St Vincent's Timeline Part II

This is the second part of the Acton Timeline. There will be more information to follow later.


ST VINCENT’S TIME LINE part II

Time line of some of the issues and correspondence since Mrs Cleugh was appointed Head Teacher at St Vincent’s in Acton in Jan 2006

Jan 07 After 3 Terms of Mrs Cleugh taking up her Headship at the school 20 members of staff had left. The majority left for reasons which were directly connected with Mrs Cleugh and her management style.

Jan 10th Letter from parents to Chair of Governors concerning survey and Freedom of Information Act. cc Diocese

Jan 15th Letter from parents to Governors giving their reasons for withdrawing their child from the school. ‘Our previous experience of St Vincent’s up until the last two terms has been wonderful. We accept that sometimes one has to endure change for the good but we struggled to see the positive and we know we are not the only ones.’

Jan 17th Statement from former employee giving reasons for leaving.

Jan 18th Letter from Chair of Governors to parent concerning survey.

Feb 07 Statement from former employee giving details of Mrs Cleugh’s relentless harassment of some members of staff. ‘If this is the calibre of head teacher promoted by the diocese then they are promoting a culture of bullying.’

Feb 07 Statement from former employee concerning treatment by Mrs Cleugh and treatment of other members of staff and lack of care for children in the school.

Feb 3rd Letter from present and past parents to Bishop Alan Hopes asking for help. ‘Please understand it is because we care deeply about the school, our children and our fellow parishioners that we are here. We are frustrated and upset because the culture of the school has changed and we believe it has the potential to be damaging not only to individuals and children but to the wider parish community.’

Feb 7th Email sent to Inclusion Governor concerning unfair treatment of a PFA member at a meeting and raising serious concerns about treatment of children and special needs provision in the school. There was no response from the Governor concerning the issues raised.

Feb 9th Statement from Governor giving reasons for withdrawing child from school. ‘Unfortunately I felt I had no choice but to move her as a once happy child had become depressed and stressed.’

Feb 15th Letter from Chair of Governors to all parents concerning response to survey.

Feb 16th Statement from NUT concerning industrial relations at St Vincent’s ‘I can only conclude with my professional opinion that two of the key ingredients of a good school are stability and continuity of staffing, alongside a truly co-operative team ethic from top to bottom of the team. Both of these have now gone from St Vincent’s, which can only impact in the longer-term achievement of its students’.

Feb 19th Statement and diary of events from a Teacher concerning treatment by Mrs Cleugh and her management style. ‘My time at St Vincent’s after Mrs Cleughs appointment was, however characterised by the lack of constructive engagement between management and staff.’

Feb 20th A letter from a former employee concerning their experience at St Vincent’s as a member of staff referring to breaches of protocol.

Feb 22nd Statement from parent concerning ‘degree of unrest that appears to be present amongst the teaching staff, and also spilling over into the wider Parish community’.

Feb 22nd Statement from parent to support former employee.

Feb 24th Letter from parents to Chair of Governors concerning lack of care of a member of staff. cc Diocese, LEA, Unison

Mar 7th Letter from parent concerning loss of senior teachers and management style of Mrs Cleugh.

Mar 9th Letter from parents to Chair of Governors stating that their concerns remained and are getting worse. cc Bishop Stack, Diocese, LEA

Mar 11th Letter from parents to Diocese about their concerns not being addressed. cc Chair of Governors, Parish priest

Mar 14th Letter from Diocese to parents in response to letter dated March 11th.

April 07 3 children were withdrawn from the school after an incident with Mrs Cleugh which has not been resolved.

May 2nd Letter from Bishop Stack to all parents ‘I ask you to support the governors who work tirelessly and with dedication for the good of the school, and back the head teacher in her efforts to improve the school’. This letter also stated that ‘Prior to last year’s OFSTED inspection the diocese and LEA had concerns about the quality of education at the school; this was partly due to the fact that the school had experienced several different headteachers in a short space of time.’ This statement is at odds with evidence about the school.

Over the last 8 years St Vincent’s has had 3 Head Teachers. Mrs Govern April 1999 – April 2004, Mr Murphy Sept 2004 – Sept 2005 and Mrs Cleugh Jan 2005 – to date. St Vincent’s has had consistently good SATS results over recent years and in 2005 was top of the league tables in the borough of Ealing.

May 07 A Governor resigned.

May 10th The parents Open Meeting was attend by Mrs Cleugh, the staff, Governors and Mr Pittendreigh from the Diocese. An ex- parent was asked to leave the meeting after it was brought to the attention of the Chair of Governors by Mrs Cleugh that he was present (This was witnessed by many parents). At this meeting Mrs Cleugh stated that the school web site was locked. This has since been found to be untrue.

May 14th Letter to Chair of Governors from ex-parent who was asked to leave the meeting on 10th May requesting an open meeting with the Governors for ex-parents and former
employees. cc Diocese, LEA, M.P., The Children’s Commissioner for England, The Secretary of state for Education.

May 07 Statement from former employee concerning unfair treatment of staff by Mrs Cleugh.

May 07 A delegation from St Vincent’s and St Mary’s communities had a meeting with the local M.P. Mr Andrew Slaughter to present facts and ask for support regarding the serious concerns relating to the management and treatment of staff, parents and children in all three schools that Mrs Cleugh has been involved with.

June 1st Follow up letter to M.P. Mr Andrew Slaughter ‘We have suggested that anyone who has been affected or have concerns regarding Mrs Cleugh should contact you in confidence, in order to build a file which could be used for an independent inquiry into the running of these three schools’.

June 07 Another Governor resigned.

June 07 Statement from former teacher concerning lack of care for special needs child who is no longer in the school. ‘In my opinion, she did not act in the best interest of _______ or the other children in my class.’

July 07 A delegation from St Vincent’s and St Mary’s communities had a second meeting with M.P. Andrew Slaughter to update him and ask him to investigate the highly unusual catalogue of events that has happened in both communities.

July 07 An article appeared in the local newspaper the ‘Ealing Times’. ‘Parents protest online about ‘climate of fear’.’

July 07 11 more members of staff will have left between January 07 and July 07 – Deputy Head, Year 1 Teacher, Year 2 Teacher, Year 3 Teacher, Year 4 Teacher, SEN Teacher, French Teacher, P.E. Teacher, 2 Classroom Assistants, Special Needs Assistant.

July 07 After 5 Terms of Mrs Cleugh taking up her Headship at the school 30 members of staff will have left. The majority have left for reasons which are directly connected with Mrs Cleugh and her management style.

By now most of the original Teaching Staff, many of whom are part of the community, have either left or are leaving the school. Two Governors have resigned so far.

The Governors, Chair of Governors, LEA, The Diocese, Local MP, Children’s Commissioner for England and Secretary of State for Education are all aware of the cries of help from people in the community of Acton.