Kingsdale being investigated for malpractice

[grame78]

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick debi-this was aimed at a collective group of said peoples.not the kids-all I hear is how wonderful the kids and staff are (excl some). We've had such good support from parents and kids and I hope they all do well in future endeavours

[alice]

agree with tiddles above - there's only one reason to delay making a complaint till the last day. And thats to cause maximum unresolved disruption - motivation?

[Debi]

Grame - I don't think I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. I maintain my belief that this is malicious and that the people who will suffer most are the children whose future has been thrown into chaos as the result of this action. Nice way to show gratitude for them being 'wonderful'.

[KalamityKel]

well said Debi :)-D

[happy gardener]

There are no doubt a number of teachers who did not get on with the Senior management team at Kingsdale and many of them chose to leave this year. However they have other ways to express their displeasure ie through unions and grievance procedures. To have made this kind of backstabbing complaint shows no respect for other colleagues or for the pupils they claim to care about. As for the allegations, I hope the exam boards are as quick to clear the school as they were to release the allegations.

[Otta]

But if wrong doing is happening (and I emphasise the IF), it does need investigating, whether it inconveniences some kids or not.

Harsh I know, but necessary.

[Winston]

Debi,

I have taught both of your lovely sons and met you several times where you spoke highly of me as teacher. I am hoping that, as you respect me as a teacher, you will also respect my opinion. I know you have championed the school for a long time and are highly valued by senior management, however that does not change the fact that these allegations not malicious. Malpractice and bullying are the reason why many of the staff, including myself, have now left the school. Kingsdale has many fantastic students and staff, but cheating does take place under the orders of certain senior managers - this is a genuine accusation and the evidence has been sent to the exam board. The whistleblowers are not bitter or malicious - they are outstanding teachers and honourable people who know that this malpractice can no longer go on. The decision was not taken lightly. With respect, as a middle class parent of two able kids, you are so useful as a PR device that you are unlikely to be let in on what we teachers see behind the scenes. Getting in a more 'aspirational' cohort has been the head's aim for many years and we are told in managers meetings to do whatever it takes to ensure we get the kind of exam results that will make middle class parents feel confident enough to send their offspring here. The head has catagorically said that every student should get 'much more than they deserve' in order to make our lives easier with a cushier cohort in the long run. Any teacher who didn't agree with this was described as a 'fool' and advised to 'look elsewhere for a place to work.' It seems certain senior managers took the 'whatever it takes' speech a little too literally as false coursework grades and doctored exam scripts are something teachers have seen and cannot ignore. I hope you will at least consider that the whistleblowers have a point.

[Ko]

maxti Wrote:

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> Good and hopefully they can "audit" their

> selection process.....lottery my big backside!

just wondering - who adminsiters the kingsdale admissions lottery and its result: the LEA or kingsdale itself?

[BB100]

At the open day the Head said they get the local vicar to come and draw the names out of the hat.

[Mrs Integrity]

You are quite right Winston.

This is not to do with grudges or disagreements with senior staff. It is about doing the right thing. Could any of the critics on here stand by and watch cheating without reporting it? What sort of lesson does this teach our children?

The malpractice was not reported on the last day of term. It was reported to the exam board much earlier than that. The exam board wrote to the chair of governors on Thursday (the second to last day of term). The headteacher claims not to have details of the allegations but I know he was sent the reports by the exam board. He has many admirable qualities as a Headteacher but honesty is unfortunately not one of them. The school today was a hive of activity of people panicking and shredding documents - hardly the sign of unfounded allegations.

I can only hope that the staff responsible for the cheating own up instead of attempting to cover up so that the matter is cleared up quickly and the pupils do not suffer further.

[Debi]

Winston - you clearly know who I am, but I'm struggling to identify you. You are suggesting when you describe me as 'useful as a PR device', that my loyalty to my children's school means I have opened myself up to being manipulated. To be honest, if you knew me at all well, you would know that I'm far too canny to be manipulated by anyone. I perceive your post as a way of undermining my credibility. Maybe it will work, I don't know. I hope that most parents will go by their own overwhelmingly positive experience of the school to come to their own conclusions about these allegations and the motives of those making them.

One last point a propos of nothing other than clarity: neither I nor any member of our family would ever describe ourselves as middle class. You seem to be assuming that anyone who is articulate and educated couldn't possibly be working class. In this, as, I believe on other matters, you are mistaken.

[Winston]

Mrs Integrity - thanks for your support, I so admire you for revealing what so many other teachers were too scared to. Debi - one of my ex year 11s has told me they saw the comments on the Evening Standard and have posted statements about their own experiences of cheating at Kingsdale. They have also sent these to the exam board. As my own experiences of having witnessed this have failed to convince you, perhaps you will also be unconvinced by this eyewitness statement, but I thought I would draw your attention to it nonetheless. I am not trying to undermine you as a person, I have a lot of respect for you - just trying to make you see that parents are not always the ones who see a school for what it really is. However all this is academic as the evience has been sent and the outcome lies with the exam board. I am sure justice will be done and sincerely hope this will not adversely affect students.

[Debi]

Winston - I take it you haven't seen the latest posts on the Standard thread. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Orgies? I mean, please. Is that going to be investigated too? Among the posts too stupid to comment on, there are others from staff and pupils countering all these claims. If it's true that there are pupils who have damning evidence who have contacted the exam boards, to whom of course they could not hide behind anonymity, then the truth will certainly come out. Sadly, mud has a tendency to stick and the damage to the school and all those children and staff who are innocent of any wrongdoing will have been done.

If (and it's a huge 'if') it turns out that there is any truth whatsoever in any of these accusations, I would like to bet that these were isolated instances which, if the Senior Management Team had been aware of them, would have been dealt with in no uncertain terms. To suggest there was a culture of cheating at the school is utterly ridiculous. Even if, as you suggest, the staff wouldn't have told me, my son certainly would. Just look at what's at stake. They would have to be mad to allow the endemic cheating as per the accusations. And they're not. They just work incredibly hard and are utterly devoted to the children's best interests. Whatever the assertions by these whistleblowers that they care about the children, their actions clearly prove otherwise. I am saddened beyond belief that you appear not to see that.

[KalamityKel]

hmmmm not an active member on here eh winston... debi I wouldn't doubt your credibility at all

[Otta]

BB100 Wrote:

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> At the open day the Head said they get the local

> vicar to come and draw the names out of the hat.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! Brilliant. Who could argue with the choice of God himself.

I totally understand people supporting the school their kids attend, but how anyone can just dismiss any claims of wrong doing is beyond me.

[Otta]

Unless they don't actually care how results are gained, so long as their kids benefit.

[Townleygreen]

Perhaps we need to wait until the exam boards conclude their investigations? If the charges are invented, then the school will be cleared. If not, then heads will roll. Or the head will resign.

[BB100]

Debi, I really feel for you at the moment. These allegations must be making life very miserable for you and your family after your son has taken his exams and was looking forward to getting his results next month. I do hope things get sorted out quickly so your son can get on with his future. I expect that if you call the exam board as a concerned parent they may let you know what course of action they are taking and how long it is expected to take, and what it means for your son. You may also be able to add your son's experience to the investigation.

[Winston]

Debi,

I have so much to say in response - but probably not very clever to say it in a public forum, when these issues are under investigation. One of our ex union reps - who I won't name here - was hoping to meet with you after she gets back from holiday and tell you everything, so I will join her if that's ok. I've actually made 6 A4 sides of notes in preparation so brace yourself! I'm afraid the face of senior management you see is not the full story and these are not isolated incidents independent of senior management, but rather because of them (1 in particular). May also be worth speaking to Michael Davern, the southwark union rep, who knows a lot more about what goes on behind the scenes and the level of bulling and harrassment that takes place for those who speak out. All I can say is, it's pretty chilling and that so many teachers have left well paid management jobs for a reason, including myself!

Will leave it at that for now - I'm still just so happy to be out of there and no longer too frightened to tell the truth!

[murphy]

I would just like to remind people that this is a public forum and journalists have used direct quotes from the EDF before. Winston and Mrs Integrity if you are/were teachers at the school then going to the exam board was the right and brave thing to do and I presume you will be talking to the investigation team. It is wildly unproffesional however to have posted some of the information above on a public forum.

[BB100]

Winston, I'm relieved you have not said too much in response as you could jepordise the investigation. Teachers need to sit quiet on here and let the exam boards do their job, otherwise you could give any who have cheated a way of wiggling out of it.

[Otta]

Although it is the boring option, I have to agree.

[maxti]

:)) @Otta

YES as much as I want to hear more I guess I will have to wait until "official" findings are released..

[BB100]

Another article in the Evening Standard today. I can't see how it has been going on for five years though - their results have been rubbish up until 2 years ago.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23973392-school-expected-us-to-help-pupils-pass-exams-claims-teacher.do

[Damian H]

Debi Wrote:

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> Grame - I don't think I have got hold of the wrong

> end of the stick. I maintain my belief that this

> is malicious and that the people who will suffer

> most are the children whose future has been thrown

> into chaos as the result of this action. Nice way

> to show gratitude for them being 'wonderful'.

I am sorry, Debi, but are you suggesting that teachers (six of them it would seem, not merely one disgruntled person) should have said absolutely nothing about what they perceived as being highly inappropriate behaviour simply to avoid any awkwardness for pupils??? Such an opinion beggars belief. If there has been widespread cheating as alleged (and we will have to wait and see) then pupils will inevitably suffer somewhat but that is the responsibility of any individuals who may have been facilitating cheating NOT those teachers who chose to speak out.

The notion that leaviung things to the last minute is evidence of malice seems nonsense to me. Whistleblowing like this, in an environment in which you have to work day in day out, is an extremely difficult and courageous thing to do. I know that because I have done it. The punitive pressure that can be brought to bear upon a whistleblower through a variety of subtle means can be quite staggering. I have corresponded in the past with people like Dr Kim Holt who was a whistleblower at Great Ormond Street about serious medical failings and was subjected to appalling treatment leading to an episode of clinical depression on her part. It may well be that the teachers involved had to go throuh a considerable amount of soul-searching and that it was time running out as end of term approached that forced their hand. It may also be the case that they wanted to be able to make the complaint and then have it investigated while they were on holiday, rather than having to endure the utterly toxic environment of sitting in a staff-room, teaching clildren, talking to the Principal etc, in a situation when they had made serious complaints against others. I would completely sympathise with that decision to safeguard their own welfare in the circumstances.

Obviously the jury is still out. If the allegations were malicious and unwarranted, then the teachers should hang their heads in shame. If the allegations aretrue, then the six whistleblowers are heroes in my eyes and the only people who should be vilified and blamed for the distress to the pupils is those involved in the cheating.

Don't underestimate what it takes to make this sort of complaint, and the appalling pressure than one can be placed under as a result, unless you have been through it yourself.

Let me add - if these allegations were malicious, then six teachers (no matter what anonymity has been granted them) have effecively committed professional suicide. I can't imagine that six people would do that collectively unless they were convinced of the truth of what they were saying.