Headteacher, at academy where trustees were reported to have “too much deference” to its leadership, stands down

A headteacher, who has been at the centre of controversy over an employment tribunal judgment in which he was said to have had an “animus” against a former teacher because of her union activities, has stepped down.

Nigel Griffiths, who was head of John Kyrle High School in Herefordshire, stood down from that position last month, citing the pressures of leading the academy through covid, a letter to parents from its chair of trustees which praised his 20-year record of leadership, revealed this week.

The move had already happened before the letter was sent, Griffiths having left last week, on New Year’s Eve. And his effective deputy, Dave Boyd – the trust’s latest accounts list Griffiths as the school’s headteacher, and Boyd as its “operational headteacher” – is also to stand down.

Boyd has announced he intends to retire in the summer, and in the interim to “take a step back from the senior leadership team,” the letter from Rod Barker revealed.

The developments continue what has been a tumultuous time for this school, which is controlled by a single academy trust, on which Griffiths sat until September 2021.

In November 2020, the school was featured in the Guardian after Joanne Lucas, its former head of drama who at the time had been a representative of the National Union of Teachers, won an employment tribunal case, the tribunal finding she had been wrongly sacked for “gross misconduct”.

The tribunal found that Griffiths had had an “animus…inextricably linked to her union activities” against Lucas.

During the same month, it emerged that John Kyrle, in Ross-on-Wye, was facing £187,000 legal costs for mounting an unsuccessful judicial review case against the move of a rival academy, 10 miles away in Gloucestershire, to open a sixth form.

The Lucas case is ongoing, with damages to her yet to be awarded and with a further hearing on that due later this month.

Meanwhile, there has been turmoil on the governing body. Following the two setbacks for the trust, an independent review of governance was ordered by trustees, only for its findings to be kept confidential, the trust arguing that the resulting report contained personal data.

In September, Education Uncovered revealed how two excerpts from the unpublished report, dated March 2021, which had been disclosed as part of a hearing on the level of remedies to be awarded to Lucas, offered damning commentaries on the board’s reaction to the sixth form set-back and the Lucas findings.

One excerpt said: “To date, there has been no board inquiry, no open discussion, or post-mortem on each of these damaging legal judgements…this is a serious omission.”

The other said: “In reality, there is too much deference to the ‘authority,’ presumed knowledge and expertise of the Executive Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Group.”

The entry for the trust running the school, on the website of Companies House, currently sees almost all of its first page, spanning a period of only seven months, devoted to changes of trustees.

Barker, 78, is the third chair of trustees in the past nine months, Denise Strutt having resigned in April last year, to be succeeded by Murray Alston, who lasted only until August.

The trust’s current entry on the government’s “Get Information About Schools” database lists only five trustees, including Barker, with one of these due to step down next month.

In his letter to parents and carers, sent on Tuesday, Barker linked Griffiths’ departure to the impact of managing the school through Covid, also paying tribute to the work of the former head, who was also once an Ofsted inspector and “Ofsted ambassador”. l

It said: “If you look at all that has happened at JKHS [John Kyrle High School] over the last 20 years, there is a great deal to be celebrated and applauded. Our buildings and facilities have seen huge investment, our results, particularly at A-level, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the country, and no Ofsted visit has ever ended up in a judgement that is less than Good. Crucially, generations of young people have come through our school and flourished.

“At the heart of these successes have been our students and staff, led by Nigel Griffiths…

“While no leader would ever say their tenure has been perfect, Nigel has continually tried to ensure that our community is one where everyone can be happy, healthy and successful.

“He has, however, recently concluded that the challenges of leading a school community through Covid have taken their toll, and he has made the decision to step down from his position at John Kyrle.”

Griffiths, the letter added, had been “allowed…to step away from his position as of the 31 December 2021.”

It also said: “In addition, Mr Dave Boyd notified us earlier in the academic year that it was his intention to retire this summer. He will, therefore, be continuing to support JKHS over the coming months, but he has agreed to take a step back from the Senior Leadership Team.”

Mark Burton, currently the school’s “deputy headteacher”, would now be leading the school, seemingly as interim head with the letter stating that the board would be looking to secure a permanent leader.

The trust’s 2019-20 accounts show Griffiths’ total remuneration package for that year was at least £175,000: £145-£150,000 in salary and £30-£35,000 in employer’s pension contributions. This is substantially more than the leader of a single school in the non-academy sector would be paid. Another employee was paid £100-£110,000, the accounts add.

Since the employment tribunal judgment, Griffiths had also stopped being an Ofsted inspector, while as of last year he was also not serving in another previous role, as a National Leader of Education.

I shall be continuing to keep a very close eye on this case.