Thursday 18 May 2006. TEN months after the event, and Beverley Alderson is finally to have the Disciplinary Hearing we have all been waiting for…
It is not my place to comment on the details of WHY she is being disciplined, but I feel it is fair to comment on other matters that surround this particular occasion. This is a milestone event in the school’s history. How many other Assistant Heads have been subject to a disciplinary by their own Head Teacher? How many Head Teachers have ever felt so compelled to take such action – so serious that it could realistically finish a promising career, and threaten loss of income – with all that that entails?
Make no mistake about it – this is a very serious matter – made all the more so by the mysterious circumstances that lie behind it. It is unlikely to be just a one day affair, as I understand that both sides have numerous witnesses to call. On the other hand, the Grievance that Mrs Alderson lodged against Mrs Coupe was cut short dramatically before it could even get started. So who knows?
I do know this: that once this hearing has reached its conclusion, everything that was confidential beforehand will be brought into public view. Whatever statements are made at that hearing will be made available for public record after the event. The school is reported to be “divided” already, so once the hearing is concluded, those divisions will be all the more clear-cut. It will certainly affect the school, the staff, and ultimately the children. Whether Mrs Alderson is dismissed or exonerated, there will be plenty of “fallout”!
So – be prepared for some revelations. It is inevitable that this action will have serious consequences on the very lives and careers of a good many people, no matter where their loyalties lie. One thing is certain though – the whole affair has cost the Blackpool taxpayers far more than it should. Other schools within the borough have been deprived of income because of the LEA’s determination to see this through. The longer it has gone on, the more it has cost financially. But what I find most damning of all is the terrible waste of talent of a good teacher. Beverley Alderson was the one teacher singled out for praise by the OfSTED inspectors last year – and her class this year have been left a legacy of SEVEN different teachers, and a crash course on Numeracy and Literacy in a desperate attempt to meet SATS standards. There is no excuse for the length of time these children have had to suffer such poor standards of education in their final year in primary education.
Mr Lund – you have a lot to answer for. Whatever the outcome, your position in this sorry affair is the most culpable. Remember the quote about “Your sins…”?
Alan Veale
WAYNE HEYS
We can only hope that Mrs Alderson,gets/got a fair hearing !!!!
After all, the attempts to discredit this messageboard along with certain members of the M.S.A.G. one wonders,
As you say Alan,the cost to the taxpayer must be quite significant, the attitiude of certain people involved in this mess to try and sit it out is concerning,The role of Mr Turner as the Chairman of the govenors is questionable,particulalrly when he has alegedly spoke to the staff about Mrs Aldersons case already,as well as attacking one of his own party councillors who took the time to take an unbiased view of the situation.
Finally Mr Lund,who for whatever reason withdrew his offer of negotiation and support last October,if we cannot turn to these people when issues arise about our children's education,then where do we go ?
Its been eye opening to see how officials/councillors/M.P'S react when you call on them for support,some (not many) are prepared to stand up and be counted whilst others seem to turn and walk away,maybe because they dont want to bite the hands that feeds them,I really dont know, for me like many others in the MSAG i have nothing to gain apart from the satisfaction that people who have there salaries paid for from the public purse are earning their money,but most of all, getting OUR school back on track to the position of the most welcoming school in Blackpool,where the children where all happy,and are being taught by a group of teachers that are singing from the same hymn sheet,hopefully Mrs Alderson will return and kick start that process, Marton simply cant afford to lose any more quality teachers !!!!!!!!!!!
AR
Teaching Staff
I agree with Mr Heys, but I doubt whether Mrs Alderson would want to go back even if she was offered the chance ! Look at the state of the school now and the way it is being run. It's going to take a long time to get it back on track. I wonder if any employee would want to take on that after being out of work through no fault of their own for nearly a year.
It has been posted on here already that two jobs are advertised so two teachers must be leaving. No-one knows if any other staff are applying for jobs but it would be no surprise considering the state of the school if others were attempting to 'jump ship'. How can a school hope to return to what it was if there is a constant changeover of staff - Mrs Coupe said this herself to the Ofsted team last spring. The report stated that school had suffered because of change in staff. Shouldn't one of the school's policies have been to try to develop a more settled staff ? Yet this is not happening.
If more teachers leave where does that leave the education of Marton children ? All parents - you should be asking who your child's teacher will be in September. It would be interesting to see what answers are given.
WAYNE HEYS
Point made AR, should Mrs Alderson's disciplinary go against her then the next step would undoubtably be an empolyment tribunal,having witnessed how the tribunal works I am sure she would be sucessful,but there are no guarantees, I have sat there and watched a case where you would put your mortgage on a particular result only for it to be thrown out by the tribunal,
if she is sucessful in her disciplinary (which most of us on here,find hard to see,due to the way that this has run its course for the past ten months or so )) then she should have the opportunity to return to school.Yes it is a tough decision,but one Mrs Alderson should be given the opportunity to make !!
It is going to take a long time to get the school back on track,but there has to be a starting point where there is a clean slate,I for one am just glad that both my children no longer attend Marton,but can look back with satisfaction that they enjoyed their Marton days and Mrs Alderson (along with others) played a big part in that.
I have been criticised along with others for my involvement in this terrible mess, and there are a lot of injustices all around us, fortunately after being asked to start an action group last July with Mrs Veale ,I have met many parents that have the same values that I have, namely not to let "BIG BROTHER" walk all over people,and to be accountable for their action's, the MSAG has had numerous doors slammed in their face,as well as threats of legal action against them,the the situation IS worth fighting for because, in my opinion there are a lot of wrong's here that need correcting , we can stand up and be counted,or we can stay quiet and let this situation continue,if I could turn the clocks back 10 month's would I go down the same route and get involved again? ,yes I would,because I think Marton school WAS a wonderful place to send your children,with a wonderful head teacher and an extremely dedicated united staff.
WAYNE HEYS
Point made AR, should Mrs Alderson's disciplinary go against her then the next step would undoubtably be an empolyment tribunal,having witnessed how the tribunal works I am sure she would be sucessful,but there are no guarantees, I have sat there and watched a case where you would put your mortgage on a particular result only for it to be thrown out by the tribunal,
if she is sucessful in her disciplinary (which most of us on here,find hard to see,due to the way that this has run its course for the past ten months or so )) then she should have the opportunity to return to school.Yes it is a tough decision,but one Mrs Alderson should be given the opportunity to make !!
It is going to take a long time to get the school back on track,but there has to be a starting point where there is a clean slate,I for one am just glad that both my children no longer attend Marton,but can look back with satisfaction that they enjoyed their Marton days and Mrs Alderson (along with others) played a big part in that.
I have been criticised along with others for my involvement in this terrible mess, and there are a lot of injustices all around us, fortunately after being asked to start an action group last July with Mrs Veale ,I have met many parents that have the same values that I have, namely not to let "BIG BROTHER" walk all over people,and to be accountable for their action's, the MSAG has had numerous doors slammed in their face,as well as threats of legal action against them,the the situation IS worth fighting for because, in my opinion there are a lot of wrong's here that need correcting , we can stand up and be counted,or we can stay quiet and let this situation continue,if I could turn the clocks back 10 month's would I go down the same route and get involved again? ,yes I would,because I think Marton school WAS a wonderful place to send your children,with a wonderful head teacher and an extremely dedicated united staff.
Tracey
like everyone else it is with great relief that finally mrs. aldersons case is being heard and hopefully resolved. This has gone on for far too long with their lives and careers put on hold, i for one don't know how they have coped. As it all comes to a close(hopefully), i hope that the childrens education can be put back on track and future year six pupils will not have to experience the rollover of several supply staff in such an important time of their education. I also hope that we can all work to resolving the problems currently at Marton and return it to the school and childhood experience we know the children/parents and staff are entitled to be a part of. I don't want my child to have to miss out on what should be a happy time, like i am sure the current year six have.
E. Maltby
Future months
These are wonderful sentiments Tracey but I don't see how things are going to change whatever happens over the next few days. Mrs Alderson's case was only one issue in a long line of terrible actions taken by the school and the authority. My concerns began long before Mrs Alderson's case came to light when I wrote to Ofsted about the report. There are questions about this which are still unanswered - they now lie with the DfES - and for which I am sure the MSAG will continue to seek answers - I certainly will.
There have been many other issues since, such as the internet issues - for which no-one has been held accountable and which Mr Turner consistently tries to cover up. He still needs to answer the question of why he sees the safety of the children on the internet as so dismissable. Thank goodness the authority eventually sorted it out - but the head should have made sure of this long, long before.
Perhaps I am being over negative but I think there is a long way to go yet and a lot of hard work for the MSAG to do, judging by events of the last 12 months.
Tracey
i totally agree with your comments but atleast we are finally going to see the ball start rolling. it has taken a long time, a lot of correspondence but hopefully this is finally the start of the turn around needed at marton. There are still countless questions and issues we need answers to, my hope is that they will now be forthcoming. None of us expected it to be easy, but i certainly didn't expect to experience the attrocious attitude and contempt for concerns raised by parents. I don't expect an overnight change, but i do hope that these current events are finally going to bring about the changes needed.
WAYNE HEYS
In reply to E.Maltby,you absolutely correct to say there were indeed many issues before the suspension of Mrs Alderson,the safety of the children at Marton has to be paramount and issues will simply not swept under the carpet just because the disciplinary case may have been heard.The OFSTED report in my opinion simply did not represent the Marton School that my children went to,that will not go away,answers are indeed sought from the authoriries but it is their reluctance to give information in the past that will give the action group the determination to get to the bottom of this mess,why don't councillors want to talk about Marton, it seems to be a no go area,why has so much money been pumped into Marton over many month's,how come the MUGA suddenley began taking shape despite Mr Turner stating that the money was not being held back,but all the other projects which were awarded funding at the time have had their projects completed,was Mr Hill ever disciplined for using the photograph's that he did on his personal web site,why was there numerous attempt's to shut down the web-site,and who instigated the request,why did Mr Turner state that issues that had occured proir to his election as Chairman have nothing to do with him only later to go to the press and suggest everyone gets round the table and shares information ? As you quite rightly point out there indeed many many other issues to sort out,and the MSAG wil try the utmost to get the answers that everyone involved with the school deserves. I for one am not a vindictive person,nor have I been part of campaign of vitriol,but if persons in power have indeed been unprofessional in their dealings with Marton and have tried to hide the truth , then surely they should be removed from that position !!!!!!! only time will tell
stan
Why was the case put forward byMrs Alderson cut short???
I guess the current hearing is till ongoing ? Days ? Weeks?
The_Truth
I fear that this whole thing with Mrs Alderson has gone so far that there could be no decision at the disciplinery but to dismiss her. This is not based on the facts but just on the history of the case. Too many people would lose face if she went on and won, which we all know she should.
I think a much more likely situation is that some sort of deal will be reached, I think the LEA and Governors in their niaivity will think that this will resolve everything and no one will be seen to have won or lost.
WRONG! If Mrs Alderson comes out of this with anything other than dismissal this will of course be a HUGE victory for her.
I still hope that those involved see sense and do the right thing.....Mrs Alderson has done nothing wrong.....it is now time to put all this to bed and clear an excellent teacher's good name.
E. Maltby
Speculation
As I said above I think it is the future of the school which is important still. I don't think it's worth anyone speculating on the outcome of this hearing - after the past year's events it would be a waste of time.
Stan, as far as I understand, the case Mrs Aldeson brought wasn't heard because there was no guarantee of impartiality of the governors following Mr Turner's outburst in the staffroom. If he plays any part in the proceedings who knows what might happen ? We can be sure that if he releases the news in one of his letters to parents, that whatever he states then probably the opposite will be the truth of the matter.
I think we need now to wait and see what comes out from the school, authority or wherever, about the case, and then concentrate on getting all the other problems sorted.
stan
Amazing! Basically she has no hope and despite doing nothing wrong she could end up loosing her job so the LEA can save face!
The good of the school??? I have little knowledge of this case but it seems she has become a pawn in the game and a scapegoat for ALL concerned??
Hope I am proved wrong..
Like many people on here she has spoke oout, but as far as I am aware no one else has lost their job / career and income???
Shameful!
mr.wilson
lost jobs
JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT MY DAUGHTER LOST HER JOB AT MARTON SCHOOL LAST MAY, FOR SPEAKING OUT AND REMOVING MY GRANDCHILDREN FROM THE SCHOOL, SO IT STARTED 12 MONTHS AGO. LETS HOPE THAT NO MORE STAFF LOSE OUT.
Lisa
The outcome of Mrs Alderson's case will be of interest to everyone. However, this is just one wrongdoing (albeit a big one) that has occurred at Marton. Whatever the outcome, everyone needs to know that we will not stop pursuing the important issues that are still ongoing at the school. The children of Marton deserve much better than what they are getting.
We are not a 'vindictive minority' Mr Lund. We are a group of caring, worried, determined parents and friends who will not be gagged. If parents had been listened to months ago children would not have been subjected to viewing porn, been bullied and been ashamed to say which school they go to. They would have been enjoying a full range of lessons at school and going on school trips. Instead they have been subjected to an excessive amount of literacy and numeracy lessons in a desperate attempt to improve results.
I do not think for one minute that Mrs Alderson will return to Marton school even if she is asked to. She has had a year of her life ruined, and will soon have to pick up all the pieces and wonder what to do with the rest of her life. For what? I suspect she spoke up about things that were wrong. We owe it to her and the other unhappy staff to NOT give up.
HM
Hearing
Has anyone heard any news yet. I haven't seen any letter from school or anything in the Gazette which I thought there would have been.
