15th AND FINAL UPDATE ON St THOMAS SCHOOL PETITION 21st JUNE 2017 New information after eighteen months/two years of asking. ECM is a commercial ‘education’ company DID Mrs BRINDLE BRING ECM TO St THOMAS PRIMARY SCHOOL OR DID ECM BRING Mrs BRINDLE? COMMERCIAL CONSIDERATIONS WOULD APPEAR TO BE THEIR PRIME MOTIVATION? CLOSING DOWN THE DRAMA GROUP, NURSERY AND PUTTING THE TODDLERS AT RISK – WHAT WAS ALL THIS ABOUT? Copied from the offical Ofsted report Bollin Primary School Ofsted report 9th-10th March 2017 Overall effectiveness – Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management – Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment – Inadequate Personal development, behaviour and welfare – Requires improvement Outcomes for pupils – Requires improvement Early years provision – Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection – Outstanding Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is an inadequate school This once thriving school is in tatters. St Thomas Ofsted 2014 Early Years Requires Improvement Key Stage 1 & 2 Overall Good Under the previous Ofsted regimes St Thomas - a previously consistent Good- Outstanding School - would have been deemed to have 'failed' - so much for Mrs Brindle's regime change! I have rather been knocked back by a neighbour saying that she did not know that teachers had left St Thomas Primary School due to Mrs Brindle’s bullying/intimidation. In actual fact all of those listed below resigned or where forced out as a direct result of Mrs Brindle's 'management style' - now clearly documented following her appointment at Bollin Primary School. Caroline Morris, Deputy Head Teacher Eileen Fox – took early retirement ‘because’ of Brindle (she would have stayed on for two more years) Debbie Fudge Emma Williams Sarah Bullen (nee Cross) forfeited her maternity grant Gary Bailey (resigned with no job to go to) Vikki Heath, Teaching Assistant: refused a reference The above well loved and outstanding teachers - apart from Mrs Fox who was 'retiring' as far as the community were concerned - were forced to leave 'by the side door. Brindle, through fear and intimidation kept these 'forced resignations' quiet! Most importantly none of those teachers 'wanted' to leave St Thomas. In all cases -apart from Mrs Fox- they have been embraced by grateful new schools and their skills recognised and rewarded with promotions! Bear in mind the costs involved in forcing Mrs Morris out of the school and temporary cover for the departed teachers there was an absolutely disgraceful and unnecessary waste of school funds. Surely something the school governors should have questioned? I have no doubt that St Thomas Primary School must have suffered similar deterioration in teaching standards, to Bollin Primary School, as a result of all the disruption and upset Brindle created The departure of a very experienced and much respected Deputy Head Teacher, followed and two thirds of the teaching staff within twelve months is a disgraceful set of affairs! Mrs Brindle destroyed a staff ethos carefully built up over many, many years by past Head Teachers. Why was this allowed to happen? Mrs Brindle’s 'dubious' appointment (un-be known to the majority of the Governing body when her 'glowing' reference was read out, it transpired she was the Deputy to Chair of Governor Gleave's Head Teacher daughter at Cinnamon Brow Primary School). This raises many questions! Why was that fact not disclosed during the vetting process? Why where the Governors 'told' that internal applicants (Mrs Morris) would not be considered for the role- despite the fact that she was vastly more experienced and 'proven'? Were ECM involved in providing services at Cinnamon Brow? Does the simultaneous arrival of Brindle and ECM, a commercial education company, prove this? ECM received approximately £18,000 in fees for effectively leading a 'down grade' at St Thomas School. ECM received £13,000 from Bollin Primary School funds within months of Mrs Brindle's arrival! Did ECM receive payments from Mrs Brindle’s previous school-Cinnamon Brow? Does this suggest/prove an unhealthy relationship between Mrs Brindle and ECM? Bollin Primary School is now led by a superb head teacher appointed seamlessly after Mrs Brindle’s departure. I received an enquiry from a lady extremely worried that Mrs Brindle had been appointed Head Teacher of another school - Barton Clough Primary School in Stretford; I was able to reassure her, through my contacts at Bollin that this is not true; indeed they will be receiving a new super head. Meanwhile St Thomas’ School Governors recently appointed their own 'super' head teacher! Really? I am reliably informed that “Mrs Woods (Joanne Knight) prior to Mrs Brindle’s arrival had only held positions of responsibility for PE/Games (which she shared for a number of years....in a school of circa 120 pupils) and briefly took on the role Maths co-ordination (lasted one year –said she couldn’t cope with work load). She has spent the majority of her time in St Thomas teaching Y5 and Y6 classes having initially taken Y4 when first appointed! She has no experience of Early Years and spent one year in Year 1 under Brindle –supposedly to gain experience in KS 1 (infants)! What actually occurred-to the detriment of the children-was she was an 'absentee teacher' as she became Brindle’s 'Lieutenant'..attending meetings etc off premises and occasionally stepping back into Y6 etc leaving supply teacher’s to carry the work load..this unsurprisingly impacted on the later Y2 Sat results of that group of children! The PE role suited her as it involved mostly external courses conducted during school hours and teams of instructors coming into school doing the work with the children! After school clubs she was supposed to run..’didn't’ more often than did!! She even managed to keep herself off the ‘staff washing up rota’ –indicative of her demeanour! A notable regular absentee from weekend school community events..Xmas Fayre, Carnival, etc unless attended by some dignitaries! Exactly what has enabled her to secure the HT role? What happened to the fact that she avoided the vagaries of Ofsted in 2014 ( she was then Deputy Head - as a result of Mrs Morris demise) - suffering an 'epileptic' fit the evening prior to the inspection ? Stress related supposedly! Is she therefore ‘fit’ to be the HT? Does the latest information regarding ECM commercial ambitions point to the 'theft' of Mrs Walker’s nursery business via a commercial connotation rather than an educational competence issue? Is the clear suggestion of fraud sufficient to demand an urgent investigation by Wigan Education and or Ofsted! Based on fact that both these organisations failed to act on information highlighted to them during Brindle's reign I am not overly hopeful! WAS IT ECM's INVOLVEMENT THAT LED OFSTED TO DOWNGRADE Mrs WALKER’S NURSERY FROM GOOD TO INADEQUATE AFTER THE NURSERY CLASSROOM AND PLAYGOUND WAS PUT OUT BOUNDS? There does not appear to have been an Education Department or Ofsted Duty of Care operating for the nursery? Why is this? I would remind the good folk of Golborne of the total absence of support they received during all this upheaval from their political (Labour) representatives at both MP and Ward Councillor levels. Despite Andy Burnham 'living in Golborne and Shadow Education Secretary of State refused to get involved! If MP/councillors are more afraid of De-selection than they are of being Re-elected – It is surely time for the community to find a party that will strive to actually represent them lest they be voted out of office by their disaffected electorate! In spite of Mrs Brindle moving on from ST Thomas, nothing has changed; 'her' Head Teacher, School Governors and ECM are still keeping her regime alive and kicking. It’s the same old tactic - frustrate and discourage openness. LATEST NEWS UPDATE WHAT PRICE A REFERENCE? In answer to the many enquiries regarding Mrs Brindle’s reference from St Thomas Primary School the Signatories would appear to be the St Thomas Primary School Chair of Govs, and the other, possibly Steve Wilson from ECM (he was the one who did her appraisals) In order to prevent a repeat of what occurred at St Thomas and Bollin, schools need to be wary of ‘disguised’ applications from individuals with 'history' i.e. use of maiden names ( Tuttle ) to ensure transparency. Fortunately for the pupils, teachers and parents at Bollin School they collectively managed to remove Mrs Brindle and avoid what occurred at our school. History should not be repeated in another unfortunate institution! How did Mrs Brindle manage to manipulate the authorities - without question? Sinead Barry the leader of the parents for the ‘Bollin Parent Engagement Group’ who opposed Brindle at Bollin Primary School was ‘invited’ to attend her local police station ‘under caution’ to address libel issues. This smacks of my Letter Before Action threat from Wigan LEA and the police ‘calling’ on Mrs Joanna Rigby (ST Thomas former school secretary) at her home at 10pm on a Saturday evening after Mrs Brindle’s lied that Joanna had threatened parents on school premises. Together with the numerous other people including Staff and parents who suffered under Mrs Brindle’s torrent of lies and threats! I have assured Sinead that the ‘Golborne wronged’ will support her. At least we might get the opportunity to tell our stories in a law court! The copies of the minutes for St Thomas Primary School Governors meetings under my Freedom of Information Act request never referred to the Governor’s involvement with commercial education company ECM or the Drama Group’s fictional Lettings Agreement! Were Wigan Education Department or the School Governors guilty of omitting the fact that they were responsible for paying ECM approximately £18,000 out of St Thomas Primary School funds? Additionally, I am informed that Mrs Brindle paid £13,000 to ECM out of Bollin Primary School funds! ECM IS NO LONGER INVOLVED WITH BOLLIN PRIMARY SCHOOL! I received fictional information from an apparently freely granted Freedom of Information Act request (a pack of lies). Important and sensitive information had been omitted. Is this a criminal offence that should be followed up with an Independent Enquiry and those found guilty prosecuted? Both Wigan Council and Trafford Council Data Protection Departments gave similar reasons for their Notice of Refusal, with the following exemption: “This information was collected solely for the purposes of an application for employment and data subjects would not expect it to be shared for any other purpose.” What this basically means, in Wigan and Trafford Local Authorities, is that anybody can sponsor applicants for important public office, for example Head Teachers of the Local Authorities Schools. The guarantor is guaranteed anonymity. Where are the safeguards? Paedophiles, criminals and other unsuitable people can nominate people for Local Authority Schools and there can be no PUBLIC scrutiny. IN THE LIGHT OF THE GRENFELL TOWER APPALLING ‘AVOIDABLE’ TRAGEDY, IS SECRECY STILL ACCEPTABLE? IS THERE A METHOD OF RAISING FUNDS FOR A CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IN ORDER TO EXONERATE THE TEACHERS FORCED TO RESIGN AND RESTORE THEIR TARNISHED REPUTATIONS? IT IS IN YOUR HANDS Copies to: donna.hall@wigan.gov.uk and joanne.platt.mp@parliament.uk This question needs an urgent response from Wigan and Trafford Local Authorities! I will close with lists of payments to ECM from St Thomas’ funds I received from Bollin. Good luck and God bless to all Charles Proctor