LPHS Board Assurance Statement ERO Review 2009

http://www.ero.govt.nz/ero/reppub.nsf/0/BC40481EAF8B6BF8CC25765D0013FDEE/$File/376.htm?Open 

It looks very good on the surface but I will dig a little deeper

 Management of Health, Safety and Welfare;

 No mention is made of the fact that the school was under review for teacher safety by the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Group of the Department of Labour (DOL). or that they had been extremely unhelpful in stonewalling the investigator. Perhaps ERO should have spoken to OSH before accepting the Boards assurance. I have heard the Logan Park High School environment for stressed teachers described as “toxic”.  A complaint to the Board on the 10/11/08 had still not been resolved and complaints to the schools Board OSH committee. Had been closed because the bullies said they weren’t bullies and anyway they are the bosses.

Personnel Management;

Not mentioned in the review was the fact that in the past 3 years at least three long term teachers had left the school in very suspicious circumstances and I believe all of these had been required for their settlements, to sign a Roger Tobin secrecy and indemnity clause a very strange requirement for a school operating with integrity. I’m sure at least one did but luckily I had most of the documentation on that case before that happened. Since then two other teachers have left the school under equally suspicious circumstances. One a recent arrival from the UK and the other harassed with competency issues for over 15 months then released in a CAPNA round with the competency issues still hanging. There will be more on this later. That’s a total of 5 teachers in 3 years on competency. Normal? Do the Board sound like good employers as required by the Act and the NAG’s.  Where is the Ministry of Education during all this? They have been aware of the problems since November 08 but have a assured the Minister that the issues are resolved. I also understand that the local Ministry of Education manager is a close relative of Roger Tobin.

 Teacher Registration

This is a good one, are we talking registration or current practicing certificate? I will assume for the purposes of this section that it really means both. Because both would be required to legally teach at a public secondary school in NZ.  That then begs the question as to how Marion Brinsley HOD Careers and Careers advisor could hold those positions since the beginning of 2009. As she is neither registered or holds a current practicing certificate and it defies logic how she could get an LAT as a registered teacher also applied for the position.  What also defies belief is how a registered teacher could be CAPNA’d and “Careers” teaching be allocated to Ms Brinsley ahead of other registered teachers without the position being advertised. I guess that would have been an embarrassment as the teacher who had taught Careers from 2005-2009 was the teacher CAPNA’d. The PPTA seemed little interested perhaps because Roger Tobin is an ex-president and better connected than just a teacher?

I don’t have access to the necessary information to comment further on this report but I would expect this is enough to challenge the Education Review Office to dig deeper and demand some disclosure.  In the interim if I were a parent I would have serious reservations about the openness and integrity of the LPHS Board and Management.



4 Responses to “LPHS Board Assurance Statement ERO Review 2009”

  1. I just signed up to your blogs rss feed. Will you post more on this subject?

    Reply

    • There will be quite a bit more. This is not an issue that will go away before it is resolved fully

      Reply

    • I am a high school tecaher. I get lots of requests for recommendations for colleges from my students.Here are suggestions.1) Put the request in writing. It does not have to be a formal letter to the tecaher, but in our busy days, a casual Hey Mr. G, can you write a recommendation for me? is easily forgotten.2) With the request, include the form if there is one. I usually only write see attached on such forms anyway. I will write my recommendations on my high school’s letterhead. 3) I will ask the student if they want it to a specific institution or just a general one. If they need a specific institution or two, I do not mind as it is a simple thing to change as I type my letters on a computer.4) Is students want general recommendations, I will actually print 3 or 4 of them and sign them separately so the student has 3 or 4 originals. no need to copy. If they find they need more, I save my letters to disk. They just come by and I print and sign another.Good Luck applying to college. Don’t sweat the small stuff like who to ask for these letters. Teachers are usually more than happy to write them for good students now if you were not a good students .LOL Was this answer helpful?

      Reply

  2. I was harrassed, if that is what I can call it by an old scoohl friend. We had been infatuated as youngsters and now in middle age found each other again. After 3 months of email exchanges, photos, phone calls and many plans and promises of a future. I was dicarded without a valid reason. The man seemed to be delusional to say the least. Went from devoted lover and friend to a man who threathens to end my life. Harm and destroy me and all I hold dear. Has made me cringe with fear as he can astral project to my home. Did not like me having other friends. Fabricated a web of lies, that he was dying of cancer etc. Now I am wondering should I go with my gut feeling and do something to protect myself? Can I expect danger? He has my address, emails and contact numbers. I hardly sleep at night.

    Reply

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