WITHOUT PREJUDICE 

All,

This petition has been set up as a Vote of no confidence in the Trustees, CEO and COO of Beaulieu Convent School which may be signed by any concerned individuals (not just parents) following recent activities at the school.

It is with much regret, that following the removal of Mrs Andrea Firby, it is felt by the group of parents + others that have signed this petition that we need to bring a vote of no confidence in the team and individuals mentioned above for the reasons stated below.

As you are aware, a note was received by the parents stating Mrs Firby has taken voluntary redundancy following a redundancy review in a process to streamline Senior Management. 

Mrs Firby was, and will remain a stalwart of the Beaulieu community.  She was loved by pupils and parents alike and it is widely said that she knew every student’s name.  She was the guardian of the values and was at the heart of day to day activities within the school.  She was a figure of nurture and kindness while maintaining respect and being a figure head all the students looked up to.

She was in attendance at all school events be it A Level results to preschool nativity and took her role as Head of School so seriously that she stood at the top of the hill every day to welcome the students to school.  Beaulieu was lucky to have a lady with such passion and care at the centre of their community. 

Difficulty among the Senior Management team has been well known across the team at Beaulieu and a culture of fear and bullying have resulted in numerous resignations.  Despite this culture of intimidation which is known to be in existence by the unions (as reported in the Jersey Evening Post - 30Dec22), Mrs Firby maintained her stance on her views which was pupil centric and the conflict between her and the CEO was known.  

Over the last six months we have seen the CEO build a new Executive Leadership Team.  To date this team exists of:

Chris Beirne, CEO, 
Pippa Davidson-Coleshill, COO, appointed in June 2022
New Deputy Head, starting late 2023 
New Head of Primary, starting Jan 2023

The COO role was newly created in June and the current role holder has no education background.  It is clear that this team has no history and connection to Beaulieu and more importantly the students.  Mrs Firby was the sole member of the leadership team that had any connection with the girls and the values of the school.  

In this are several points that have caused the complete loss of all confidence in the current board, the CEO and the COO.

1.  Streamlining Senior Management and saving costs were cited as a reason for the redundancy.  If saving costs is a necessary process for the school to undertake, why have they chosen to continue to pay for a COO which would appear a luxury position not replicated in other school settings.

2. Again, if costs are to be streamlined, why has there been the very recent appointment of two non teaching staff in the deputy head and head of primary?

3. There have been several comments made around this having no impact on the students  As the figure head of the school for the students, Mrs Firby’s departure will have a material and significant impact on them.  The fact that the board seem to be unaware of this shows their complete disconnect with the school and this is the point of most concern. Alongside the timing of this announcement over a festive period which has brought concern to parents and upset numerous pupils at what should have been a time to reflect and be joyful. This is not aligned to our religious faiths.

4. There has been a lack of consistency in the communication from the school.  Mrs Firby’s departure has been referred to as both a redundancy and a resignation, both of which are completely different and has resulted in a feeling by the parents that the truth is not being told.

5. If a redundancy review was truly undertaken, why was the role and the post holder with the greatest school connection deemed the most appropriate for the pupils to loose?  Surely a review of all roles should have been undertaken through a consultation.  As the CEO role has now been combined with the Head of School, a transparent and truly fair redundancy review would have seen both Mrs Firby and Mr Beirne been put at risk of redundancy and an application process for the newly amalgamated role to follow.  

6. With Mr Beirne stating his intention to retire, why would it be sensible for him to take the role in the short term and Mrs Firby, with all her experience of the school not be a natural successor?

7. If costs are an issue, why would we go through an expensive recruitment process to replace Mr Beirne when there was a natural successor in Mrs Firby

8. There have be numerous parental contacts with the board through the Parent Consultation group and direct emails and all questions remain unanswered which gives the parents no confidence that any further dialogue is worth while.
 
The actions we have seen are not in the best interests of the girls and do not accumulate to cost savings which is the reason we have been given.

We therefore feel that there needs to be a resignation by the CEO, the COO and the remaining trustees and that Mrs Firby is reinstated as Head of School while the infrastructure is sorted out by a newly appointed emergency board of independents that undertake consultation with the staff, unions and parent consultant groups. 

We understand that there will be complexities with such a move but we know that with Mrs Firby back in school the impact on our children, which is the most important point, will be far less then her departure.  The removal of the CEO and COO will have a minimal if any impact on the day to day school life.

APPENDIX: (for newer parents):  Many new parents of Beaulieu pupils and students are also very concerned to read the current furore surrounding the running of the school but without long term experience are hesitant to commit to all of the above, instead we request an urgent review into the handling of professional matters in addition to clarity about the concerns that have been raised in this letter.