Teachers’ voices

Up and down the land, by no means limited to Wynstones, teachers over the past two to three decades have been blamed by Ofsted and government for all manner of things.

Former Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw once said: “If anyone says to you that staff morale is at an all-time low, you know you are doing something right.” Consider the implications of this attitude, which continues… Is this one to be trusted with having answers for the future of education in this country? —

Ofsted, with DfE blessing, have pursued a name, blame and shame culture, with top-down strict accountability measures and emphasis on abstract grading systems. Such methods are a relic from the distant past. Unfortunately, this culture has been passed down into schools, with management even in Steiner Waldorf schools adopting it, instead of a collegial, transparent, honest and empowering approach, respecting the dignity and professionalism of each other. At Wynstones the management structure over the years, and especially accentuated in the last year leading up to the closing, perpetuated this culture to a high degree and caused an intense split between management and teachers, with distrust and acrimony building up. It is exactly the opposite of what one would wish for and expect in a Steiner school. Unfortunately, management and trustees blame the teachers for this, not seeing their own follies in supporting this manner of working and setting people and structures in place to further it.

Having said this, it is to be acknowledged that it was a matter of a steady ‘creep’. In the very early days of the management structure at Wynstones, even many teachers supported it, seeing it as a means for taking away the increasing paperwork and bureaucracy which teachers (nationwide) were being saddled with. The mistake – in our assessment – was to place the hired staff (going by various names, from Education Leader to manager to in the end Principal) above college, putting a cleft in communication between trustees and college, in the name of a person, who increasingly took on not just the administrative matters to relieve teachers but the significant decisions – relieving college of its responsibilities and encouraging a vicious circle process of making the collegial body less empowered, less significant, less effective, which in turn encouraged ‘managers’ to be even stronger.

The story of this below, in a heart-wrenching account, is given anonymously by one of the Wynstones teachers, dating back to Spring 2020, in the middle of the court Ofsted challenge and well after the sudden school closure.

A teacher speaks up…

“…I am also still very much in recovery.

I cannot afford to risk losing my redundancy pay or furlough – and I am already very concerned about how my association with Wynstones will affect my job prospects in future; the DfE and the press are so good at spinning things, that it terrifies me to think that I would be identified as someone who disregards/does not recognise genuine safeguarding issues/practice and thus my career as a teacher would be threatened.

Also, I use the word ‘recovery’ because I think many of the staff at Wynstones can relate to not only the trauma of losing the school overnight; the children we loved, our treasured friends and colleagues, our role and purpose, future income etc. But in addition to this, we were treated appallingly as teachers over the last couple of years; trustees and managers constantly used language of blame, did not provide the support or investment required and indeed it is their own critical language which went some way towards sealing the fate of the school. Threats were made in relation to redundancy; we were berated publicly (to parents and in front of colleagues); and we were consistently ignored by those in power. I can only liken the experience to being in an abusive relationship; despite doing everything we could to provide an excellent educational experience in our classrooms, we were undermined; made to feel worthless and fearful; & forced to doubt ourselves, our understanding of pedagogy and how to support families. In extending the metaphor; we ‘stayed for the children’, as many victims of abuse do. Now that we have been able to step out and find space to reflect, it is much clearer what the wider implications are for us as people and professionals. …… we have been gaslighted for so long (which OFSTED have been complicit in through their report).

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes such as low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim’s beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.

At every turn, trustees, managers and inspectors have insisted that everything said in the reports are ‘correct’ and accurate, despite our experiences to the contrary. Despite the testimony of children and parents; we are all left doubting our perception because of the institutional abuse.

I’m sorry if this is difficult to read; I don’t want it to colour your judgement of your child’s education, as I think I succeeded in protecting the children from the underlying issues at the school. Wynstones was a wonderful place full of committed, loving staff who provided many children with the holistic educational experience they needed to enable them to discover and express their best selves. I believe they were safe; they were able to share their personal struggles because of excellent relationships with their teachers and we were able to support families because of our long term relationships (and the time and expertise we dedicated to the parent body). I also believe that the enforced closure put the children at much greater risk than the school staying open. Children who were already experiencing challenges in their family homes were then forced into those places (all day every day) away from the support network of school; they were banned from contacting their teachers, who for many were the consistent, safe figures that they needed; and the stress for families would have been exponential, putting additional pressure on those who needed it removed.

I am aware of cases of staff, students and parents who experienced suicidal thoughts following the school closure and for that the DfE have to take some accountability.

I am glad and grateful that people are working hard to stand up to OFSTED and I wish I had more courage at this time to be part of the process but I hope this email goes some way towards explaining why I can’t.”

Parallels in another school…

Wynstones was not alone in such attitudes creeping in. What is to ‘blame’? It is the hierarchical management structure introduced now in many Waldorf schools which stands very much at the root of the break-down in cooperation and constructive communication amongst all staff. Management increasingly takes on all decisions, even relating to education, even though some managers are not educators themselves. Teachers are then left out of the picture. It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophesy for trouble. Modern day businesses are further ahead, with flattened management structures, collegial methods of working and self-empowerment of employees are more and more accepted as the way for the future. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so in some Steiner schools, as above and also in the account below, from a teacher in a former Steiner Academy, now taken over by Avanti.

“I am one of the teachers who have been through the staff restructure at Avanti Hall. I have worked for 7 years starting at Exeter Steiner Academy through to Avanti Hall.

I have made progression through the school, and undertook my Steiner early years training in London with Lynne Oldfield. I was a kindergarten teacher and had been for three years before I became redundant.All Waldorf qualified teachers were assured in November 2019 that Avanti would provide us with a QTS training so we could remain in our jobs within the new school structure.

In April this year, the goal posts changed. We were then told that due to the new curriculum (no element of Waldorf Steiner) all staff must express an interest in positions. We would then be selected for interview if appropriate. There was no specific role for Early Years, just a generic class teacher position. Myself and other colleagues applied for our Early Years roles through the generic class teacher role as we was advised to do.The expressions of interest were then shortlisted and interviews were arranged. These were with SLT and Avanti HR staff. The interview was via zoom with no specific mention of Early Years, mainly focusing on the three pillars of the Avanti Way. I came away from the interview feeling quite positive as I love my job, and my enthusiasm and a keenness to undertake QTS shone through.Unfortunately, three days later I had the call saying unfortunately I had not been successful as I did not know enough about the national curriculum. I was advised to take voluntary redundancy as there was no job available to me. It was later revealed by a union representative questioning Phil Arnold that no Waldorf Steiner qualified teachers had been employed, only teaching staff with QTS or PGCE.I was distraught, the parents were distraught. I could not believe I had effectively lost my job after all the promises that were made to us all. My fellow Early years colleague (who also trained in London) was told the same thing.

This happened very quickly after a year of uncertainty amongst my colleagues and myself. We had stayed true to our school and through commitment and hard work we ensured the kindergartens remained as Waldorf as possible and parents were very grateful for this.It is now July, there are over 30 staff who have been made redundant. There are no jobs as many schools have already advertised and found staff. There was no enhanced redundancy, merely one week per year of work. We have received PILON so that they could cut contracts sooner so we are being payed until 31st December although we are unemployed.

Parents have been told so many untruths and given the impression that staff left happily to pursue pastures new…this is untrue. Many staff have suffered distress, mental health issues and anxiety. I myself could not sleep, cried constantly and could not believe I had lost a job that I truly loved. I spoke to Mike Ions about how my job was more than a job to me and I wanted to continue to support the children – he told me I could speak to the principal about volunteering.

My Waldorf colleagues and I have experienced such trauma due to this takeover, the untruths, the unfair treatment, the lack of communication, that it can only be described as similar to an abusive relationship…staff confidence was knocked down, continual changes of events, lack of support, lack of empathy, staff were not even acknowledged during the last morning briefing, not even a thank you, just merely ‘can we have your keys and anything that belongs to the school’. It has been appalling and will take quite a while to heal and recover. Maybe that is why we have been paid till December to recover from this awful experience.

I feel that parents do not know the truth of what happened and is still happening.Much love and I thank you for taking an interest.”