to think this head has just realised being a head isn't as easy as she thought?

(40 Posts)
kim147 Wed 09-Oct-13 22:46:33

Pimlico academy Primary. New free school appointed a 27 yr old headteacher who hadn't actually qualified as a teacher. She had some experience doing some teacher training, some support work and was also part of the right wing think tank, Civitas working on educational reforms.

School opened in September. She has now left to pursue other opportunites in primary education.

"Sources close to the academy say she was finding it difficult to cope with the workload. One local teacher, who did not want to be named, said he was surprised that such an inexperienced candidate had been selected.

"She was not happy because she could not cope with the job, full stop. It was too much to learn, too quickly."

It's easy in theory but difficult in practice. I hope her time has been valuable.

Namechangesforthehardstuff Thu 10-Oct-13 17:47:39

Just read Guardian bit on it - apparently Lord Nash is now a junior schools' minister. WTF? Credibility gap much?

nlondondad Thu 10-Oct-13 18:16:06

It also highlights that one of the "freedoms" Free Schools have is to ignore all the recruitment rules, including competitive appointments on merit.

Also in an ordinary state school the appointment (and for that matter removal) of a Head is a matter for the school governing body so parents are involved in the decision through their elected representatives. In Free Schools this decision is entirely one for the Trust ie the sponsor. The school GB (of which in any case a majority are appointed by the Trust) has no say.

Namechangesforthehardstuff Thu 10-Oct-13 18:44:43

I went to the initial information event for Free Schools. After all the posturing from Gove the first question from the audience was 'Will we be allowed to teach creationism?' and the second was 'You talked about making sure you appoint good teachers, do you have any ideas about how we could do that?'

Fucking shocking.

noblegiraffe Thu 10-Oct-13 19:04:31

Is there a teacher in the country who thought this was a good idea?

Interesting to see something that Gove thinks is fine fail so spectacularly, and so quickly. Perhaps teachers do know what they are talking about when they say going to school is no qualification for being in charge of education. As a head, or a secretary of state.

Scaredycat3000 Thu 10-Oct-13 20:20:15

I'm begining to think being head teacher of Pimlico school primary or secondary is a bad idea. Jo ended up in court, Phil 'left' suddenly, the woman before him didn't fair to well ether. All the best for the current head of the secondary, she's lovely.

Bea Thu 10-Oct-13 20:59:27

flippin' nora! how on earth do they think this could have worked?????

Ditto SomethingOnce... shouldn't laugh but...oh no I should!
Ha! Ha!!!

would love to know what the gossip on the playground is like!

Namechangesforthehardstuff Thu 10-Oct-13 22:16:23

Scaredycat - she is lovely. And she's been there for years doing a pretty thankless task.

So I hope they have the good sense to keep her on as I think this is an interim thing no? I am wondering whether her face might not fit the 'Future' mould...

Scaredycat3000 Thu 10-Oct-13 22:37:05

Name I know she's been there years, shes out lasted them all and for good reason. I've no idea about interim, I hope not. 'Future' mould, shudder, I forgot about that!

Namechangesforthehardstuff Thu 10-Oct-13 23:05:28

Ha ha smile we probably know each other don't we? I might need to run off and namechange before I out meself...

PansOnFire Thu 10-Oct-13 23:11:46

When it comes to teaching, everyone is the bloody expert...then they try it.

I'm laughing at this, what an arrogant and stupid woman to think she'd be able to run a school when she hasn't even trained as a teacher. I'm all for the idea of free schools but are parents really happy to let unqualified teachers teach their children? Most teachers I know get so much stick and questioning from parents that to not have any qualifications would be professional suicide, parents seem to want to know the far end of your educational qualifications.

cory Fri 11-Oct-13 07:09:30

So she got the job because she knew a lot about the fashionable theory that knowing facts matters more than skills in education.

And failed at the job because she didn't have the relevant skills.

Would there be a lesson in here somewhere?

cory Fri 11-Oct-13 07:11:27

I googled E.D. Hirsch and the lists of facts-that-your-child-needs-to-know-by-age-X which have been published in the UK following his ideas. They are totally random. Just what the listmaker happened to think of at the time.

Reminds me of our childminder who thought 3yo ds might have a language delay since he didn't know the word for a baby goat. As there are very few goats in the urban area where we live and as he was quite capable of distinguishing between a male and female mallard, I found it difficult to believe that there was anything much wrong with either his cognitive skills or his language ability.

Scaredycat3000 Fri 11-Oct-13 09:46:10

Name We do probably know each other, but don't panic, I've left London so we're not going to bump into each other grin

Namechangesforthehardstuff Fri 11-Oct-13 23:30:48

smile Ah well. It's funny what nostalgia can do. I found myself almost missing the old building t'other day.

nlondondad Sun 13-Oct-13 23:09:00

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