| |
ACADEMY'S YEAR ENDS A SHAMBLES
Head resigns after a tenure of controversy and discontent
THE head teacher of a flagship academy has quit after a year of controversy.
Barbi Goulding announced she was leaving the Paddington Academy in North Wharf Road for medical reasons.
Ms Goulding said: “I am proud of all that we have achieved.”
The announcement comes as detectives investigate a stabbing of a pupil in the playground and with teachers sounding alarm bells of a disintegration of discipline within the school’s gates.
It has been a tumultuous year for pupils at the former North Westminster community school that last September transformed into Paddington Academy.
After the promised £30-million state-of-the-art building failed to materialise more than 1200 pupils have since September been taught in their old sixth form block, earmarked for demolition.
A special report from BBC Newsnight investigators in October, titled A Lost Year of Education, revealed how pupils were met by graffiti and garbage on the first day of term.
Parents complained of a lack of basic facilities, including computers and white boards.
Teachers were forced to paint their own classrooms in the week the school opened, union official claimed.
Karen Buck, Labour MP for Regent’s Park and North Kensington, angered parents after she withdrew her son from the school in December having campaigned for academy status.
Tensions boiled over in March when a 16-year-old from Maida Vale was stabbed in the playground at lunchtime.
The United Learning Trust, the school’s Anglican sponsors, last night (Thursday) insisted there is no problem with discipline at the school.
Jane Eades, 20 years a teacher and Director of the Upper School at NWCS until she quit in protest of the academy move, said: “Six formers complain to me about a deterioration of discipline since the Academy opened.
“Education in the last two years came second to the disruption caused by creating a ‘bright new’ future. One of the worst results has been the lack of continuity of teachers .
“The cost of this experiment, is too high. The sad thing is that Westminster Council, the parents and the community cannot do a thing about it because the Academy is outside their control.” |
| |
 |
|
| |
| |
