End of School Year Report

Well this blog has been running for five months now and looking back have the following reflections. First of all where are we now:

• The core problems have not gone away. The inappropriate conduct of our head-teacher remains, and also remains unaddressed by those responsible, as far as we can see.
• There was an open meeting and no-one raised this issue. That is because Mrs Cleugh was present and we do have some manners. It was neither the time or the place to raise such an issue. Many of us wanted to do some rebuilding, and it would have got very ugly if we had got onto that subject.
• The Governors have regularly moaned about this blog and how it has impeded their work, but they have not actually sought to do anything about it. I suppose human nature is such that we prefer to moan than act. However, this is a worrying lack of leadership on their part, firstly because of the nature of the allegations being made, and secondly they have stood back and let Mrs Cleugh’s reputation be attacked.

Actually, we have an ok school, which for the most part runs well. There remains a lot of goodwill, as evidenced by the summer fete. We would all like to have a good, or even a great school though.

Has this blog damaged Mrs Cleugh’s reputation? Almost certainly yes, unfortunately. It could have been stopped a long time ago had the Governors (and/or the Diocese) decided to act and engage those known people with concerns and difficulties.

Has this blog damaged the school’s reputation? In the short term, probably yes, but only a little.

So where do we go from here? This blog will be taking a break for a period of time now. There are a number of reasons for this as follows:

• Mrs Cleugh, who is the centre of our concerns, is stepping back for a while for health reasons. (We do hope her knee surgery goes well and that she makes a full recovery.)
• A replacement head-teacher will be filling in for her. Welcome to our school, Mrs Bosschaert. We have no issues with you, and we hope you time helping us out here in St Vincent’s is enjoyable and rewarding. Thank you for coming.
• The Board of Governors have frequently stated that they cannot get on with running the school because of this blog. Therefore this break will give them some time to address a number of overdue issues. We look forward to some good progress from you all during this time.
• The people who contribute to this blog are reasonable people. We are hurt, angry and frustrated people, but fundamentally we are reasonable. We do not want to damage our school’s or churches’ reputation more than is absolutely necessary (we didn’t want to do it at all actually – but if people refuse to listen then other people have no choice but to shout). A cooling off period for everyone is probably a good thing, and we are happy to make a gesture of goodwill.
  

So until next term, have a great summer everyone!