Disharmony at the Good Shepherd Trust in row over disappearing headteacher, as Foreign Secretary calls for “accountability”

Went missing: headteacher Richard Dunne. Pic: "-goldy-" via iStock/Getty Images

Went missing: headteacher Richard Dunne. Pic: "-goldy-" via iStock/Getty Images

 

The UK Foreign secretary has called on a cabinet colleague to help him “better understand what oversight and accountability can be exercised” over an academy trust at the centre of a row over the departure of a leading primary headteacher.

 

Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton, has written to education secretary Gavin Williamson to highlight concerns about the behaviour of the Good Shepherd Trust (GST) in relation to Richard Dunne’s sudden disappearance from his school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

 

The politician’s intervention has come after a parent petition calling for an independent investigation of the GST gathered more than 2,000 signatures and a fighting fund set up to support Dunne reached more than £22,500. 

 

The case carries echoes of other community campaigns around popular headteachers who either faced losing their jobs or simply disappeared from their schools.

 

Dunne, who is nationally renowned for his work to promote the “Harmony” nature curriculum had been head of Ashley C of E Primary School for 18 years when staff announced last September he would be “away from school for the next few weeks and unable to meet or correspond with parents during this time”.

 

Parents say they did not find out why he was absent until November 18, when Dunne resigned from the three-form entry school, telling staff, parents and children in an open resignation letter that the GST had made a number of allegations relating to procedures at the school. The trust says he resigned on the eve of a disciplinary hearing.

 

On his crowdfunding site, Dunne says he “strongly rejects” the allegations levied by the trust but adds: “My lawyer advised me that I was very unlikely to receive a fair hearing, so I resigned. I did not want to leave the school.”

 

A blog documenting events written by Ashley parent and television journalist Nick Wallis claims that the trust and governing body targeted Dunne because he had raised concerns about “asset stripping” at the school - which was taken over by the GST in 2014.

 

He says that senior staff at Ashley were made to spend increasing amounts of time helping at other schools in the trust.

 

He also reports that Dunne questioned “whether it was in the best interests of the school to remain in the GST”.

 

At the end of 2018, the blog says the trust instructed Dunne’s deputy to become full-time head teacher at another school for the rest of the year.

 

Dunne was also told he was going to be made an executive head of two schools, including Ashley Primary school – something that he did not want to do, Wallis writes.

 

Many parents at the school, some of whom moved to the area so their children could attend for its unique approach, are now angry and frustrated by the way Dunne has been treated and are calling for more transparency over the affair.

 

A petition, set up by parents Louise and Tom Bradley, says: “We are calling for an independent investigation into The Good Shepherd Trust with regard to its role and behaviour in bringing about the loss of a much-loved and inspirational headteacher from Ashley C of E Primary School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

 

“It is time the GST was required to account for its actions, and it is high-time parents were given a clear account of what happened here.”

 

The petition notes that Dunne took the school from “Good” to “Outstanding” in his first six years as its head and had even arranged for Prince Charles to visit in 2016.

 

The school has not had a full inspection since 2007 – but this means that the last Ofsted-outstanding judgment remained the official verdict of the inspectorate on its quality at the time of Dunne’s departure. Findings from the report, including an observation that “the headteacher’s clear vision and passion…ensures [sic] that pupils make very good progress…leadership and management are outstanding”, still feature on Ashley’s website.

 

“Richard was totally devoted to the school, often spending his evenings, weekends and holidays on school matters,” the petition says.

 

Other parents who spoke to Education Uncovered agreed.

 

One father with two sons at the school – who asked not to be identified - said: “It’s very sad when you see what’s happened and how he was there 18 years and all the good work that he’s done it’s all crashed down to nothing, it is very sad. That’s the sort of general feeling.”

 

He described the allegations against Dunne as “absolutely ridiculous” and the campaign to clear his name was “gaining traction” since they had come to light.

 

His wife - who also asked not to be named - added: “I think people are still feeling very frustrated in that there’s no accountability.”

 

 “He [Dunne] just completely disappeared, we were all genuinely concerned about his welfare.

 

“There was this period of silence where there was just nothing apart from a few standard statements about protecting people’s confidentiality. We were very much kept in the dark and if we were raising questions we were seen as troublemakers really.”

 

Dunne was “so well regarded” by parents and staff who are “mortified” he has gone, she added.

 

“He’s an inspirational leader, people moved their entire families to come and live in this area and be in this school because of his leadership.

“It was an outstanding school with a vibrant parent community. It was quite a unique school that he had created, of everyone really caring for one another, it was a perfect set-up and his curriculum was innovative, he was so inspiring.

 

“It’s almost as if they’re behaving as if we are a school that’s in need of special measures but we weren’t at all in that situation.”

 

She added: “It’s been an example of not working collaboratively at all, there’s more to running a school than just processes, there’s humans involved…they’ve moved assets as if it’s big business to other schools…But that’s setting someone up for failure if you are a head teacher if things are taken away from you and then you’re exposed it’s almost been set up really.”

 

Another parent, Peter Shaw, who has two children at the school added: “As a Christian, one of the worst things about this appalling situation is that The Good Shepherd Trust are a 'Christian organisation' within the Diocese of Guildford.

 

“But the way they have treated Richard Dunne and his family is entirely contrary to Christian values of care, compassion and justice.

 

“Now is the time for an independent inquiry so that The Good Shepherd Trust can be held account for their actions and judged against their own purported values.

 

“Mr Dunne is a wonderful and inspirational head, and we feel his loss very keenly – our children will miss out on his leadership on the basis of these very weak 'allegations'. This situation is entirely pointless and damaging to all concerned."

 

Nick Wallis, who has been a parent of children at Ashley for the past 10 years said:

“It’s so sad. Mr Dunne was such a brilliant head teacher and respected by so many people. The parents aren’t idiots. They know when something stinks.”

 

The Good Shepherd Trust responded to the story pointing – in the first line - to concerns about the performance of the school, which had dropped to “below average” for progress in writing at Key Stage 2 in 2019. [bit.ly/2SdONNt].

 

It said: “The Good Shepherd Trust was concerned about the performance of Ashley Church of England Primary School in 2019. It took action to address these concerns and improve the progress of pupils by issuing a Notice to Improve in October.

 

“The trust has appointed an improvement and intervention board to hold school leaders to account for raising educational standards and has recruited a National Leader of Education [Alex Clark] to serve as the school’s new headteacher from January 2020. 

 

“Richard Dunne chose to resign from his position of co-headteacher of Ashley Church of England Primary School on 17th November 2019, the night before a disciplinary and capability hearing.

 

“The disciplinary hearing was postponed on two occasions at Mr Dunne’s request to allow further time for him to gather his evidence.

 

“Since Mr Dunne’s suspension in September 2019 the trust has regularly briefed Ofsted, the Department of Education, the Regional Schools Commissioner and other statutory bodies. They are fully aware of developments and understand that a proper process has been followed.

 

“The trust is aware that Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton, has written to the Secretary of State for Education. In his letter Mr Raab acknowledges the need to avoid interference in an employment matter, which could influence the outcome of employment tribunal proceedings that may be brought in the future.

 

“The Good Shepherd Trust is aware of an online article published on Friday 17^th January which purports to provide an informed narrative concerning the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mr Dunne.

 

“The article makes a number of allegations against individuals, including current members of staff, local governing committee members and trustees.

 

“None of these allegations has any bearing on the decision to investigate Mr Dunne. Neither of the individuals named were involved in reaching that decision, or the investigation which followed, or the capability and disciplinary processes.”

 

Alex Tear, the interim chief executive officer of the GST, added in the statement:

“The trust has now referred all its evidence to the national statutory regulatory authorities to enable them to conduct their own independent investigations into the allegations made against Mr Dunne. Mr Dunne is aware of these investigations and is able offer his evidence to them.

 

 “The trust understands that many parents are frustrated by the lack of information concerning Mr Dunne’s decision to resign. However, the trust has a duty of care to its employees and will maintain confidentiality for all involved until there is an independent public hearing.

 

“Ashley Church of England Primary School is a highly valued member of our family of schools and the trust remains committed to ensuring that the school delivers the best possible education and care for all its pupils”

 

Wider context

This is not the first campaign to spring up in recent years around a primary school headteacher who faced losing their job, or actually lost it, following the actions of an academy trust which left parents wondering at a widely-felt lack of accountability (Warwick Mansell writes).

 

Last year, a community in Swinford, Leicestershire, united against plans which would have seen its primary school’s headteacher losing his job under part of a restructure driven by another Church of England school chain: the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust (DLAT).

 

The case drew coverage in the Times, and also got taken up by the local Conservative MP. It led to the board of the trust resigning en masse and eventually the departure of the chief executive who had presided over the proposed restructuring, although DLAT later told parents that she had only ever been “on secondment”.

 

Back in 2014, I wrote about another community’s anguish after another popular headteacher, Simon Wood at Weyfield primary academy in Guildford, Surrey, disappeared. The chain which had taken over the school, The Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT) had told MPs at the time that it had got rid of 26 out of 40 headteachers within weeks of taking over schools.

 

Six years on, TKAT has a mixed record and Wood has been working for another major trust: REAch2.

 

So Raab is not alone in wondering where accountability sits, with the wider evidence of these cases suggesting parents can often struggle to get answers and a sense of answerability when their school faces upheaval.