policy with a similar name, but most will be couched in positive terms to try and keep parents on board. In contrast, this policy is adversarial and threatening in tone as it attempts to address problems created within the school, with parents expressing their concerns in the only way they found possible. For reference, Home School Agreements cannot be used in the way set out in the document.
This article concludes where my introduction also ended, looking at the relationship with Cliffe Woods Primary School and Trust. Cliffe Woods, on the Hoo Peninsula in Medway, has had an excellent reputation for many years and achieved an Outstanding Ofsted Report in 2015, having been an academy since 2011, just before the previous headteacher resigned because of a personal scandal. The new headteacher, Mr Muggeridge, rapidly settled the school as confirmed by a Monitoring Ofsted in September 2016, and Cliffe Woods has gone from strength to strength, with Halling staff looking enviously at the morale and professionalism of all at the school. The question remains. Why with ample evidence of a crisis at Halling Primary School has the Academy Trust leadership, the accountable body, not stepped in to resolve the glaring issues? Under the flawed academy structure, this is the only accountability to a third party that realistically exists, if Halling Primary is to be returned to good health.