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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Anyone not keen on their head teacher?

36 replies

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 16:34

Do you still like the school? I'm not overly keen on our head. She has been in post for a little while but hasn't overly impressed me. I find her defensive, unapproachable and generally unavailable. She has no presence and I think lacks authority which I have only ever seen her try to achieve by screaming/screeching.

I am not the only other person to feel like this but I am unable to discuss how I feel with other parents as I have recently become a governor.

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LeeCoakley · 02/04/2012 16:39

What qualities did your fellow governors see in her when they appointed her?

How she interacts with the children and how she manages the school would be more important to me. We had an HT like this who had no good personal skills with the parents but ran the school well.

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 16:48

I haven't asked them Lee. Do you think I should? How do I ask them a question like that without it being a loaded question?

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IndigoBell · 02/04/2012 16:54

I'm not really sure what you're asking.

A HT makes or breaks a school.

I didn't like the HT at my local school, and moved my 3 children to the next closest school. In my case that was a very good decision.

I don't think schools can improve if they have a bad HT. it's hard enough to improve if they have a great HT.

If you don't like the HT I think it's unlikely to be the right school for your kids.

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:00

Indigo I think I'm probably asking the question you have just answered - is it still the right school for my children only I didn't realise that when I started the thread.

I feel uneasy that I'm not keen on her although my children are happy, achieving, and I really like the teachers.

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Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:00

I also feel that I can't talk to anyone about this as I am a governor and it wouldn't be appropriate.

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cybbo · 02/04/2012 17:04

''If you don't like the HT I think it's unlikely to be the right school for your kids.''

I disagree with this statement. Whilst a lovely friendly personlaity is obviously a positive attribute for head to ahve I dont think it necessarily reflects on the success of the school or the children within it

Some people are excellent at their jobs without coming across particurly well

If the school is failing and the children are not progressing and staff turnover is high then I think you have something to get your teeth into.

mrsshears · 02/04/2012 17:04

Was this thread written for me?
Our head is arrogant,complacent,unreasonable and does not listen to parents or take their views into account.
However because our school is 'outstanding'(i feel the catchment has alot to do with this anyway) lots of parents think he is the bee knees.Only those who have had issues dont like him,and they are increasing in numbers rapidly.

IndigoBell · 02/04/2012 17:10

My children weren't achieving - so that certainly made the decision easier.

I was a parent governor at the time I took my children out. It was because I was a governor I was in no doubt as to how bad the school was.

2 years on all the parents are still unhappy. And still too 'risk adverse' to do anything about it.

The chair of govs has just taken his children out if the school! That has really upset the parents-who-were-trying-to-pretend-things-were-fine.

mrz · 02/04/2012 17:10

I think perhaps like is a bit open to different definitions ... you don't need to want to be best friends but you need to have confidence in them and respect them

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:11

The school is outstanding, there isn't a high staff turnover but she has only been in post a year. We are due an ofsted inspection so it will be interesting to see what they have to say. It's a lovely school, warm friendly it's just the HT.

It's mostly her attitude in the governing body meetings I don't like. I feel like she is quite anti parent but also she is quite defensive if anyone challenges her or suggests an alternative to an idea/decision she has had/made. There doesn't seem to be room for discussion. She is very fond of courses and "delegation" but my feeling/worry is there is a very fine line between delegation and abdication!

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Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:12

mrz - that's it in a nutshell - I have no respect or confidence in her, I don't want to be her best friend or her friend at all but I do want to respect her and trust she is making the right decisions for the school and it's children.

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LeeCoakley · 02/04/2012 17:16

She must be doing something right! If the school is warm and friendly that must mean that the staff are happy. I've worked for HTs who are always right, they just need special 'handling'.

knitknack · 02/04/2012 17:17

Blimey op you could be me speaking - your school isn't in a tiny village in Suffolk is it?! Our outstanding primary list it's fabius head last year after 16 years and I simply can't understand the governors' decision to appoint this new one... Lots of parents (not to mention the kids!) find her cold and unapproachable... Very odd.

Luckily my eldest is about to leave but smaller one has a few years to go...

As a teacher myself in well aware how important a head is for a school.

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:19

Maybe it's just me then

You're right though Lee, the staff do seem happy although I just wonder if it's because she hasn't been their long enough. The school thrived under it's old head but I wasn't there then so I didn't get to see him in action!

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MWB22 · 02/04/2012 17:20

At least your school has a HT. Both my brother's children's school and that of a friend's children can't find a permanent head. One has a deputy who doesn't want the job "acting", the other has a nearby school's head acting, but only on site two days a week.

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:20

knitknack - although you describe it exactly as it has happened here - no I am not in Suffolk.

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Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 17:21

MWB22 - that's not good!

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EdithWeston · 02/04/2012 17:22

"Our head is arrogant, complacent, unreasonable and does not listen to parents or take their views into account. However because our school is 'outstanding' (I feel the catchment has a lot to do with this anyway) lots of parents think he is the bee knees. Only those who have had issues don't like him, and they are increasing in numbers rapidly"

Similar could have been written about our new head too.

I am actually wondering whether I can face moving the youngest, because I feel so out of step with his ethos. It's a pity, we really did like the place under the previous head and cannot see why the governors selected someone so very different. But these things happen.

knitknack · 02/04/2012 17:34

Sorry typos -on phone!

cybbo · 02/04/2012 18:05

I would never move my child just because I didnt like the head, if everything else was okay

Do you expect to like everyone you meet in life?

Is it only in meetings you have had interactions with the head? She might be better on a one to one basis than in a meeting scenario

upahill · 02/04/2012 18:08

I hated the head at DS's primary school but I loved the school and wouldn't have changed it.

mrz · 02/04/2012 18:09

If as the OP has said like = respect and trust then I would consider moving my child.

Frikadellen · 02/04/2012 18:15

I dont like the HT that was appointed at theprimary my children are in. This is made even worse by the fact I REALLY liked the HT who was there previously. However my children are achieving I like the teachers and I simply avoid her.

as a Governor I would suggest that they do a training day on communication this will benefit everyone including the teachers and you as a parent. Our school was recently Ofsted and the report mentions that communication need to improve. I would agree with that.

Original poster

Kellamity · 02/04/2012 18:18

No cyybo of course I don't expect to like everyone in my life as I'm sure not everyone I have met likes me. But she is the HT at my DCs school and I have concerns, not because she isn't my best mate or hasn't made it to my Xmas card list but because I don't have the respect and confidence I feel I should have in a HT.

I have met her in meetings, in the playground when she sadly rarely shows her face, I have seen her during the school day, at assemblies, etc etc and I have formed this impression of her that I am far from impressed with. My DD has attended 3 primary schools and I didn't feel like this about her previous HTs (we were a military family).

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Flightty · 02/04/2012 18:23

I find out HT really, really difficult. But the teachers and the teaching are generally excellent, and that's the interface the children experience.

So we have stayed. Also, and this is crucial, she seems to be very nice to the children, most of the time. She does have one or two teachers I can't stand, but in herself she seems to be able to be nice to the kids.

Being disingenuous to the parents is something we as parents have to deal with I suppose...and she isn't always, but I do have trouble with it and from time to time it's caused some problems.

The other schools near us are far worse so that's why we stay, as well as the brilliant teachers we've got at the moment. I think a few of them struggle with the HT as well which means, they remain good teachers and on our side iyswim

It's a complex dynamic.

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