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Redundancy fears for teachers at Chippenham school (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Redundancy fears for teachers at Chippenham school
7:57am Thursday 12th March 2009
Teaching staff at Abbeyfield School in Chippenham face redundancy as a result of financial difficulties caused by falling pupil numbers.
Up to six teaching posts and a number of administrative roles could disappear at the end of a consultation period. But headteacher Trish Shubrook says she still hopes to avoid redundancies.
All teachers at the school in Stanley Lane, Chippen-ham, were given a letter warning of redundancies and asked to list their skills.
Unlike Chippenham’s two other senior schools, Sheldon and Hardenhuish, Abbeyfield is undersubscribed for September.
Only 102 pupils put the school as their first choice this year, although it could take 180.
This year the school has made 160 offers to pupils to start in September, compared to 166 offers last year.
It is likely that a number of pupils will accept a place after failing to get into either Hardenhuish or Sheldon.
Mrs Shubrook has spoken out about how she has to juggle largely unpredictable budgets and pupil numbers while still providing a first class education.
She described the situation as “very disappointing” and said the complex finances of the school, built in 2001 through the Private Finance Initiative, meant she had to start any redundancy programme very early.
“The school is a complex being and the amount of money coming into the school is in some aspects quite unpredictable,” she said.
“It is my job to respond to this unpredictability.
“Because we are a Private Finance Initiative school, a certain percentage of our budget has to be spent on rent and does not allow us the flexibility that other schools might have.
“There is a clearly laid out procedure for redundancies and you have to start this process extremely early even if you are not going to make any redundancies at the end of it.
“We might have to but we are hoping it will not come to that.
“It is obviously very disappointing that we are in this situation. I am very proud of every success we have had over the years.”
Chairman of the board of governors David Sage said: “The Local Authority has an agreed procedure which the school needs to follow and it is currently too early to say what the outcomes will be.”
A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said: “Every year at this time, schools have to draw up their budget with due regard to their anticipated pupil numbers.
“As part of this process staffing levels are reviewed, along with a range of factors that have budget implications. “Once the budget is finalised schools can increase or reduce staffing levels according to their needs.”
Wiltshire county secretary for the National Union of Teachers Mike Harrison said: “I am aware there are potential redundancies at Abbeyfield School and that they are in the middle of a consultation process.
“Hopefully there will not be any compulsory redundancies.”
The total number of staff, at Abbeyfield, including teaching assistants, is 94, plus 21 administrative staff.
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Your Say YourGazette
marley., Chippenham says...
8:51am Thu 12 Mar 09
TURKEY GIRL, says...
11:49am Thu 12 Mar 09
A woman i know had her daughter removed from the school and she was bullyed and despite several visits to the school nothing was done .
www.calnetalk.com
marley., Chippenham says...
12:06pm Thu 12 Mar 09
chipsticks, Chippenham says...
12:15pm Thu 12 Mar 09
My daughter is still at Abbeyfields and their timetable management is terrible. My daughter has to go into school on Mondays for a single 1 hour longer lesson! Is it worth is? Couldn't the timetable be constructed better than this?
bambi80, says...
2:11pm Thu 12 Mar 09
8:28am Thu 12 Mar 09
Why don't parents want to send their children here? I'm fairly new to the area and have heard rumours that bullying is bad there.'
It is VERY bad there. Do not send your kids there unless they themselves are violent.
My daughter was very badly bullied there after several weeks, staff were informed but failed to act until it escalated.
The school themselves called the police after a 16yr old attacked my 12yr old on school premises. Yet despite the 16yr olds previous record of violence and bullying, it took the school 3 days to deal with the incident. I was contacted on the 3rd day to take my daughter (who was entirely innocent) out of school late morning as the 16yr old had not been excluded yet and the school feared for my daughters safety!! Why, you would wonder did they not just exclude the 16yr old immediately? Who incidently was free to wander around making further threats to my 12yr old.
Its no wonder they have problems there, after writing to the head to complain, all i got back was a letter bascially denying all mistakes and responsibility.
The schools reputation is well known amongst senior educational staff and of course, the police.
If i had no other option but to send a child there i would opt for home eduacating - unless of course a new head and staff were in place.
If redundancies are to be made - i say start at the top!
Your Mum, Chippenham says...
2:36pm Thu 12 Mar 09
Abbeyfield can't say no, as they're not full, so end up having all the scrat-ends from the other schools.
It's not as bad as some of the stories on here, obviously some people have had problems, but no-one ever reports the good days, only when something goes bad.
blueboy1, chippenham says...
3:14pm Thu 12 Mar 09
Some parents use school as a place to dump their kids and to teach them discipline. sorry that starts at home. so put the gin away, turn off Jeremy Kyle and get on with teaching kids right and wrong.
bambi80, says...
3:55pm Thu 12 Mar 09
If the school took a firm stance against the type of behaviour that is common there and kicked out the 'scrat-ends' then it would serve as a firm example to the whole school that this type of behaviour is not going to be tolerated.
However by doing virtually nothing, the bullies reign and the innocent kids are the ones that suffer.
chippenette, chippenham says...
8:16pm Thu 12 Mar 09
Blue-Moon, Chippenham says...
12:07am Fri 13 Mar 09
The rumours and trouble that is coming from the school is mainly coming from the trouble makers at the school itself, the students who cause the trouble with other students itself and the fact that the parents of these children are equaly as bad as these students themselves.
I was at abbeyfield for 5 years, starting in year 7 i knew no-one whatsoever, i never once faced a single incident of bullying.
I did witness bullying, but also i witness the staff and senior team taking these matters very seriously.
The school is obviously not going to be perfect as it doesnt have the cabability to reject the trouble making students that the other schools in the area have because of their "limited capacity".
I also know first hand the mrs Shubrooke (head teacher) is very good at the role she has to do, and i think it is wrong that people on this comments are negative about the staff teaching at the school, the staff are very friendly and helpful to many students who attend the school, the only students who complain are the parents of the trouble makers, and can you blame the teachers for not giving them the time of day, when the kids dont give the teachers a single bit of respect.
Parents, anyone who reading these, you have nothing to fear with sending your child to this school, like every school that your student will join, their is bound to be difficulties, this would happen wether it would sheldon, hardenhuish or abbeyfield.
And as for the "not a teacher in sight !" comment from "chippenette" i also know, if it was 3pm end of school time, their would be a teacher their as teachers are always patroling the school grounds at the end of the day to prevent students from riding bikes in school ground.
Rant over :)
Blue-Moon, Chippenham says...
12:11am Fri 13 Mar 09
and the sentance "the only students who complain are the parents of the trouble makers"
is meant to say, the only students who complain are the ones who are trouble makers"
Sneezy, Wilts says...
12:29am Fri 13 Mar 09
In fact all the problem staff have come from Hardenhuish which seems to produce the opposite to Abbeyfield the Hardenhuish ex pupils are lazy, have poor attitude high absence and are genrally poor workers.
So on the basis Abbeyfield compares favourably from my perspective
The Maxter, Chippenham says...
12:54am Fri 13 Mar 09
JesseLake, Chippenham Cepen Park South says...
8:19am Fri 13 Mar 09
chippenette, chippenham says...
10:22am Fri 13 Mar 09
lordbuckethead, chippenham says...
2:13pm Fri 13 Mar 09
What do schools teach they're/their/there (delete where applicable) kids these days?!!
Blue-Moon, Chippenham says...
2:25pm Fri 13 Mar 09
lordbuckethead wrote:Yea, as I apologised in my earlier comment for my spelling, I was half asleep when writing the comment.
"I" - pronoun - 1st person singular. Capitalise it please!!!
What do schools teach they're/their/there (delete where applicable) kids these days?!!
and to Chippenette the only reason there wouldnt be teachers there would be the matter was beyond their control.
engels, Chippenham says...
2:32pm Fri 13 Mar 09
sevenb85, chippenham says...
4:00pm Fri 13 Mar 09
gumley37, chippenham says...
8:43pm Fri 13 Mar 09
Paul Tucker, Chippenham says...
12:40pm Sat 14 Mar 09
This should remove a lot of traffic congestion in the town when the schools are in session.
My eldest child went to secondary school in the 1st year that we had to choose (pre-Abbeyfield). When I asked what would happen if one school was oversubscribed, i.e. how it would be decided which pupils would be 'rejected', there seemed to be no answer. Applying catchment areas would remove that problem.
The Maxter, Chippenham says...
7:11pm Sat 14 Mar 09
Sneezy, Wilts says...
10:45pm Sun 15 Mar 09
The reality I was pointing out was that of the puplis I have employed from Abbeyfield I had no issues at all they were all well mannered motivated and and hardworking!! I have yet to have a bad employee who is an ex pupli at Abbeyfield they all seem fine to me.
On the flip side I was pointing out that the ex pupils I have had from Hardenhuish demonstrated in the majority albeit with some exceptions that they were far less prpared for the workforce, motivationwise and genrally.
Any school will have a mixed bag of pupils Abbeyfield is clearly no worse than the others.
sixthformer, bromham says...
5:30pm Mon 16 Mar 09
6thFormGod, 'Nam says...
9:26am Tue 17 Mar 09
It is true that the discipline of a minority of students is poor, but then it is unrealistic to expect perfect discipline from students who are merely rejects of the other two schools.
Having attended lessons at all 3 6th Form institutions, I can fairy say that the education I received from Sheldon school was below the standard offered at both Hardenhuish and Abbeyfield. Having ended lessons at Sheldon and moved my class to Hardenhuish, my grades have vastly improved from Cs to As.
A similar story is true for a friend of mine who left Abbeyfield with 10 A*-C grades for Sheldon, and dropped out of Sheldon after 2 months due to poor teaching standards.
This is the side of the story that few people from around the area rarely see, as Sheldon and to a degree Hardenhuish are paraded as best, with Abbeyfield now seen as the last-ditch chance for education.
Teaching standards that have been slated on this page by former students are, in fact, very high.
The bullying issue that is raised by many as a reason not to send their children here is completely unfounded and seems to me to be parents scrabbling around for an excuse. Bullying in Abbeyfield is a problem, as it is in all schools, but, as my fellow current 6th Former has identified, the close proximity in which the students are in means that bullying is spotted more often. Surely that can only be a good thing?
On the day of my first lesson in Hardenhuish, I saw a 16 year old boy run up to a 12 year old, punch him, and steal his football. A member of staff then approached the 12 year old and told him off for being late for his lesson and muddy.
It is a poor argument that Abbeyfield is in any way worse than either Sheldon or Hardenhuish in terms of bullying.
Finally, in reference to our headteacher Mrs Shubrook (That's how to spell it, by the way), the school has developed dramatically since I began my education here. All positive things that the school has achieved are largely down to her dedication to her role as headteacher, and her continuing support since the school's foundation has benefitted my education. It is true then that the more negative things that the school has seen can also be levelled at Mrs Shubrook (Again the right spelling), but that should not detract from the good she has done the school in encouraging the students and staff to excel themselves.
bambi80, says...
10:16am Tue 17 Mar 09
However, from personal experience, it does not mean that bullying will be detected at all.
The bullying continued despite phone calls and reports to pastural managers that it was happening.
They refused to believe it was happening - and didnt even bother to check CCTV despite being given times and locations.
They only took it seriously when it escalated and police were called in. Their idea of taking it seriously meant that it took almost 3 days to exclude the bully.
Sorry but as someone with experience of the school, the reputation is well deserved!
Whatever the standard of teaching is or isnt at that school, if children do not feel safe and protected they will not learn!
6thFormGod, 'Nam says...
3:56pm Tue 17 Mar 09
Sorry, but as someone with MORE 1ST HAND experience, I completely disagree with you. One case does not reflect the situation towards bullying in most cases in the school.
It is short-sighted to base a reputation of a school on one incident, especially as the reputation will last long after the involved persons have left the school.
It's attitudes like yours that give our school a bad name and prevent the development of the school as a whole.
From 'personal experience', I have seen how effectively bullying is dealt with at Abbeyfield, with the bullies in question excluded and the situation immediately resolved.
bambi80, says...
5:42pm Tue 17 Mar 09
Also, although I am primarily refering to my own experience, I am very aware of many others who have experienced the same problems at the school.
6thFormGod, 'Nam says...
7:10pm Tue 17 Mar 09
Clearly in some cases it is not possible to impose immediate exclusion, but that surely depends upon the individual situation.
I understand that you take your views upon your own experience, but if everyone listens to minority incidents then it is little wonder that the school carries an unfavourable and unfair label.
TURKEY GIRL, says...
9:18pm Tue 17 Mar 09
I can understand the parents who are reluctant to sent there kids to the school.
WWW.CALNETALK.COM
springgirl, Chippenham says...
11:48am Fri 20 Mar 09
bambi80, says...
4:22pm Fri 20 Mar 09
You are obviously so conditioned to experiencing bullying that you believe it is 'better for children to deal with it from a young age'. I find that really sad as no one should have to put up with it, whatever age. It can leave children scarred, with all sorts of problems.
And I doubt that children who are bullied feel that school is a 'safe place', in fact they tend to fear it, causing truancy and missed education. In some cases they have taken their own lives as a result of bullying.
publicservices, chippenham says...
4:58pm Sat 21 Mar 09
"The total number of staff, at Abbeyfield, including teaching assistants, is 94, plus 21 administrative staff"
Thats a HUGE number for the size of this school. Nearly one teacher or "teaching assistant" for every 5 pupils and 21 ADMIN staff ? What do they all do?
Headteacher Trish Shubrook in happier times, celebrating a good Ofsted report in January 2003
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Johnboy1138, Chippenham says...
8:28am Thu 12 Mar 09
My daughter is due to go to secondary in 2 years, this is the closest school to us, so I am naturally a bit worried.
Are these rumours unfounded? If they are not then no wonder they are seeing dropping applicants.