Parents kept in dark as to why Abbeyfield headteacher will not return (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

think mr fox should come back , the school is a joke since he left!

Its that hair!

The way that the school had been turned around under Mr Fox was the main reason that I put my children into Abbeyfield. I think the majority of parents were very pleased with the way that the school was run under him. What a shame that our opinions were not taken into consideration. Lets just hope that it doesn't start to deteriorate again, although I have a horrible feeling that this is what is going to happen.

Let's hope that the people that decided we as parents were to be kept in the dark over this whole affair will at least remember the majority approval of the raising of standards and reduction in pandering to habitual wasters when appointing the next Head of the school. If you are one of those decision makers, don't mess it up, there is too much at stake!

The way the governors and the Acting Head have handled this matter has been an absolute shambles from start to finish! The parents aren't 'good enough or qualified enough' to be given an explanation in to any of the circumstances surrounding Mr Fox' absence yet, be reassured that exam results are on the up. If results are so good why are two governors quitting and a number of yr7 pupils switched school in the Feb half term & Easter?

This is a terrible outcome for the pupils and parents of children at Abbeyfield , the board of governors should be ashamed of themselves ! All through Mr.Fox's suspension we have been given no information as to why he has not been allowed to carry on in his position as Headmaster and no answers have been forthcoming when either governors and the acting head has been asked , do we the parents not deserve to know the truth after all its our taxes that pay the wages and more importantly its our childrens futures at stake !

This is a truly great result for the school.

He was despised by many parents and most of the pupils. He spent too much time firing people he didn't like and employing his "mates", which ultimately was his demise.

He was clearly out of his depth as a head teacher. It is no surprise he is not coming back.

If you look at the situation it was obvious he was never coming back. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out. Now all Fox "fanbois" are making out this is some kind of conspiracy and we were all kept in the dark.

Its obviously why he was booted out: He was rubbish at his job.

Break open the champagne, toast all round, good riddance.

It could be the fact that 40 teachers have made complaints against him. If that has happened, he has lost the staff. It doesn't matter what he has done, or would do, he has lost the staff. I have heard that a Headteacher can lose their job for exaggerating how long they have been a Deputy Head in their previous employment on their application form. And that their previous Headteacher could actually back them up on that in their reference. Not that that is what has happened here, in any way at all. Of course not.

ok the school may have had good exam results, but that is down to all the hard work that Mr Fox did, not the present stand in Head, who has successfully run the school back into the gutter where the previous Head left it, oh yes he was part of the same team. I feel sorry for the children, I would under no circumstances send my child to the school unless they get someone of the same standard as Mr Fox, and if the present Deputy Head is given the post forget it. No Mr Fox did not loose his staff, at least not the staff that were worth keeping, ie ones that were of the same high standard as him. Its a very very sad state of affairs.

maybe if he knew how to run a school and did something about the pathetic kids that bully then he wouldent have a problem he keeps running away from facing the truth about abbeyfeild school and someone should stand up and say what its really like , i certainly think that school has got worse and with continue to unless someone stricter goes in to teach the kids that are out of place a lesson rather the "chatting" cause it gets you know where hence the reason all the parents are being left in the dark cause he doesnt want you lot to know the real reason , he should at least write a letter explaining himself

I do think it is very sad that no clear information is forthcoming from official sources on what has actually gone on and the whole story seems to have been reported on specualation. Surely the school is a community asset and the community has some right to know on what basis important decisions about the school are being made so if necessary stakeholders can express input as well.

watch this space this time next year when the school has hit rock bottom.

This is just typical Abbeyfield, the parents always kept in the dark and the governers covering things up.
Never actually met Mr Fox but as far as i can see and what i have heard he was doing a good job of getting rid of the dead wood and thosemembers os staff who were there just to socialise with teenagers.
I am very releived my youngest has finished Abbeyfield this year and moving on.
I wish all those students still at Abbeyfield good luck and really hope a new head is appointed soon and this time gets the support of the authoritise to bring the school back to the standard it should be at.

mcrae167 wrote:
This is a truly great result for the school.

He was despised by many parents and most of the pupils. He spent too much time firing people he didn't like and employing his "mates", which ultimately was his demise.

He was clearly out of his depth as a head teacher. It is no surprise he is not coming back.

If you look at the situation it was obvious he was never coming back. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out. Now all Fox "fanbois" are making out this is some kind of conspiracy and we were all kept in the dark.

Its obviously why he was booted out: He was rubbish at his job.

Break open the champagne, toast all round, good riddance.

A Google search on mcrae167 shows that you have repeatedly poured venom on Mr Fox and anyone who had the gall to disagree with your fervent views, you even claimed in a previous post in 2010 that you had proof of his poor financial management! Quite frankly your attitude towards others who had something positive to say about Mr Fox and the way the school appeared to improve from their own perspective is unacceptable in my opinion but I simply put that down to the unfortunate trend where some people feel secure enough in their anonymity to write stuff that they wouldn't dream of saying in a real life situation. But then I noticed that the 2nd in the list of Google search results for mcrae167 shows your real name, and using that one can find your facebook page which is also open for all to see so I have deduced that you're not one of those hiding behind your anonymity, you really do have courage in your convictions... Well done!

Hardens wrote:

mcrae167 wrote:
This is a truly great result for the school.

He was despised by many parents and most of the pupils. He spent too much time firing people he didn't like and employing his "mates", which ultimately was his demise.

He was clearly out of his depth as a head teacher. It is no surprise he is not coming back.

If you look at the situation it was obvious he was never coming back. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out. Now all Fox "fanbois" are making out this is some kind of conspiracy and we were all kept in the dark.

Its obviously why he was booted out: He was rubbish at his job.

Break open the champagne, toast all round, good riddance.

A Google search on mcrae167 shows that you have repeatedly poured venom on Mr Fox and anyone who had the gall to disagree with your fervent views, you even claimed in a previous post in 2010 that you had proof of his poor financial management! Quite frankly your attitude towards others who had something positive to say about Mr Fox and the way the school appeared to improve from their own perspective is unacceptable in my opinion but I simply put that down to the unfortunate trend where some people feel secure enough in their anonymity to write stuff that they wouldn't dream of saying in a real life situation. But then I noticed that the 2nd in the list of Google search results for mcrae167 shows your real name, and using that one can find your facebook page which is also open for all to see so I have deduced that you're not one of those hiding behind your anonymity, you really do have courage in your convictions... Well done!

Absolutely,

I have the courage of my convictions, I have suffered at the hands of Mr. Fox directly, I stand by everything I said.

I even showed how the school could save money and he still wasted a further £1000 + on that, I have the emails and letters to show for it.

I am not hiding at all, if I were I wouldn't use such a prominent name.

Mr. Fox' demise was entirely his own doing, it was inevitable. I have lots of friends at the school and do lots of activities with students at my own expense.

I received no support from Mr. Fox and indeed, when asking for expenses to cover activities with the student Mr. Fox told me there was no budget. The week before I showed Mr. Fox how he could save 10 times the amount I requested by sending emails rather than letters.

I have two children at the school, and the school repeatedly sends out letters by post, and guess what, we get two letters sent individually to the same address one for each child, with identical content.

This was following a letter sent by the school saying we want email addresses for all parents.

They continue to do this, to this day, it costs thousands of pounds extra over the course of a school year.

There is no hiding here.

Well done Hardens for saying what others were thinking!. I have children at the school as well, and I think that this is the worst possible outcome for them, for the school and for the parents. We are all entitled to our opinion Mcrae, but I won't attack you for yours.

Mr Fox certainly seems to split opinion. Some seem to think he's wonderful and that the school will struggle without him. Others say good riddance to bad rubbish and look forward to improvements.

Which is the truth?

mcrae167 wrote:

Hardens wrote:

mcrae167 wrote:
This is a truly great result for the school.

He was despised by many parents and most of the pupils. He spent too much time firing people he didn't like and employing his "mates", which ultimately was his demise.

He was clearly out of his depth as a head teacher. It is no surprise he is not coming back.

If you look at the situation it was obvious he was never coming back. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out. Now all Fox "fanbois" are making out this is some kind of conspiracy and we were all kept in the dark.

Its obviously why he was booted out: He was rubbish at his job.

Break open the champagne, toast all round, good riddance.

A Google search on mcrae167 shows that you have repeatedly poured venom on Mr Fox and anyone who had the gall to disagree with your fervent views, you even claimed in a previous post in 2010 that you had proof of his poor financial management! Quite frankly your attitude towards others who had something positive to say about Mr Fox and the way the school appeared to improve from their own perspective is unacceptable in my opinion but I simply put that down to the unfortunate trend where some people feel secure enough in their anonymity to write stuff that they wouldn't dream of saying in a real life situation. But then I noticed that the 2nd in the list of Google search results for mcrae167 shows your real name, and using that one can find your facebook page which is also open for all to see so I have deduced that you're not one of those hiding behind your anonymity, you really do have courage in your convictions... Well done!

Absolutely,

I have the courage of my convictions, I have suffered at the hands of Mr. Fox directly, I stand by everything I said.

I even showed how the school could save money and he still wasted a further £1000 + on that, I have the emails and letters to show for it.

I am not hiding at all, if I were I wouldn't use such a prominent name.

Mr. Fox' demise was entirely his own doing, it was inevitable. I have lots of friends at the school and do lots of activities with students at my own expense.

I received no support from Mr. Fox and indeed, when asking for expenses to cover activities with the student Mr. Fox told me there was no budget. The week before I showed Mr. Fox how he could save 10 times the amount I requested by sending emails rather than letters.

I have two children at the school, and the school repeatedly sends out letters by post, and guess what, we get two letters sent individually to the same address one for each child, with identical content.

This was following a letter sent by the school saying we want email addresses for all parents.

They continue to do this, to this day, it costs thousands of pounds extra over the course of a school year.

There is no hiding here.

Firstly, I applaud your contribution to the school, we need people who are prepared to put themselves out to make up for the many that are unable or unwilling.
However, I have to comment on your reason for disliking him so much; I mean it does sound churlish that you made a big thing a while back about his wasting money when actually what you're talking about is the money "wasted" every year posting letters. It seems to me that run of the mill bulletins etc. come by email whereas the more important stuff comes in hard copy, I have always assumed that schools are obliged to do that according to their guidelines, and therefore not within any Head's remit to choose otherwise. Regarding duplicates coming to your address; in my experience, printing a mailshot from a database is complicated enough without trying to isolate the number of letters where multiple pupils are at the same address and changing the layout to include two names instead of one. Perhaps the fact that the school is still "wasting thousands" despite your suggestion backs up my assumption?
Anyway, we are in opposition on how Mr Fox was received by pupils and parents and that is fine, I can only tell you that my second child was actually inspired to try harder due to the change of atmosphere and attitude in the school; Mr Fox's arrival at Abbeyfield was perfect timing as far as my son's GCSE results were concerned.

trenewth wrote:
It could be the fact that 40 teachers have made complaints against him. If that has happened, he has lost the staff. It doesn't matter what he has done, or would do, he has lost the staff. I have heard that a Headteacher can lose their job for exaggerating how long they have been a Deputy Head in their previous employment on their application form. And that their previous Headteacher could actually back them up on that in their reference. Not that that is what has happened here, in any way at all. Of course not.

Hmm intriguing! It's no wonder the conspiracy theories are being bandied around is it? If these reasons are even remotely accurate why the cover up? Who's backside is being covered in this ridiculous situation?

I am very sorry to see him gone. My children both thought he was very good. There was more discipline in the school in the short time he was there than in the previous 5 years that my children have been there. Very angry with all the people responsible for keeping us in the dark. Surely we are entitled to an explanation as to why Mr Fox has gone.

organise a pupil strike then

mcrae167 is right. I also suffered from the poor management Mr Fox gave and witnessed innumerable inane decisions. His ideas for the school bordered on the ridiculous; his clear favoritism was disheartening and he destroyed a lot of spirits. He created a truly miserable atmosphere and I am cheered to learn there has been retribution. Good luck to the school: it deserves better.

Why can't these governors get it right?
That's two hopeless administrations they have presided over. The reputation of the school around Chippenham is dreadful and numbers are bound to drop while those who have been involved continue in recruitment. How can we trust them to make the right appointment next time?