Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:02 pm Post subject: Mr Turner's words of wisdom
Once again, Mike Turner makes a laughing stock of himself, the rest of the governing body, the school and the head teacher.
The letter that was sent home to parents last night was laughable. Any head teacher, who allows a letter like that to be sent out, seriously needs to question her own judgement. Not only was it badly written (as always), and full of errors, but it was certainly bordering on libellous, if not actually libellous.
Mr Turner accuses the MSAG of telling lies. He needs to check his facts before publicly making such a fool of himself. I hope the MSAG now employs a lawyer to look into the case.
A word of advice to Mrs Coupe - get rid of your Chair of Governors before he does you any more harm. _________________ Listen to the facts and decide for yourself
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject: Rant
Mr Turner's letter was a rant again. It was his usual uneducated view of what is going on in a school that has got serious problems. No surprise really when we hear of him insulting other Council members and teachers.
When compared to the leaflet that was issued last week his letter seemed very agressive. The leaflet was calm and simply asked us to look at what was going on and make up our own minds.
Congratulations to the person or persons who produced the leaflet.
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:23 pm Post subject: Mr Turner's letter
The following is my response to Mr Turner's letter - on which I am seeking legal advice. I hope that Mr Turner and other parents visit this site to read the following.
1. The leaflet contained only statements for which there is evidence.
2. This evidence was sent to the DfES - there is no requirement to submit it to school or the CSA. Over the last 8 months evidence has been presented to Mr Turner and the CSA with no outcome - so why should he request it now ?
The specific points in the letter. :-
3. "We would love to see what the MSAG's so-called facts actually are". These were stated clearly on the leaflet - if Mr Turner has not read this then he should not really be sending out such a letter.
4. The MUGA was due to be built in October of 2004. Please could Mr Turner confirm that NO OTHER schools have actually had anything built since that date. Mr Turner asks the MSAG to provide evidence, then we too have a right to ask for evidence of his claim. We have seen no reason why work should not have begun then. We have been asking for 8 months about the MUGA - not just since the start of this year.
5. Yes Mr Veale received a letter concerning numbers of children moving. BUT there were many variables not included in those figures - such as children who travelled from just outside the area who travelled in but have now changed. ONE example only where different figures have been used in different ways by the authority. The bottom line will be the number on role in September compared to the number on role 2 years ago - even taking into account falling roles I wonder what that difference will be. Are you confident Mr Turner that there will be no great drop.
6. The incidents of mis-use of School computers. Now this is where Mr Turner should really apologise to the MSAG. I personally rang Lancashire IT centre - this is made clear elsewhere on this site. The MAJORITY of Lancashire schools use the secure environment of a walled garden. Yes Mr Lund told us that was available to Blackpool schools - but does Mr Turner know actually how many Blackpool schools are under this system ? There has been another incident at the after school club (fact ! Mr Turner) where a pupil accessed a pornographic site. A child also found a naked image of Robbie Williams, which although not pornographic would not have been accessible through a walled garden. There is also the fact that it is clear that children are being allowed to use the wrong types of Search engine - the poster defending the school on this site actually admitted that the child had used Google.
Some Lancashire schools have opted out of the walled garden system because it does not allow wide searching BUT even they use 'child friendly' search engines not open ones, so restricting sites
So Mr Turner, I do not think the MSAG has any reason to be apologetic. We need to be sure that children are safe in school from the misuse of the internet and it is our responsibilty to alert parents to those dangers. It is not the MSAG who has caused the distress but the lack of proper controls. I feel that the irresponsible view taken by Mr Turner does nothing to help protect the children.
Finally, concerning the leaflets, to Mr Turner, Enigma/Tom Riddle, Martin Rogers and any others who are attempting to cover up FACTS I would like to take this opportunity to say that the leaflets have shown that the MSAG has the wherewithall to produce as many leaflets, posters or adverts as it deems necessary, and to defend any legal action or bring its own until such a time as the wrongs forced on Marton Primary School over the last 18 months have been righted.
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:11 pm Post subject: Turner & Co
I thank teacherX and Michael Shore for their comments above. I have to weigh reactions like theirs (together with others unknown to me) against the standard of response that we have come to expect from Mr Turner and his CSA colleagues. This is an almost identical scenario to that which we experienced last November, when we issued a press release complaining about the authorities’ attempts to prevent our freedom of speech. On that occasion Mr Turner sent a letter home to all parents, informing them that he “had not yet seen any such lodged complaint” and that the Action Group had set itself up “as witness, jury, judge and executioner”. Mr Lund followed that up with threats of legal action, and that in turn provoked Councillor Jon Bamborough to start taking a serious look at what was happening at Marton Primary School…
This time, Mr Turner has surpassed himself – dashing off his letter so quickly that he even forgot to date it! I too was tempted to set out some specific responses to the points raised, but then felt “what is the point?” As others have already remarked, his letter is full of inaccuracies, and most will see it for what it is – bluster. One worrying point though - Mr Turner appears to be aware that I have received a personal letter from CSA regarding “precise” movement of pupils, yet he is remarkably ill-informed on the statistics quoted! This particular point is at the centre of an argument between Mr Lund, the Action Group and Councillor Bamborough, who has been waiting over two weeks now for Mr Lund to confirm the actual breakdown of figures on children removed from the school by their parents. We know the figures ourselves (indeed, we even know the names of the children!) – but why does the CSA seem so uncertain?! Careful, Mr Turner – you are on controversial ground!
One final point on the subject of “facts” and “evidence”: As Mr Thornton has already stated above, we have presented both in abundancy to the DFES last December – and they are still sifting through it! Our leaflet to the wider community of Marton was our way of presenting a summary of those same facts, in plain form, so that readers can form their own opinions. Mr Turner does have one advantage that we do not:- he can circulate his letters to the parents of every child at Marton Primary School, and it does not matter whether they have access to the Gazette, local radio, or a computer connected to the Internet. By distributing the leaflet, we hoped to redress that balance, and to encourage anyone interested to contact us direct (msag@inbox.com) with any queries on the specific issues we have raised. With the exception of Mr Turner, no one has lodged any direct complaint so far.
I would therefore extend an open invitation to Mr Turner, and to the CSA, to look at the issues raised in that leaflet, and to disprove anything we have said. If we are wrong, then we will publish a statement of apology on this website and in the Gazette. But try not to act like a petulant schoolboy when you reply.
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:39 am Post subject: RE: Chair of Governers
Is it possible to post both the MSAG leaflet and Mr Turners letter here on the forum so that everyone can see both of them. Not everyone recieved both of these.
Mr Turner states many people are upset about the leaflet,well no-one has posted on this web site with that view !!!!!!!!
Mr Turner is obviously most annoyed that he was not sent information that has already gone to the DFES,he says "if he had the facts then we could deal with them",like you have to date no doubt Mr Turner !!well maybe if he had been more impartial and treated complaints in the appropriate manner,he may well have been privvy to a little more information.He criticises Alan Veale for not presenting facts to back up his allegations,maybe thats because some parents/teachers simply don't trust him,Mr Turner you say in your latest parent's address that the Governors and staff wont let you down,to late Mr T you already have !!!!!!!
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:06 pm Post subject: Leaflet and Letter
I would just like to echo Michael Shore's post above, I live in the FY4 post code but for some reason we never get the Citizen delivered so I have not yet seen the leaflet and as my grandchildren no longer attend Marton I have not seen Mr. Turners letter of response, I would be greatful if there was some way these items could be added to the website.
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:33 pm Post subject: MSAG Leaflet
For the benefit of those who wish to compare the leaflet we have distributed in the FY4 area with Mr Turners response, I am reproducing both on this forum. The MSAG leaflet follows below, while Mr Turners undated letter to parents is reproduced on the separate post that follows.
Information for parents and the local community
We would like to take this opportunity to present details of events which have taken place at the school in recent months. So far parents have only been able to get information from Mr Turner (the Chair of Governors) or from our website (see below). Mr Turner, the Head Teacher, and the Education Authority have tried their best to make parents believe that the Marton School Action Group has been vindictive and abusive. This has been far from the case. The website has been our only way of making people aware of the problems faced by the school. This leaflet does not seek to tell you what you must or must not do. We simply want to present more facts than have so far been available to ALL parents.
Did you know that a web page was found on an Adult Contact site belonging to Mr Nathan Hill (the school’s IT Technician)? The site featured photographs of himself inside school, and one of an ex-pupil of the school. Despite the site being reported to the authorities ,the page was not removed until the parent of the child threatened legal action. We have not been told whether any investigation has taken place by IT professionals. We have not been told whether or not Mr Hill has other similar sites. The school has not issued any statement to parents.
Did you know that in the last Summer Term a supply teacher was caught downloading pornographic pictures from the internet using a school computer? At least one child was in the room at the time. The incident was not reported to the police. Mr Lund (Director of
Children’s Services) appeared ignorant of the incident. We DO
know that Mrs Coupe instructed all staff to keep information about
it within school. We have not been told whether or not it was reported to the General Teaching Council.
Did you know that a teacher has been suspended since last July by Mrs Coupe without any charges brought against her? She is on full pay with a supply teacher being paid to take her place at nearly £200 per day.
Did you know that this suspended teacher was praised at the inspection last Summer by Ofsted for teaching lessons of a
particularly high standard ?
Did you know that in the previous two inspections, before Mrs Coupe’s arrival, and in the authority’s audit in January 2005, the teaching quality in the school was “good”? After Mrs Coupe’s changes, teaching in the April inspection was described as
“poor”.
Did you know that following Mrs Coupe’s changes this year the Y6 SAT results dropped substantially?
Did you know that the recent report by HMI highlighted the substantial amount of (very expensive) input by the CSA
(Children’s Services Agency) into school to try and turn around the downward trend?
Did you know that the suspended teacher’s class, which faces SATS tests at the end of the year, has had no fewer than SEVEN different teachers since September?
Did you know that we tried to draw others’ attention to the existence of the web-site, and were condemned by David Lund on local radio as "a vindictive minority"?
Did you know that Mrs Coupe tried five times to close the web-site and was refused? There was no legal reason for closing it.
Did you know that Mrs Coupe has taken time out of school on at least two occasions to go to Manchester to seek closure of the site? This is in direct contravention of four sections of the
Human Rights Act concerning freedom of speech.
Did you know that well over sixty children have been removed by their parents from Marton School to other local schools since Mrs Coupe became Head Teacher?
Did you know that some parents once tried to distribute leaflets but were threatened with legal action? The Action Group
later contacted both the police and the Council but were told
“Blackpool Council cannot give permission to distribute leaflets
in Blackpool as it is an offence under the County of Lancashire
Act.” Yet a staunch supporter of Mrs Coupe was recently allowed to breach the law by handing out her own leaflets outside the school.
Did you know that the Action Group has now lodged an official complaint with the DFES concerning the activities of Ruth
Coupe, Mike Turner and David Lund ? We expect an unbiased, independent investigation.
Did you know that the costs to the school and the Children's Services Agency are now well over £250,000?
Here are our rough calculations :-
Removal of the children will cost over £120,000 per year.
Supply teacher cost to cover the suspension has so far cost
approximately £20,000.
Supply cover costs for sickness are approximately £1000 per week
- at least £10,000 for last term.
£75,000 for the MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) has been frozen.
The costs to the Children’s Services Agency for sending into school a constant stream of advisors and support now runs into tens of
thousands of pounds - this was pointed out by the HMI in their
recent report.
Judge for yourself.
Whether you have any association with the school or not, there
are serious problems there. That has already been admitted by
David Lund, Director of Children’s Services, and by Gordon
Marsden, MP. It is also recognised by Blackpool Councillor
Jon Bamborough – a gentleman who has no contact whatsoever
with the school authorities or the Action Group – but who was
not allowed to ask questions at a recent Council Meeting. Why?
Even staff at other schools in Blackpool want to know what is
going wrong at Marton. ALL of us are affected if we care about
democracy and our rights to freedom of speech – fundamental
human rights that certain people in authority in Blackpool seem
to want to be squashed!
Please – add your own voice to ask the Council, or Gordon
Marsden, why parents are being denied the right to have a say
over their children’s education.
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject: Mr Turner's letter to parents
Assuming I don't get prosecuted for breach of copyright on this one, Mr Turner sent this to parents of all children at Marton Primary School on Wednesday 2nd March 2006:
Dear Parent,
Many of you will have seen the leaflet that has been circulated by the Marton
School Action Group and I know that many of you are, rightly, very upset and
annoyed by it. I expect that you will also have seen the article in the
Gazette of 28th February on the subject.
Those of us who actually DO have some responsibility for the School would love to see what the MSAG’s so called ‘facts’ actually are. Then we could deal with them. But Mr Veale refuses all invitations, both in private, and via my letter to the Gazette of 13th February, to actually put what he thinks he knows, in support of his disgraceful allegations, face up on the table. Neither the School nor the CSA has been given a copy of the MSAG dossier to the Department of Education (DfES) or any other hard and checkable evidence. Indeed he refused to give me details of the evidence he claimed he had that was central to one of his specific complaints.
Much has been made of the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) which is dependent on lottery money. The MSAG would have the world believe that this has been held up at Marton because the money has been wrongfully diverted. Mr Veale knows that is untrue. One of his MSAG members contacted the Lottery at the start of this year and was told the true facts which are that ALL such projects have been delayed through no fault of the School or the CSA. Many Blackpool schools are caught up in this. It is not connected in any way with the alleged ‘issues’ at Marton.
Mr Veale has had a personal letter from the CSA which gave him precise details of the movement of pupils at Marton. We do know for sure that 37 have left because their parents have moved away from the area or transferred to special schools, reasons common to all the schools in Blackpool, which has high pupil mobility across the board.
The same letter gave a fully detailed account of the internet security measures in Blackpool and Lancashire schools, exposing the accusations so freely levied by the MSAG as inaccurate. No retraction by them of the allegations let alone an apology for all the distress caused. But what else does one expect from this group? They have the welfare of the children at heart - what humbug. Those who truly have the welfare of the children at heart are the 95% of parents who are smart enough to see through the action group and continue to support the school. I thank you very much for that. The Governors and staff won’t let you down.
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:32 am Post subject: Is Mr Turner right?
Is Mr Turner right in saying that 95% of parents can see through MSAG?
How has he arrived at that figure? Did he carry out his own survey? .
If he did he didn't ask me or any other parent that I know.
If it is untrue to say that, I think it may be at best misleading, or at worse libelous.
His letter gave no answers to the questions raised by parents. He has not explained why so many children have left. He hasn't understood the issue about Internet safety, and he hasn't explained why a supply teacher was escorted from the school for looking at inappropriate images on a school PC.
I am distressed by his letter as it is a complete waste of paper and money. The school is short enough of money as it is, without him wasting further resources.
Are these dreadful letters sanctioned by the Council?
Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:13 pm Post subject: Turner's letter
When I read this letter I really couldn't believe it. Does he himself believe in the things he writes ? How can he write such stuff that is so far off beam. Mr Thornton has already posted details of some schools who have spent their Lottery Grant and are now using their new buildings. I can remember the report in the Gazette when it was announced that Marton had got their grant, and the visit to school. Everyone was so excited. That was in the summer term of 2004 !! nearly 2 years ago - yet he is prattling on about the block at the start of this year.
And as for the internet comment. Of course everyone knows Blackpool's policy for computers, and the school's - it is on the school's website ! Does Mr Turner think that no-one looks at the school's website.
Just because Blackpool and Marton have a policy and have taken measures doesn't mean they work. Obviously they haven't - otherwise more children wouldn't have accessed these websites recently. How does this expose accusations by MSAG ? Does Turner just want to let the children carry on viewing whatever they want. How can he be so irresponsible about the welfare of the children ? As Chair of Governors shouldn't he be making sure that the computers are secure and safe - not slagging off the action group for asking why they aren't ? I don't understand that at all.
There are measures in place to stop people speeding through Blackpool, but people still do. There are measures in place by government for hospitals to provide better care but they don't all manage it. There are measures in place for delaing with drug offences, but people still take them .. I could go on
BUT I do know there are measures in place by the government and by Blackpool which guide school governors on how to behave and what their responsibilities are - there for ALL to see. It doesn't mean that all chairs of governors follow them - or indeed take any notice whatsoever of them. Looking at his letters and his oubursts I wonder if Turner has actually ever read any code of conduct.
There are plenty of posts on this site and evidence exposing the accusations so freely levied by Mr Turner as inaccurate. No retraction by him of his allegations let alone an apology for all the distress he has caused. But what else does one expect from this man? He has the welfare of the children at heart - what humbug. Those who truly have the welfare of the children at heart are the 95% of parents who are smart enough to see through Mr Turner's posturing and blatant errors in his information - and continue to support the school, and the action group in getting Marton back to the school it once was.
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