Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:48 pm Post subject: form your own opinions
Having spoken to several members of teaching staff, including Headteachers, at schools throughout Blackpool, I understand that they are now heartily sick of reading and hearing about Marton Primary, especially in view of the fact that their own schools are suffering from lack of funds, whilst money is being pumped into Marton School at a vast rate. Who can blame those disgruntled teachers? Many told me that, although they don't know all the facts, they can read between the lines, and can see through the pathetic attempts by the CSA (LEA), Blackpool Council and Mike Turner (Chair of Governors) to promote Marton School, regardless of the mess it is currently in.
It's about time a few more of those people in power in Blackpool started to form their own opinions, instead of being brainwashed by those above them. The sooner this happens, the sooner we will see justice done.
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:12 pm Post subject: Extra Funds
Apparently, Marton has received £20,000 extra alone to cover Mrs Aldersons suspension.......£20,000 the council could have spent on books and other resources....thats more than £40 for each child that attends Marton.
I have recently been in contact with the Blackpool Education Department and have been told that no extra money has been put into the school, an amount of money is given to the school for the whole school year and a budget is set, other schools are not loosing out they have money given for the wole school ear like Marton
I'm sorry Andrea, you have been misled - another blatant lie which will come out in the end. _________________ Listen to the facts and decide for yourself
Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject: Rising costs
While we all welcome anyone posting on the site it would be in everyone's interests if Ms Andrea Smith and others could first check carefully what they have to say before posting. I am afraid, Ms Smith, that you are embarrassing yourself.
Where do you think the money has come from to pay for a supply teacher to cover Mrs Alderson's suspension ? She has been on full pay since last summer.
Last term saw a record number of supply teachers in school. Who paid for their salaries ?
The school needed massive CSA support - who paid for this ?
Yes a school has a set budget for the year - but that budget cannot meet demands such as those above.
Did you read the HMI report - and not just the parts which Mr Turner selectively chose to send to parents ? He pointed out clearly the enormous expenditure by the authority on Marton to try to turn it around.
Please send me the contact at the council who told you this - you can do it by private message on this forum. If they confirm what you say I will personally donate my computer to the school and you will hear no more from me.
Ask the Education Authority the following questions and see if you can get an answer. We have been trying for a long time but just get a wall of silence.
1 Why did a teacher in charge of young children get removed form the school?
2 Will they confirm what he was viewing on a classroom PC?
3 Why did the IT departmnent come in and wipe the servers clean?
4 Was it not a bit too late to wipe them when prints had already been taken of the history?
5 Why has so much money been spent on Legal costs in Liverpool?
6 etc. etc. et.
Perhaps you will get the same answer from the Director.... Can't comment as it is in such a mess, time to stop digging......
Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:49 pm Post subject: Ruth Coupe
Okay – now its gone quiet again, let me just point something out to you:
Most of us face Monday mornings with reluctance. Back to the grind – whatever! But anyone working at Marton Primary School (no matter what their loyalties) face something that must seem much more daunting, and my heart goes out to them. They face an atmosphere of emotions that many of us do not. An atmosphere of suspicion, of secrets, of grudges – and yes – of fear.
But not for much longer.
I have invited one of those members of staff (who has not so far posted on this forum to my knowledge) to speak up and have their say. After all, without the influence of Mrs Ruth Coupe we would all probably be stuck watching television for drama and entertainment of an evening! Can it be true that a primary school in modern Britain is gripped by a Rule of Fear? Maybe. Maybe not.
Maybe the tide is starting to turn…
So watch this space for our Star Player. Mrs Coupe – your call.
Scared, I presume you are either off work, or you work part time, otherwise you would not be able to post at 9.50 on a Monday morning. I would also guess that you are not a teacher, judging by some of the things you have written - jargon, totally without foundation. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I would like to take issue with some of your comments (facts are true for everybody).
1. You say some people paint a picture that the school was happy under Mrs Lancaster. I would say, from talking to staff and parents, that this was no "painted picture". This was how the majority of people connected with the school saw it. On what do you base your comment that "most staff found her manner unpredictable at the best of times."? That is certainly not the impression I got from either Mrs Lancaster or her staff. It sounds very much like a personal view.
"Her mangement (sic) was terrible and she left the school in a right managerial mess!" Perhaps you could enlighten us with some specific evidence of that, unless, of course, you are simply repeating what you, and many others, have been told by Mrs Coupe, ad infinitum. Perhaps you could also tell us about the "government procedures" that Mrs Coupe was adhering to. She doesn't seem able to adhere to procedures in any other area. There is plenty of evidence to back this up, much of it documented on this website.
2. I'm glad Mrs Coupe has always been fair to you. You are very lucky. Whatever you do, don't question, disagree or challenge her in any way. You might see a different side to her then. As for her being a "dedicated and hardworking Headteacher", I would love to see a record of the number of days she has been out of school this year.
3. "She HAS moved learning on in our school and has brought assessment for learning as a fantastic initiative." Again, what evidence do you have that she has brought learning on. As for assessment for learning, I know, as a retired teacher, and with close links with school, that this was ALREADY going on under Mrs Lancaster.
4. The truth will come out. That's one thing we DO agree on, although I think you will find a significant number of staff, desperately UNhappy at Marton.
5. "No clear evidence." This really beggars belief. If you would care to contact Alan Veale of MSAG I'm sure he would be very happy to show you the huge dossier of evidence that is already being investigated by the DFES. Whether we are in the minority or not is irrelevant. Just ONE parent, or member of staff with a valid complaint, is entitled to be heard. If you look back in history you will see numerous cases where the minority fought for a cause - and won - because they believed in what they were fighting for.
6. "Some members of staff have posted positive comments on here, but have told me that they haven't been put on!" I'm puzzled by this comment. When you sent your post, did it not go through automatically? Mine always do. There is nothing to stop it. The administrator is certainly not sitting at the computer 24 hours a day, frantically reading every post in the milliseconds it takes to appear, and deciding to block it if it has a view he is unhappy with. Surely you can see how the sytem works? Whoever has told you that posts have not been put on is either lying or does not understand how to use a forum such as this. Try it for yourself: press "submit" and hey presto, it's on! On one or two occasions, posts (from both viewpoints) have been removed, at a later date, by the administrator, and a full explanation given.
"You should all go in to politics, not teaching! Your opinions and lies will serve you much better there!" I think you will find that this situation is already a political one, and, as for lies, once again, specific evidence from you would be useful. We have plenty of evidence of lying from Mrs Coupe's camp.
Finally, I wonder why you sign yourself "scared". What are you scared of? If you are as supportive of Mrs Coupe as you profess to be, then you have nothing to worry about. You will be protected, at least until the truth DOES come out.
I look forward to your next post, detailing the evidence to support your case. _________________ EVENTUALLY THE TRUTH WILL OUT, JUSTICE WILL BE DONE.
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:33 pm Post subject: Mrs Lancaster
I would like to concur with everything which Mary has just posted.
Firstly – an obvious question. As a member of staff at Marton how are you able to post on this forum at 9:50 a.m. ? I hope you are not in school.
Secondly – this forum was never about Mrs Lancaster who is (hopefully) happily retired, but events which have taken place since. Alas you have believed the ‘spin’ of Mr Turner and Mrs Coupe and followed their line. Instead of answering questions you have sought to attack someone else who is not able to answer. Mr Turner and Mr Lund attacked the Action Group – but they could respond. Mrs Smith attacked the posts on this website – again they could respond. Now you have reached an all time low in this business by personally attacking the retired headteacher.
Thirdly. As for the ‘negative criticsm’ - all issues raised by the MSAG and on this forum are supported by CONCRETE evidence. If they were not do you think that the DfES would even consider examining them ? They would have been discarded weeks ago. I don’t want to repeat them here –the issues have been raised often enough on this site.
However, as per other defences of Mrs Coupe you have provided NO evidence, but have simply followed the easy line as they have done by attacking others.
Please let us have evidence of ‘the managerial mess’-
We know that:
Many staff were developed at Marton and went on to promotion
The successful management partnership of Mrs Lancaster and Mrs Hirst led to Mrs Hirst getting her own headship in Blackpool
Mrs Lancaster was responsible for establishing the new Nursery
Mrs Lancaster was solely responsible for establishing the school as a SERF
Two separate Ofsted reports praised the management and teaching skills of staff at Marton and in particular the senior staff
The Ofsted reports commented on the excellent relationship between school and parents
Mrs Lancaster applied for and obtained the grant for a MUGA
The school budget was always healthy under Mrs Lancaster as Audits and Governors' reports show.
Mrs Lancaster was highly thought of by the LEA, and often represented them. You are welcome to contact Mr Lund to confirm this
In contrast to this for example:-
We have seen teaching quality criticised by the last Ofsted team (were you one of them or not ?)– except for one member of staff who has since been suspended
We have seen SATs scores fall
We have seen a massive increase in expenditure for supply cover
We have seen the grant for the MUGA frozen
We have seen no conciliatory steps taken by Mrs Coupe over any issue – in breach of ACAS guidelines, as mentioned elsewhere on this forum.
We have seen 'covering up' of issues regarding unsafe internet use
Fourth. ‘Mrs Lancaster was unnapproachable’ Give us some concrete evidence with dates and times. We have these for parents who have tried unsuccessfully to contact Mrs Coupe – it is only right that you do the same before you throw accusations about.
Finally. If other teachers have used comments such as your last one ‘Your opinions and lies will serve you much better there!' Then no wonder they have been removed. This is slanderous and as such I will ask the postmaster for your post to be edited. However I hope that you are not suggesting that the postmaster removes any posts for any other reasons!! That would again be an unfounded accusation.
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:40 pm Post subject: Facts
For the benefit of “Scared” and others sharing the same sentiments, let me first of all thank you for sharing your opinions with us. This is a debating forum after all, and it is important to hear both sides of a debate at all times. I have often tried to reinforce the message that we should ALL be allowed to express our opinions, no matter who we support – and that is one of the complaints I have against Coupe, Lund and Turner – because each of them have so arrogantly attacked us for wanting to speak out in public.
I must also caution everybody about a too liberal use of the word “fact”. The whole reason for this forum being in existence is because of the number of people who were trying to establish fact from fiction when it was clear that the school authorities were trying to keep matters out of the public eye. The number of stories that began to circulate on this forum needed to be checked out – because some of them seemed just too incredible to be true. For instance, I could not really believe that any responsible teacher (let alone a Head Teacher) could be guilty of bullying a class of 5 and 6 year old children over a piece of fruit! Yet our investigations proved this to be true, and there was worse to come.
In her post above, Mary refers to the dossier of evidence that we sent to the DFES. Believe me, I would not dare to register a complaint with the Government on verbal stories and hearsay! Everything we lodged was based on carefully researched documentary evidence. If it was not, do you think the DFES would still be looking into it over two months later?
I am not a teacher, and I could not have lodged that official complaint without the help of people with practical experience of teaching (like Mary), and of staff (or ex-staff) from Marton School itself. Far from being the hard-working industrious teacher that “Scared” paints above, my colleagues found evidence to indicate that some of Mrs Coupe’s directives came about through either malicious intent, or sheer ineptitude. There was no other way of interpreting them.
So – “facts” have to be just that. There were many other things we could have mentioned in our complaint – but because we had no factual evidence at the time, we could not include them.
If anyone wishes to examine the complaint in detail they are welcome to contact me direct, through a private e-mail. I must state however, that this is not a public document (yet), and as it is still under investigation, I am unable to supply copies without DFES approval.
Concernred (sic), I'm afraid you may not be fully aware of all the facts. Have you seen all the documentary evidence on this site alone? The ofsted report is under investigation - that is one of the crucial issues in this whole business.
Once again, I'm glad you are happy with Mrs Coupe, but I really don't see how you can say the majority of parents are also happy. Have you done a survey? You certainly haven't spoken to those parents I have been in contact with, who not only found Mrs Coupe unapproachable, but, at times, downright rude and unprofessional.
Incidentally, I do find it strange that the writing style of all Mrs Coupe's supporters is surprisingly similar..... _________________ EVENTUALLY THE TRUTH WILL OUT, JUSTICE WILL BE DONE.
One question - if you went to Macdonald's for a meal with your children, and one of them started vomiting after eating part of a burger which smelt bad, would you complain to the manager? So - what if he just shrugged and said "Most of our customers are happy"?
Some of us have been sick of this mess for a long time, but the management can't even be bothered to sweep up...
Parents and staff are finally speaking out positively for the school.
I have also joined as a new member to this debate today. I am a parent and have found Mrs Coupe to be an excellent Headteacher for my two girls attending the school. I urge other parents to speak out this TRUTH.
Mrs Lancaster was ok as a head, but Mrs Coupe is a credit to the school. She is very approachable and smiling in the face of what is going on. Most of the teachers seem happy when you speak to them. Since Mrs Coupe has joined the school that my girls are now doing more lessons and seem happier.I have been looking at this website every week, but just felt i had to join today and support Mrs Coupe. We need a strong head for our school.I will be speaking to my friends and other parents and asking them to join today, so that they can put POSITIVE comments on here.God knows, how Stressed Mrs Coupe is. We need to give her all the support we can.
It is time to SUPPORT our school
Last edited by hs on Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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