Headteacher steps down so 'new era' can begin at east Hull's struggling Mersey Primary
THE headteacher of a school placed in special measures earlier his month is to leave his post today.
Mersey Primary School headteacher Peter Robinson announced his intention to quit in a letter to parents.
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Changes: Mersey Primary School in Derwent Street, east Hull
He said: "It is with a heavy heart that I will be leaving Mersey Primary at the end of this term.
"In the ten years I have been at the school, I have enjoyed working with pupils, staff, parents and governors and I tried to give my best efforts to the school.
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"During that time, we have been through three inspections, two which were successful. Unfortunately, the latest inspection has been deemed unsatisfactory.
"There will be a great many demands placed on the children, staff and governors in the coming months, so it is perhaps appropriate there should be a change of leadership for the school in order that a new era can begin."
In his letter, Mr Robinson said he had been honoured to serve the community by leading the school.
He said: "I have enjoyed my time at Mersey despite the day-to-day challenges associated with running a primary school.
"It has been a privilege to be part of the school."
Ofsted inspectors criticised poor teaching in their report after visiting the school in Derwent Street, east Hull, last October.
They said pupils were not making enough progress in core subjects, such as English and maths, and described some teaching as "inadequate".
They also claimed not enough was being done to close the achievement gap between boys and girls at the school.
The report also described the leadership of the school as "inadequate".
However, it said: "The headteacher is liked by pupils and staff.
"He makes sure he is out and about on the playground most days and parents know he can be approached about any matter that concerns them.
"There is a strong 'can-do' spirit, although some staff do not have sufficient time to develop or check on their subject areas.
"The headteacher's checks on the quality of teaching focus too much on how teachers teach and not enough on how well pupils learn.
"Consequently, teaching is not improving as quickly as it should."
Although the inspection report praised the way teachers managed pupil behaviour at the school, one parent disagreed and said he was not surprised by Mr Robinson's decision.
The parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "There has been a failure to tackle persistent bullying at the school.
"These things have been going on for years. A lot of parents have complained about it but nothing ever gets done."
Speaking to the Mail immediately after the report was published, Mr Robinson said: "The staff are understandably upset and extremely disappointed at the outcome of the inspection but they are determined and committed to respond to the issues raised and move the school forward."
Comments
by newsreader13
Monday, January 21 2013, 11:57AM
“i went to this school not long ago and peter robinson was my headteacher, the staff at this school are amazing and i am so sad to hear the school is in special measures but it is even worse that peter robinson is leaving in my opinion he was a great teacher as he did teach us some history lessons during the week and he was an amazing head teacher. mersey primary school set the foundation for my education and i am so grateful as right now i am doing my A levels at college and will soon be going to university, so sad to hear this news, the school wont be the same without him!”
by jocky8
Tuesday, December 25 2012, 7:44AM
“Another sad day for education in the city. A man who has built a school with a caring ethos in difficult surroundings, who takes an active interest in the care of his pupils and is a visible and approachable presence at his school has been hounded out. I wish him every success for the future, having been into Mersey on numerous occasions I know it will be poorer for his absence. He should leave with his head held high.
The tyranny of OFSTED continues”
by ArthurHunt
Sunday, December 23 2012, 10:51AM
“Don't know the school so cannot comment, but what I do agree with is the comments about hard case trouble causing ('I've got my rights' and 'my little Johnny is an angel') parents with their unteachable bullying offspring dragging everyone else down...”
by DanDrimire
Saturday, December 22 2012, 6:50AM
“Parents who complain of bullying are often ones who can't get their own way and are looking for excuses for their "little darling" being upset, when in reality he/she is a ldownright nuisance.”
by giftofgab
Friday, December 21 2012, 9:56PM
“On another note, I think the "one parent" who complained of bullying would find it an eye-opening experience to see how this school compares to others in the city. As far as I am aware, bullying is almost non-existent at the school.I'm actually quite shocked that HDM printed such a needless and unsubstantiated quote. Presumably this was to sensationalise a story that was already controversial enough.”
by giftofgab
Friday, December 21 2012, 9:43PM
“Peter Robinson is in no way incompetent, and his leaving will not improve things one iota. My kids were devastated to learn of his leaving and have been in floods of tears over the last two days.
As I said, Mr Robinson is not incompetent; if he were, he would not have been the headmaster for the last decade. I find it very hard to believe that standards at the school have suddenly dropped after all this time - I've certainly seen no sign of it! I think it's far more likely that the goal posts have been moved and the school has been given inflated or unrealistic targets to meet.
I suspect this whole thing has been a deliberate attempt to drive the school into the Government's pet academies program. I hope I'm wrong; business-minded policies and "once a week" headmasters shared with other schools (common elements of the new academies) will do nothing to improve education or the school experience for the children.
This whole debacle is likely to do nothing but increase stress and lower morale for staff and students alike, not to mention ruin a lot of people's Christmases.”
by DanDrimire
Friday, December 21 2012, 4:58PM
“Patrick Newman
You made the following unqualified statement "But nobody inspects Ofsted"
Please make sure that the link is more reliable than this one please.”
by DanDrimire
Friday, December 21 2012, 4:55PM
“Right .... a link please to this investigative journalism.”
by PatrickNewman
Friday, December 21 2012, 4:14PM
“DanDrimire: Bovine excrement - if you only rely on academic research before you believe something you will be the most ill informed contributor on this site. It's called investigative journalism and it's what tripped up the law breaking Murdoch empire by the way. Try it. Oh a whistle blower claims my bank is ripping me off but there is no concrete "academic" evidence so it cant be true.”
by DanDrimire
Friday, December 21 2012, 3:53PM
“Patrick Newman ....
Please could you quote some research that shows this. Not opinions that claim this, but concrete academic research.”