A new head teacher has been appointed at a struggling Croydon primary school after the “superhead” was fired, just two days into the role.
Ros Sandell’s new position at Oval Primary School in East Croydon was confirmed at a council meeting last night. She is replacing Craig Tunstall , the £151,835 headteacher executive of the Gipsy Hill Federation, who was removed after only 48 hours at the school, following complaints from parents and teachers.
The Gipsy Hill Federation took over the running of the school after headteacher Ruth Johnston left the school last Wednesday. The federation is an alliance of three schools, Kingswood, Elm Wood and Paxton Primary Schools, based in Lambeth.
Sandell will continue to run her current school, Fairchildes Primary School in New Addington, as well as running Oval. She will temporarily run the school until the summer.
A council spokesman said: “We remain committed to providing every child at the school with the best possible education and we know that Ms. Sandell shares that commitment.”
While running the school, Tunstall suspended seven pupils for minor offences such as not standing in line and wearing the wrong coat.
Speaking at the full council meeting, Councillor Tim Pollard, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children said: “We are very sorry for any distress caused to parents.”
Both parents and teachers were outraged at Tunstall’s methods and some teachers are said to have threatened resignation if he was not removed.
Sandell is the school’s third head teacher in the past three weeks. The council hopes that she “will bring period of stability moving forward for both the school and the wider community.”
Oval was recently placed on “special measures” after a negative Ofsted report in December.
Tunstall was appointed head following the sudden resignation of former head Ruth Johnston, who left against the wishes of teachers and the board of governors.
So the school is on special measures and a strict head is appointed to turn things round. Some of the teachers (same ones who let the place get into a mess in the first place, almost certainly through lack of pupil discipline..) don’t like him cracking down hard on arrival? (Watch some of the documentaries on how the military gets a grip on new recruits – tough at first, relaxing as they earn more respect for their efforts – not rocket science and it works. Or don’t these teachers understand anything beyond the latest touchy-feely pupil-teacher interaction theories from that hot-bed of pupil discipline, the USA??)
As for the parents – either step up to your responsibilities for discipline and supporting your kids education or get out of the way of those who are trying to do something.
Finally, the Council – pathetic. Two days isn’t enough time to assess results and they should have known and understood how he intended to achieve the objectives they set him before he was hired. Presumably he’ll sue them for wrongful dismissal, damage to reputation etc (quite right) and the rate-payer will pick up the tab. They should resign themselves – not doing their job properly, whichever way ou look at it.