JUNIORschool head nlcs leaving

[perhapsLAter]

Dear all,
I am a parent of a 4+ DD who has accepted NLCS only to find out today that the head is leaving. Do any current parents have an idea why? I am a little worried as she was only here for two years. If you would prefer to PM me i would appreciate it.

I would not call the school. They won’t say anything to one parent and not the whole parent body. I think you just have to accept an acting head might be appointed from within the existing staff and that can be a steady pair of hands or someone who wants to be head themselves - maybe promotion to another school. It’s annoying when anyone senior leaves suddenly but this school should have very competent people as deputies so hopefully it will not affect dc. Especially very young ones.

If you choose not to call the school, they won’t know you are concerned. For sure. the school
has multiple layers of very senior management and the ship will continue to sail. There have been many senior appointments since the new senior head started.

PPL's gotta admit, i know some N LDN parents are a bit fanatical about their school (I remember one called horsemadmum from years ago who was so obsessed with NLCS it was almost worrying) but I think you may need to accept comms has fallen down here - if it hadn't, there wouldn't be a thread speculating about it

Hardly fanatical saying contact the school if you have concerns, it’s logical if anything. The school can choose to release what they want, there will be layers of back up and for sure the school will know it’s next move.

But your posts up this thread going at another user etc etc...you can't see that you're blowing this out of proportion?

suggesting that you contact the school if you have concerns is blowing this out of proportion?
hardly.

It's this sort of comment PPLs. Just chill. It's a good school, it's not infallible.

Yes. Many comments come from
people without children at the school. One parent said bad communication, they are not at the school and then went on to speak about other schools they aren’t at. Are you at the school TikTok?

@PPLs Ive had two dc go through independent schools and one at a very well known boarding prep for girls. I’ve also been a governor. There is no point saying to anyone you are concerned! What do you expect the school to do? Click fingers and get a new head? Schools must go through appropriate procedures and many use education agencies to sift candidates. Job description and specs must be perfect and so should arrangements for showing potential applicants around the school. It’s inconceivable the governors don’t know there’s concern in the parent body. In my view they should say what their recruitment plan is to stop speculation.

At our prep the head (I was not a governor there) the head didn’t come back after May half term. Essentially left. Except she was still in the head’s house refusing to leave. It was very difficult for the school to manage this and she started up a school finder business for overseas parents from the house. The school didn’t tell anyone this and the senior DH took over. If NLCS junior head has actually gone, the school should just say so and state the interim measures and recruitment timetable or parents just make it up! So of course communication matters to customers.

Point being if you say you have concerns they may expand on their communication, nothing will be gained on mumsnet. Being a parent at NLCS I can guarantee you many parents will have been in touch already with the school.
The school May already have a replacement. It’s all just speculation at this point. Teachers come and go and so do head teachers.

They are going, it doesn’t matter or make any difference to you why they are leaving and the school is not obliged to tell you. I’m sure it’s a bit unsettling but what do expect to happen if you complain? The school to force someone to stay who doesn’t want to?

@Meadowy I think schools should seek to minimise speculation. You don’t have say why the head is going but you can say “for personal reasons” but they have probably agreed to say nothing as the truth is unpalatable. If a school doesn’t want parent after parent contacting them, managing the communication makes sense. So say how they will go about recruiting and who is taking over in the interim. If parents know there’s continuity, most are happy enough. Just a bald statement about a head leaving immediately invites comment, complaints and phone calls. Giving reasonable info tends to head it off. I’m always amazed how poorly some schools communicate with parents (paying customers).

It does matter.

If someone is going for personal reasons suddenly that's fine
If someone who was part of what you liked about a school is leaving as the disagree with the direction or new ethos being proposed that's totally different
If someone has been fired because of a serious failing at the school, again that would be concerning in a different way
If they left on great terms but just for a new / better opportunity also different...

Music - no reason why should be told any of those things. It would be very unprofessional for anybody involved to disclose anything like that.

OMG you need to take the chill pill. There is nothing wrong with what the poor poster wrote!!

She only said “it’s poor comms if the school knew beforehand”, to which I agree with, that’s not speculation. Also nothing wrong with sharing info about other schools. It’s not confidential when the school has announced it themselves so she has done nothing wrong even if she’s not a parent there. The transparency of other schools actually gives people confidence. I doubt NLCS will respond to my email individually (they are probably inundated with upset emails so no point in pushing for a response).

Everyone is welcome to comment, whether they are NLCS parents, prospective parents or not!!!
It is NOT okay to continuously bully and intimidate people (just because of the anonymity of mumsnet) just because they aren’t current parents. I find the outsiders view quite helpful actually and to hear what happens elsewhere. If you can’t accept negative comments about NLCS, no one needs to know and you are welcome to leave the thread.

I am an NLCS parent. We've had a letter stating the current head of Junior will be leaving very soon, the letter explains who will be acting as Head of Junior in the meantime and invites parents to come to 2 sessions with the acting head of Junior School and the Head of Senior School to talk about any concerns. Whilst it isn't clear why the current head of junior is leaving (and I would imagine there are personal reasons not to be transparent about this) , everything else has been very well communicated. If any current parents are concerned they can talk to the interim head of junior and the overall Headmistress at one of the two sessions that have been offered. The staff are all very experienced and I'm sure they will minimise disruption to the every day running of the school.

@SerenAstra So what’s all the fuss about then? Reading this thread where parents have contributed, it was alleged that it was a complete mystery! Or is it that some parents demand to know everything and sound off when they don’t? Probably unreasonably. I can see how parents of dc yet to start might be confused though . However as I tried to say communication is key and, an interim head is to be appointed, it’s good to see communication has happened. It’s never enough for some but no doubt the school will have a robust recruitment strategy.

The problem is that she was well loved and had only been there a year and a half and many parents chose the school because of the inspirational leadership she brought. As parents, we bought into that, we chose the school party because of her approach. When you believe you are getting a certain kind of education for your child for it to end so soon after joining the school is very annoying.
The parents feel a little cheated! And angry.

She was an outstanding leader. And such a modern thinker. Way above anything we heard at any other school in the past 2 years.

The parents on the ground are unhappy about this sudden loss. She had already left the school for good before we were told. No chance for thank yous or goodbyes. It looks like there was a disagreement or she was dismissed.
the letter from the senior head does not read as though she left for personal reasons.

I hoped my daughter would find stable leadership at NLCS as the junior school head had only been there a year. So we assumed she would be there for longer than a year and a half! At the time we made our decision Habs on the other hand didn’t have a junior school head in place and we took these factors into consideration when choosing the school for our daughter.

The now acting head was already acting as deputy head as the current deputy head, newly in post from September, is on maternity leave.

@Meadowy I’m not suggesting the school would provide this detail. I’m saying this is what parents are concerned about.

It was in response to some asking why does it matter why she’s leaving. The grounds / reason absolutely mean something and so as human beings people will attempt to find out.

Yes but there will be a NDA and all parties will be tight lipped. I can see it’s disappointing but these things happen. Heads can leave within 2 years and it’s not great but if something is wrong so quickly, there either has been a monumental difference of opinion or it’s personal. Chasing after reasons feels like a witch hunt and a bit unseemly. (For want of a better word). The situation won’t change but maybe the school will learn from this.

There have always been two deputy heads, one who takes responsibility for First School (reception to Y2), it is this deputy head who went on maternity leave. She will be back, and her work load had been given to existing staff members. The other deputy is the one who is now acting head. He had a year at another school but was at Nlcs for about ten years previously, he knows the school and staff well.

There are only a maximum of 2 cohorts (including the ones who have just been offered places) who will have chosen the school particularly because of the outgoing head of junior because she was announced as head in the spring of 2022. Whilst those people will be disappointed if that was there main reason for accepting places, there are a huge number of junior school children who were at the school before and know the person who is now acting head quite well.

DD is in the Lower School, so we knew Mrs Newman much better than Mrs C-S. Mrs C-S might have been well loved by some of the parents, but most of the parents of DD's year group preferred Mrs Newman and are very positive about Mr Q. Mrs Newman had been there for donkey's years; what people may think of as a "NLCS education" was shaped by her, not by Mrs C-S.

But, unless Mrs Bingham and Mrs C-S agreed the separation and timetable in the literal 26 hours between the 4+/7+ acceptance deadline and the time we received the notification, it would have been more forthright to have informed the 4+/7+ candidates and offer holders earlier.

well - she is now with NBH

Which will be Alleyn's Hampstead from September.