School staff strike over allegations of bullying by management

Staff at Furness Primary School, Harlesden, went on strike this morning in protest against alleged bullying of staff by management.

The school is part of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) with Oakington Manor Primary School.

The Trust claimed to have set up an independent investigation as requested by the NEU but the union decided to continue the strike until they knew who was going to carry out the investigation.  It is usual in such cases to ensure that both sides in a dispute have confidence in the independence of the investigator.

In a similar case at Sudbury Primary School, also an academy, the NUT organised a series of strikes LINK and a settlement was reached when the headteacher left. Brent Council has no immediate intervention rights but does have an overall responsibility for the safeguarding and wellbeing of every child in the borough. The Regional Schoools Commissioner and the Department for Education could intervene if they have concerns about the school or are approached by parents.

Health Partners Forum on Wednesday will discuss Brent STP

The STP is going to NHS England on Friday!

UPDATE: Sudbury School situation raises wider issues

Unions at Sudbury Primary School report that there was standing room only when they held a meeting last week for parents to discuss the way forward for the school after the suspension of its headteacher. They say that Sudbury teachers attended despite the threat of disciplinary action if they did so.

The unions said:

Several staff made it clear that, through all of this, their priority was the education and care of the children. Parent and union speakers said that without the staff the children would not be doing as well as they are.

The meeting was reminded by an emotional parent that it was the children who were the reason there was a school and we had to get to the bottom of what was going on for them. It was pointed out that if the school had still been with the local authority instead of being an academy, Brent would have stepped in and taken prompt action to deal with the situation.

Parents were angry that it had to be down to the unions to call such a meeting and felt the governors had kept them in the dark. It was revealed that a new Chair of Governors Ian Phillips, had just been put in place. The Ofsted report is due imminently after the inspection which took place after the Headteacher was suspended. The section on management of the school should make interesting reading.

The headteacher remains suspended while an independent investigation takes place. As stated in earlier coverage suspension this a neutral act to allow the investigation of allegations to proceed. 

However, the unions say that a petition for parents calling on the headteacher to 'do the right thing and resign' has been started: 'Staff remain united and determined but if this does not happen they will be taking action in the Spring term.'

 The situation is complicated by the fact that the Sudbury Primary School Academy Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act 2006.  A large school with a budget of £9m plus it comes under the Education Funding Agency/DfE rather than the local authority, Brent Council. The Regional Schools Commissioner acts for the Secretary of State regarding academies and free schools but he does not appear to have intervened in this case so far, although there are provisions for intervention in the funding agreement LINK and the powers of the RSC.

The headteacher of Sudbury Primary School is the company's Chief Executive Officer and it appears from the last company report that all the governors are also Trustees of the company. The company secretary is Irfan Khan. LINK

At the time of the last annual report that I can find (for the period ending August 2014) in addition to the headteacher, chair and vice chair, there were 8 parent governors, 4 community governors and 3 staff governors on the Board of Trustees.

The case clearly raises wider issues regarding academies (and free schools) of accountability, local democratic representation, powers of intervention and governance.

UPDATE


The Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that Ian Phillips, Chair of Govers at Finchley's Woodhouse College has been appointed to the Sudbury governors on the recoemmndation of the DfE.

Chair of Governors, Bob Wharton, a former Lead Member for Children and Schools when Lib Dems formed a coalition with Brent Tories to run Brent Council, welcomed the appointment and said Phillips had made a good impression on staff.

The DfE said, 'We take very seriously any allegationb that children's education is being put at risk. We are continuing to work with the academy trust to strengthem governance. We recommended they (the school)  request support from other experienced governors.'

Jean Roberts, NUT, pointed out that if Sudbury had been an LA school they would have come in and taken control of the situation. It had only got to ths stage because it was an academy and being dealt with by the DfE. She added that this was why the education unions are against academies.
 

Another meeting about Sudbury Primary School on Thursday

 

Teacher and non-teacher unions have called a meeting for parents and carers of Sudbury Primary School pupis at the Partyman Play Centre at Vale Farm on Thursday at 4.30pm - a time they say was chosen to enable the maximun number of parents to attend to find out what is going on at the school.

The unions say they hope for a big turn-out of parents, with some governors and councillors too, and that the meeting will lead to a solution that will avoid strike action.

Sudbury Primary School staff call for formal ballot on strike action

Statement from teaching and non-teaching unions at Sudbury Primary School

On Wednesday a packed meeting of staff from Sudbury Primary in Brent, expressed anger that, after their overwhelming vote of no confidence in their Headteacher LINK  the governors had not acted. They voted to call on their unions to move to a formal ballot for strike action. The vote was 43 in favour and 2 against.

The meeting also agreed that parents should be properly and fully informed. It was agreed that an open meeting should be called by the unions to which all parents, staff and governors would be invited to enable full discussion to take place.

Strike threat at Sudbury Primary School

Staff at Sudbury Primary School in Brent passed a vote of no confidence in the headteacher and governance of the school by 43 votes to 3 last night. The headteacher is currently suspended, which is deemed a 'neutral act', while allegations are investigated.

Staff from NASUWT, ATL, GMB and NUT approved the following resolution after a lengthy discussion about events at the school:

This meeting expresses no confidence in the headteacher and governance of Sudbury Primary and calls for the immediate removal of the headteacher from her post.

If this demand is not agreed we call on our unions to ballot us for sustained strike action.

Union sources said that they were concerned that an attempt is being made to undermine the independent investigation report that led to the suspension of the headteacher and the sequence of events that should flow from the report.

Sudbury Primary is the only Brent primary school to voluntarily convert to academy status. It became an Academy in September 2012. Academy status means that the local education authority has limited intervention powers.

Staff unions are currently challenging moves by Oakington Manor and Furness Primary schools to convert to academy status.

Brent Health Partners Forum July 22nd at Sudbury Primary School