The mysterious head of Goodrich - does he really exist?

[Medusa]

Nothing surprises me. The first formal complaint I made mysteriously vanished so the Board of Governors never saw it and when I asked for a complaints from the second time, I was told they didn't have them any more. When I tried to discuss issues with Ofsted, they weren't even interested in listening. Corrupt, the lot of them.

[Growlybear]

I'm a little puzzled by Medusa's bizarre post. All schools have an agreed Complaints Procedure which should be available from the school, either on the website, or from the office, and which parents should follow. The steps in the procedure should be followed, ie meet the class teacher if appropriate, discuss the issue with the Headteacher, and then raise the concern with the Chair of the Governing Body if the problem is not resolved. Once these steps have been completed, a parent can then request (usually in writing to the Clerk to the Governing Body)that the complaint is considered by the Governing BOdy's Complaints Committee. Details of a complaint would not be shared with the full Governing Body at this stage, because of the need to ensure that there are enough governors available to take part in the Complaints Committee who have had no prior knowledge of the concerns being raised and who are therefore impartial. Once the Complaints Committee has met and reached a decision, then it would be usual for a brief report to be made to the full Governing Body, and for any recommendations made to be discussed. Ofsted would not generally take up a parental complaint, particularly if the parents haven't followed the proper procedure.

In respect of the comments made earlier in the thread regarding the expected Ofsted judgment, schools and governing bodies should be self evaluating on a continuous basis, and there is an expectation that schools will know whether they are outstanding, good etc. The Ofsted judgment should therefore not come as a significant surprise if the school and governors are doing their job properly. Given the Headteacher's previous experience and background I would expect that he would be able to form a very accurate judgment of the likely outcome from the next inspection.

[mako]

I have always been very impressed by the headmaster. He knows the names of every pupil in the school and they know (and generally like)him. This is far more important than knowing all the parents in my opinion. He is usually on the gate every morning so am surprised that some are saying they havent seen him.

[Mellors]

I can't comment on Goodrich, but our head (of a local primary school) is available almost every morning and afternoon in the playgrounds, takes the school tours, assemblies etc and emailed me the same day with a choice of dates/times when I asked or organise a joint meeting with her, the SENCO and the class teacher re a learning difficulty. Brilliant, and to be honest, what we should all expect I think?

[standswithfist]

Growly Bear - i think the point is that the head is not meeting with parents? yet you state "The steps in the procedure should be followed, ie meet the class teacher if appropriate, discuss the issue with the Headteacher"

If one cannot get to see the Headteacher to discuss then what?

[Belle]

I think it's a stretch to say the head knows every child by name. I'm not suggesting he should - I'm undecided on that point. In my limited experience contact with the head can lead to delegation to an assistant head (who was very helpful). Again, I'm not sure I know enough about larger schools to know whether that's to be expected.

The key thing this thread tells me is that even though we all have limited choice in the schools we can send our kids to, it is worth doing a wide range of school tours so that you can get an idea of what is possible, what is common practice, and what you think works. That way if it isn't happening in the school you end up with, you at least have a frame of reference.

[tash b]

@norfolkvillas you are doing the best thing not accepting a place at Goodrich, I would not now that's for sure, and as for Goodrich guessing user names on here that doesn't surprise me at all with them.

[Growlybear]

If a parent is following the formal Complaints Procedure, then the Headteacher would have to meet the parent. But this is very different to a request by a prospective parent for a general discussion about the school, or to a request by an existing parent to talk about an issue that could be resolved by talking to a class teacher, deputy head etc. If the formal Procedure is being followed, the parent would have made this clear to the school in writing, and the Headteacher would be aware that a formal process was being followed. I haven't seen anything in any of the posts in this thread to suggest that the school's formal Complaints Process is being followed by parents - just general grumbles that the Headteacher hasn't made himself available to meet people when requested, and of course the allegation made of corruption.

Although it's unfortunate that the Headteacher wasn't available for the open day, I have no idea of the reason for this, and I think it is totally unrealistic to expect him to meet individual prospective parents who may or may not send their children to the school. As a couple of people have said in this thread, the Headteacher is available at the gate in the mornings. If I had a child at Goodrich, I would much rather he spent his time improving teaching and learning standards and getting to know the children than spending time in meetings with parents that could well be handled by other members of his staff.

[ClareC]

A school guessing user names!?!?! Too much time on their hands clearly methinks, and ever so slightly stalker scarey ;)

I have no experience with Goodrich however did get to meet with head of the school we ultimately put as our first choice prior to listing our preferences. We were torn between two schools, one with a "super" head who was very unavailable and another very good school although with very slightly less impressive results.

That meeting which was readily available and we were not rushed in any way sealed our choice! Fortunately we were offered a place at the school and my daughter starts this September. The head is readily available, stands at the gate every morning and greets each child by name and is rated highly by offsted. It is possible to manage a school well and be available to parents on the occasion they feel they need to meet with the head, which let's face it is once in a blue moon!

Based on your recent experience I think you have made the right choice.

[DaveR]

I find it interesting that the only substantive criticism* of the head at Goodrich concerns his willingness (or otherwise) to be available to individual parents, either because they have a gripe, or because they want to audition him for the role of head teacher to their offspring, or because they seem to be reassured if he can be seen grinning at the gates of a morning. I don't want to be unfair to the man, but is it possible that he has decided that spending a lot of time hearing from parents is unlikely to make him better able to do his job, and, scandalous though the suggestion may seem, that he may be right? Nobody wants a return to the days when professional people were remote and the concerns of ordinary folks could be dismissed out of hand, but I think the current level of self-absorption shown by many parents has swung matters too far in the opposite direction. Everybody is free to make their own choice, of course, but I would suggest that looking at results (in the very broadest sense) is the best way of judging a school and a head teacher.

*except the recently departed pupil who objected to the fact that the school umiform rules were actually enforced.

[mako]

The head has an outstanding record prior to goodrich and anyone with children at the school through the previous head will have seen a dramatic improvement in the school under his leadership. I think a lot of work needed doing and if to achieve that he has prioritised that over meeting parents of children yet at the school that would be a positive in my opinioon. Possibly its the case that some individuals misguided sense of self importance means they feel they should only deal with the head.

[mako]

Surely the school would only be able to guess a user name if there were very few complainers to chose from. I think it would be appropriate for some context to be added to the accusation too.

Tash B I would be interested to read your list.

[Norfolkvillas]

They would have easily guessed my username because they would have matched the actions I described in my original post (requesting a meeting before I was offered a place, and requesting a meeting after I was offered a place) with the email correspondence between the school and I. And to be honest, that's fine. I don't post anything using my forum username that I wouldn't be happy to stand by in person. It was the post from rubix72 that I thought was a bit weird, but again, nothing I'm that perturbed about.

I feel like this thread had turned into a bit of a mud-slinging match, and that really wasn't my intention - I'm not calling into question how great a school Goodrich is, I'm just trying to make the best decision for my children (from the lucky position to have had a choice at all), as I'm sure we all are.

[tomskip]

There are three gates at Goodrich and I often see the head at one of them. He's probably not there every morning and evening but then he is in charge of a very large school and nursery and seems to have been busy making notable improvements in the past two years. I'm another who finds it surprising that a prospective parent would expect to have a personal meeting with a primary school head as part of the application process. Goodrich has 90 children starting in reception each year and many more starting in nursery. How would he have the time?

[Honoroaky]

Well, we have thought very long and hard this weekend and have decided to accept our place at Goodrich over Harris. I'm still sad that we will be missing out on a fabulous opportunity for our child to be part of something quite special and new but for us the logistics of getting to the permanent site when it moves and then onto work will be much trickier for us than Goodrich which is just around the corner.

As we're right on the furthest distance, any other year and I don't think we would have got a place at Goodrich this early on, so we are grateful for that. And I'm not concerned about the criticism of the Head - I'll be able to form my own opinion come September I guess!

Good luck to everyone who has decided to go for Harris, I'm sure all our children will be happy and settled at good schools by this time next year.

[ClareC]

Norfolkvillas Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> They would have easily guessed my username because

> they would have matched the actions I described in

> my original post (requesting a meeting before I

> was offered a place, and requesting a meeting

> after I was offered a place) with the email

> correspondence between the school and I. And to

> be honest, that's fine. I don't post anything

> using my forum username that I wouldn't be happy

> to stand by in person. It was the post from

> rubix72 that I thought was a bit weird, but again,

> nothing I'm that perturbed about.

>

> I feel like this thread had turned into a bit of a

> mud-slinging match, and that really wasn't my

> intention - I'm not calling into question how

> great a school Goodrich is, I'm just trying to

> make the best decision for my children (from the

> lucky position to have had a choice at all), as

> I'm sure we all are.

Agreed.

I don't think every parent would expect a meeting with the head, however, for some, there are many factors where it is useful for reasons other than 'self absorption'. I would be surprised if any parent would speak with the head for any reason other than trying to do right by their child. Not sure how this is construed as 'self'.

From what I know of Goodrich it is a good school and the head is a good head, that said he won't suit all. I personally found making a decision as to which school to put as first choice very hard, there were two I liked and in an ideal world I would have cherry picked from both!

I looked at 4 schools and only requested a meeting with the head at one, it had already been made very clear she was happy to meet with prospective parents and answer any questions they had. We met with her some months after viewing the school having been in a situation where the heart said that particular school but the head said another (better results). Having undertaken copious amounts of research and worked out that the published results are not always as they appear, it was really helpful meeting up with the head to ask the questions we had to ask, explained the published information, and couldn't be discovered without meeting the head.

Nothing about self absorption, simply about trying to make the best choice for my child having made myself aware of all the facts available to me.

Clearly now my daughter has a place, if I had any queries etc my first port of call would be her teacher (or is it self absorption to expect to speak to the teacher when their job is to teach not speak with parents?). It is however comforting to know the head is approachable and there to speak with should the situation arise where it was necessary. I hope very much it never does.

The family room is a great resource with really helpful users and a community feel. It is sad when the mud slinging and insults shown on other area's of the forum find their way here.

[mako]

clare

Chosing schools is obviously a stressful time for parents and so people can easily be wound up. However my point is if the head is doing his job then his vision should be shared with their deputy heads and other members of staff and there shouldnt be things that 'cant be discovered without meeting the head'. The heads time is therefore better off making the school better and this is what I believe the head has done here and should continue to do so in the future without negativity such as that which started with the unfair heading of the thread, from someone not at the school who therefore was ignorant of the fact that he is on the gate most days.

[alice]

every few years the head of goodrich gets a slagging on here. means nothing.

[tomk]

The title of the thread is inflammatory. The OP and others should remember that you are writing about an identifiable professional whose reputation you are effectively attempting to call into question on a public forum. Bad form. I would say he is the only victim of mud slinging that actually matters.

[Belle]

I totally recognise the reason why we usually steer clear of anything too negative about our local schools. Makes sense. But what the OP was posting was a genuine question - with a (clearly, to me) jokey title. As the OP has explained already on this thread, it's not about every one of 90 families expecting one to one time with the headteacher. If the HT was part of the regular tours that take place, the question would likely not have arisen. In practice, it's probably just a handful of prospective parents who don't have prior experience of the school,whether through nursery or older siblings, who might ask for some time with the headteacher. That could be arranged in a small group if it's a question of time limitations.

I agree with Clare C that the family room is normally a really friendly and helpful place to post and receive feedback from. It would be nice if, when someone is genuinely asking for feedback/info with regards to making a pretty important decision, we could provide it.

[Soulking]

to return to the OP - yes I think its unrealistic for prospective parents to expect to meet with the head teacher one to one. There are many hundreds of people who put goodrich down on their list - the head can't possibly be expected to meet all prospective parents. While the accusation of "self-absorbtion" might be a bit harsh - we all want to the best for our kids - it is true that the head teacher needs to prioritise his time for the good of the school as a whole.

Also, we did get to meet him on our tour of the school before we applied last year - and had the opportunity to meet our son's teachers several times before the year started.

[Norfolkvillas]

In response to Mako and TomK: This is crazy. I asked about how accessible the head is to those already at the school because I CANNOT know, because I don't already have a child at the school. Yes I am, by definition, ignorant of whether or not he's at the school gates morning and night - and, to point out the bleedin' obvious, that's why I asked in the first place!

I don't see how is this calling into question his reputation? Or mud-slinging? Or inflammatory.

Having had cause to reflect on the subject of how accessible a head is over the course of the last few days, this thread having taken the surreal and unexpected course that it has, I think it's probably that as a full-time working mum, it's important to me that I feel I can reach out to management at my kids' school via email or phone or face-to-face appointments, because I won't have the medium of 'at the school gates' interactions. This is just my own personal set of circumstances and priorities, and I was simply trying to weigh up how one school might fit with them, and asking opinions of those who might know more than me via this forum, of which I am (usually) a huge fan.

And yes, the thread title was tongue-in-cheek and meant to be light-hearted - I clearly failed on that count; I had NO idea what a Pandora's box it would open!

Thanks Belle and ClareC for the support.

[ryedalema]

Hi Norfolkvillas,

I've been reading this thread and my heart went out to you with your last comment. I have one child going into year 3 at Goodrich next year and one starting in reception there too.

I work full time so am rarely on the school gates, so I think I can empathise with your need to feel in touch with the school while not being 'as present' as others might.

I see the headteacher most days when I drop my oldest off at breakfast club (8am) and the school admin office is great at passing on any messages to the head or the class teacher when necessary, and ensuring timely replies.

There is also pastoral care on site should any child need it. It's called sunshine corner and is there to make sure the child feels comfortable with any non-curricular school life stuff - a lovely thing I think.

There's also an extremely active PTA called FOG (Friends of Goodrich), with a parental representative in each class who makes sure parents know what's going on at all times, and the usual run of social activities for kids and parents - fairs, fun runs, pub quizzes, film nights, Goodrich Rocks (disco) etc etc.

Oh, and they are on Twitter and you get a regular feed of tweets about school trips, events. updates on there too.

Also, if like me, you'd want to make use of the breakfast club and afterschool club (Gumboots) then I can vouch for both of them as being extremely professionally run and caring/active clubs where the children can run about, or relax and read or take part in activities or do their homework. Gumboots has just expanded to be take care of Heber too - so is now on three sites (Darrell road looking after St. Johns and St. Clements children, Heber and Goodrich) so they must be doing something right.

I didn't meet the head during our school tour, but then that was because our oldest started while the previous head was in post...but I can tell you that since the new head started, we've seen him almost every day.

Hope that helps and all the very best with your decision x

[VeronicaSawyer]

I have two kids at Goodrich, far enough up the school to have had experience of more than one head teacher. No-one would ever say MrV was a people person, but he is a fantastic head. He may not be available for meet and greets, but that's fine wih me; his priority is the pupils, and seeing as he's doing such a good job with them I'm ok with the fact that he regards the parents as a bit of a burden. The couple of times I've had concerns about things, I've been surprised and impressed to have had a call back from a member of the senior leadership team within a couple of hours of sending my email. On both occasions they had already put measures in place to rectify the issue.

I can't speak for every child in the school, but both of mine, and their classmates and other friends think he's great. His singing in assembly comes in for particular praise. He seems to have a great network of old colleagues and contacts, who he has drawn into teach or help out at the school and also (very importantly for a head) knows where to dig out funds. I had real concerns when he started that his priority would be SATs to the detriment of non-academic subjects, but couldn't have been more wrong. The children have been doing some amazing artwork and I understand that music will be one of his next priorities. And the academic improvements (for children of all abilities) in the school are there in the stats for anyone to see.

Sorry, bit of a hagiography, but I like him!