Should This Headmaster Now Be Sacked?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2638064/School-bans-10-year-old-girl-going-grandfathers-funeral-AND-threaten-parents-1-000-fine-goes-anyway.html

[black_cat51]

perhaps TTT should now be sacked from AB?

[pixie373]

Lol:-)

[aelmpvw]

it's a non-story and to suggest that he should be sacked is ludicrous

[sp1814]

pixie373

Playing devil's advocate - they probably had a lot on their mind at the time.

But I agree with some of the other comments here - it's not clear what merit there is in this story.

The story reads like this:

The day before we were due to buy our new car, our finance company said that the funds were not available.

We bought the car anyway and subsequently found that due to an internal error, the funds WERE there, and our account was credited with the cash.

The manager of the office wrote to apologise, ordered an inquiry and promised to meet with us.

However mistake upset me so much, I decided to contact our local paper - not because of the lending rules in general, but because someone made an honest mistake, owned up to it, and rectified it immediately.

[pixie373]

Yes, i agree. A lot of fuss about nothing. They could have rung for an earlier answer. They didn't. Mistake made by school, apologised. What is there to go to the papers about, really?

[kvalidir]

I personally think anyone who risks asking for any sort of 'leave' from a school is utterly mad, most people will simply throw a sickie- so it's all going to be rather counter productive to what old Gove chops wants. Not only will it not ensure that kids miss school, it'll also ensure that they miss school and learn it's okay to lie.
With regards to the head he's a buck passing idiot but it's hardly worthy of being sacked, he hopefully will learn to be more careful and to read things properly from now on.

[Gromit]

Judging from the link earlier which named him as Headmaster of the Year which was dated January 2014, he was then at another school. So he must be new to this one and not quite settled in.

[pusskin]

Headmaster should take time to read properly, and No, i dont think he should be sacked.

[zebo]

I do hope that all those being critical of his error belong to that large group in all walks of life who have never made a mistake, they can hold their AGM in my broom cupboard. He made a mistake relating to an emotional issue, he apologised and met the family later. They however went squealing to the press wearing their Sunday-best sad faces, what do they want, money? Surely not! No doubt he will have to waste time dealing with the "bullying", ie taunting, that the girl will receive as a result of the pictures in the paper, then they can be back again with another sad-face.

[factor-fiction]

>"So they can close the school during term time but a child is fined if they miss a day. "
I don't understand that point, Gromit.
Schools operate for a set number of days in a year (somewhere around 195 I recall) and these days are published well in advance- usually more than 12 months in advance

[andy-hughes]

Have all the witch-hunters stopped to think that maybe the head didn't actually have sight of the letter and form personally?

Schools' procedures on these issues vary, but suppose that the school secretary didn't read the form correctly, assumed it was a holiday, and advised the head of that who accordingly signed a form letter line with school policy - without ever knowing the error was committed until the media arrived with flaming torches and pitchforks

Being the head, he admitted responsibility for an error which may not have been his at all.

But that said - to address the question - it was an mistake.

People make mistakes, that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils.

To suggest dismissal under these circumstances would be utterly ludicrous.

Schools have enough trouble attracting heads as it is - they don't have the benefit of eight-figures share options to 'attract the right people' like banks - so let's not frighten off any more candidates with hysterical emotional knee-jerk stories.

[anotheoldgit]

andy-hughes

/// People make mistakes, that's why they put rubbers on the end of pencils. ///

Oh if all mistakes could be erased as easily as a pencil line.