What’s going on in Merton primary schools at the moment?

[MajorClanger63]

Things tend to happen in threes, right? But you don’t expect to find that in less than four months, three of Merton’s primary schools (across the borough) have suffered from the sudden loss (temporary or permanent) of their Headteachers? West Wimbledon, Garfield and now Liberty are all currently being managed by ‘interim’ Heads. Is there some type of mega-audit going on by the Council’s Education Department or what? Most unusual…

Anyone got any insights???

[Inneedofstrongblackcoffee]

I was wondering that Majorclanger. I didn't know about West Wimbledon but knew about Garfield and Liberty.
My friend's children attend Liberty and the parents received a letter basically saying the teacher had taken immediate retirement.
I think its a Head-Teacher from Singlegate and Rutlish are helping the school.
Perhaps Merton are considering mass academisation of their primaries as their projected cutbacks are very severe.
Not sure that would explain three head teachers leaving so suddenly though.
Should we be concerned?

[Willemdefoeismine]

Given how quickly the local press picked up on the mysterious disappearance of the Headteachers at West Wimbledon and Garfield, I'm surprised there's not been any word (that I've seen anyway) about the sudden and very recent departure at Liberty...

I guess time will tell.

As far as I'm aware though, the Heads from West Wimbledon and Garfield are away from their schools/duties due to 'personal reasons', although that's possibly a smokescreen.

Not sure if we should be concerned or not - it could be just a clustering illusion???

Inneedofstrongblackcoffee not sure if I like the idea of the 'mass academisation of Merton primaries'. Tell us more about thes 'projected cutbacks' by Merton Council???

[Inneedofstrongblackcoffee]

www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/11656517._Life_changing__cuts_across_public_services_in_Merton_approved_last_night/
Link to council budget as reported in local rag

[2FatLadied]

That's all about cutting adult social care, they are prioritising school expansions and children's services. All of which is worrying, but I'm not sure how relevant to the head teacher resignations.

[Inneedofstrongblackcoffee]

Yes some of the cutbacks are adult social care but some involve cuts across the board including the youth service. Yes school expansion is a priority as it is in most London boroughs.
There is a worry that with the requirement of all these new teachers Merton will need excellent Heads to run good schools with good teachers.
Some schools are going from 1- form entry to 3 - form entry and that's a lot of new staff recruitment. If we have a shortage of good heads then where does that leave us?

[HaydonWomble]

That's depressing to read Inneedofstrongblackcoffee. My impression is that Headteachers have been finding it increasingly difficult to get a full complement of teachers for their (London) schools, let alone 'good' ones. If it becomes an exercise in just filling vacancies rather than appointing good teachers, then it puts the SMTs under intense pressure and scrutiny. No wonder they're falling like flies...

I wonder when the baby boom bubble is going to burst and Headteachers return to running reasonably sized schools?

I suspect, though, that when the birthrate does start falling, many of these 'super' primary schools will end up being closed and the extremely hard-worked Headteachers and SMTs may find themselves facing redundancy...

So glad not to be in the teaching profession!

[HaydonWomble]

Just been reading a few articles in the broadsheets that suggest the pressure is just being piled on Headteachers more and more. So I guess it could be that the strain is starting to show in a not terribly productive way.

I can imagine though that the provision of trouble-shooting interims to guide the schools won't come cheap, possibly potentially putting more strain on the schools concerned.

[Willemdefoeismine]

Just seen on the Merton Council website that the Head's job at West Wimbledon has been advertised.