St Anselms Bakewell

[Lmurphy]

Hi,
We are thinking of sending our 2 sons to S. Anselms, Bakewell Derbyshire, next year they would join years 5 and 7. Please could anyone give me any feed back on the school.
Thanks

My DH has heard that the headteacher has just left abruptly. Others will hopefully come along with more information to help you, but if that is the case then there will probably be significant changes afoot anyway. It is S Anselm's, by the way, no t.

The school has now confirmed in a letter to parents that Peter Phillips has left S Anselm's and a current Deputy Head will be acting as Head for the next 2 terms while a new Head is found.

Thank you for the update, I really appreciate it.

PP leaving not nec a bad thing. S Anselms has had a v high staff turnover lately for this type of school where staff tend to get a post and then stay forever. Last year the staff leavers were in the double figures which, for such a small school, is huge. Those remaining are generally good teachers, who now may be able to get on with the teaching....

Lmurphy
You're welcome. I agree with the pp, and would actually go further and say that I think it's a very good thing indeed for the school.

The current Chair of Governors has written to parents again. The letter confirms that Peter Phillips the ex Headmaster of S Anselm's was sacked with immediate effect following an investigation into various administrative and financial irregularities. The school is now looking forward and concentrating on a more positive future.

Don't let this put you off the school, OP, by the way. On the contrary; with this action having been taken, I think that the school is in a much better position now than for the last 6-7 years. It is a more honest, calm, happy, fair, open and positive place for everyone already under the Acting Head. This will continue under a new Head, as long as the new governors do not repeat the mistakes of the last appointment and then keep a better eye on things than has been the case in the recent past. I can say honestly now that the school has much to recommend it for your 2 sons, moving forward.

I was also interested in sending my son to the school but had heard bad things about the head. If there were financial problems is he being investigated by the police and surely the school must be having problems??

I think the school is now in a much better position. The new Governors have done a brilliant job sorting things out and have drawn a line under it leaving the school clear to move forward in a more positive way. My children haven’t looked back since joining this school and I can wholeheartedly recommend.

So where has the old Head gone? Presumably to another school to do the same thing again! People should be held to account for their actions and it is a shame if this mismanagement is not fully investigated. Particularly if the school is a charitable trust which I think it is. The fact that this has been covered up doesn't give me much confidence in the integrity of the school as a potential future parent.

We have found the school to be wonderful for our child & there seems to be a new more relaxed feel about the place as if everyone has kind of stopped holding their breath. The teachers seem happier too and we feel onwards and upwards. The new set up behind the scenes seems to be improving communication and informing us about things more and the acting head is so much more approachable.

I find myself agreeing in parts with both pps. An agreement is apparently in place for the school to be repaid.

Does he get to keep his headmaster of the year award?

You'd better ask Tatler that one!

How did he get the job then if that's how he left his previous school? Do they not do proper checks? He should not be allowed to move somewhere else to do the same.

Hello all....I feel I am in a reasonable place to comment on S. Anselms as I am a parent at the school who has had a child there for the last 12 years....I have with my youngest another 5 years to go...PP leaving with what we now know is a good thing. I have lived through 2 previous Head's in Foster and Northcott. Foster was a larger than life guy who people thought would be hard to replace. He left to go to another school after long service. Northcott started and the school survived. PP leaving is just that , he has left...the school will survive. All but 1 Governor has been replaced. The new team of Governors have invested personally with their own money into the school. The fee's have been frozen for the next academic year because the Governors are business people who have got under control the expenditure of the school.

I have chosen to keep my youngest son at the school, my eldest leaves this year anyway . I have made a choice on balance of the facts that the acting Head is doing a great job along with all the other staff of teaching the children. The school is financially stable. The fee's maybe more than elsewhere, but on balance it is value for money. I have voted with my feet....and I am stopping. I could save myself several thousand of pounds a year and gone to another lesser day school..but no...If you are serious about your child having a first class rounded education the S. Anselms is the best in the area, still...even with all the talk about PP.

My Father used to say you can't drive a car by just looking through the rear view mirror....people need to stop focusing on the previous Governors not acting on PP's action's and on PP leaving. He has left and so have all the Governors who were there at the time other than one.

The new Governors have the hand on the rudder and know exactly where they are going along with the acting Head. They have their money and children in the school.

As I said earlier my children are staying put as I have total confidence in the new team.....

Afternoon, everyone. While we're happy for this sort of thing to be discussed - we can see it's a conversation prospective parents might benefit from hearing - we need to ask everyone not to speculate on anything they don't know to be fact, and to keep comments about individuals polite and factual, rather than personal. Thank you.

I think it's a shame that the above posts have been deleted. I am not entirely surprised and I understand that MN will perhaps feel they are in a difficult situation if pressure has been applied to delete.

I have asked and received some clarification from MN about why my post was deleted, because - as with my remaining posts - it was polite, restrained, I give facts as evidenced by the 2 letters sent out by governors, and where I was expressing an opinion that was clear. I will not repeat my post here, however, because MN has asked me not to and I have to respect their position.

I don't think any deleted pps above crossed a line, actually. Personal experiences and opinions were strongly expressed in some cases, yes, which can make unpalatable and uncomfortable reading for some. Nobody was abusive.

Like some remaining pps, I am also in a good position as a parent to comment on this school. Although I believe the last 6 and a half years to be the lowest point in its long history, my family has a fondness for and loyalty to the school - perhaps even to a recently undeserved degree - and truly hopes that it can put this sorry episode behind it and flourish once again.

I do not believe that those reporting posts and seeking to stifle honest debate are acting in the best interests of the school. After all, in my personal experience, if concerns had been allowed to be aired, listened to, taken seriously, and acted upon without fear or favour, what happened would not have been allowed to continue unchecked and unacknowledged right up until February of this year.

The school needs to learn from this so that everyone can have more confidence - including parents and prospective parents - that past mistakes will not be repeated. This includes, in future, allowing people to speak honestly and openly about reasonable concerns.

The place for wool, after all, is not over eyes.