Furious parents demand primary school reinstates star head teacher who was suspended

Furious parents have demanded a school reinstates its star head teacher who was suspended for saying some teachers were ‘sat at home doing nothing’ during lockdown.

Pauline Wood, from Grange Park in Sunderland, is under investigation after accusing her staff of bragging that they were spending ‘more time watching Netflix’ at home than they were working during the coronavirus pandemic as they were only coming into school two days a week.

But concerned parents have now written to the board of governors at Grange Park Primary School, saying the local community has been left ‘devastated’. 

Fiona Telford, whose daughter attends the school

Fiona Telford, right, sent an email to the school’s board of governors in support of Pauline Wood, left, who is under investigation for comments she made on a BBC radio station

Fiona Telford, whose daughter Francesca attends year three at the school, told MailOnline: ‘Parents and people from the local community have emailed governors and were absolutely devastated at the way Mrs Wood has been treated. 

‘She’s just absolutely fantastic with our children and teachers as well, the way she has been treated is absolutely appalling.

‘Mrs Wood was leaving in September anyway but she hasn’t even had the chance to say goodbye to the students, who absolutely adore her. 

‘I only told my eight-year-old girl yesterday and she’s gutted. Mrs Wood knows them individually and is just a lovely, lovely person.’ 

Ms Telford sent an email to the board of governors yesterday, expressing her sadness at their decision and praising the ‘relentless pursuit of excellence’ from the head teacher, who spearheaded Grange Park Primary School’s ascent up the Ofsted grading system. 

She added: ‘Mrs Wood most definitely needs to be reinstated – every single parent I’ve spoken to, even grandparents and carers of children, were absolutely gobsmacked. 

‘We were planning to go to the school and say our goodbyes while socially distancing, and while she’s being investigated no-one can.

‘I wouldn’t want this to impact her negatively and tarnish all the good work she has done over the 15 years she’s been head teacher.’

Melanie Jordison, whose child previously attended the school, also sent a letter to the board, saying she is ‘disgusted with the attitude of governors’ who suspended Mrs Wood.

She wrote: ‘This situation needs resolving as at present I, and other people in Sunderland and around the country, think that this situation of suspending the headteacher has brought the school into disrepute.’ 

Mrs Telford sent an email to the board of governors yesterday, expressing her sadness at their decision (pictured: a general view of Grange Park Primary School)

Mrs Telford sent an email to the board of governors yesterday, expressing her sadness at their decision (pictured: a general view of Grange Park Primary School)

Mrs Wood, pictured speaking to pupils, spearheaded the school's rapid ascent up the Ofsted grading system from 'inadequate' to 'outstanding' in 15 years

Mrs Wood, pictured speaking to pupils, spearheaded the school’s rapid ascent up the Ofsted grading system from ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’ in 15 years

Mrs Wood, a married mother-of-three, said she had been suspended on full pay on June 12 by the school’s new chair of governors Mary Hodgson.

She claimed Ms Hodgson had told her the action was being taken due to her ‘bringing the school into disrepute’ by making her comments about teachers in an interview on local radio three days earlier.

Previously speaking to MailOnline, Mrs Wood said she had been left ‘disappointed’ by her suspension and believed proper procedures had not been followed. 

She disclosed that she had already handed in her notice at Grange Park School in Sunderland last January so she could leave in August, partly because she felt ‘a small minority’ of staff were not pulling their weight. 

Mrs Wood was working out her notice, ready to leave at the end of August, when she was suspended over her and banned from going back into the 220-pupil school without permission.

She said she and her former chair of governors ‘who had been amazing’ had handed in their notice, partly because they had ‘seen a few signals’ that they were being undermined by some staff.

Mrs Wood said: ‘We felt one or two staff were being niggardly and I thought, ‘Do I really need this now?’ 

‘So we both decided we would resign in January so that the school had a really good chance of recruiting the cream of the crop for September. In December, it felt we had this little group who were acting like petulant kids.’ 

Mrs Wood (left) is being investigated for potentially bringing her school into 'disrepute' during an interview on local BBC radio earlier this month

Mrs Wood (left) is being investigated for potentially bringing her school into ‘disrepute’ during an interview on local BBC radio earlier this month

Though the BBC interviewer praised Mrs Wood (far left) for her 'very refreshing' honesty, the school's governors suspended her after a complaint that she made 'potentially disparaging comments' about her staff

Though the BBC interviewer praised Mrs Wood (far left) for her ‘very refreshing’ honesty, the school’s governors suspended her after a complaint that she made ‘potentially disparaging comments’ about her staff

She had read out texts on BBC Radio Newcastle from parents concerned about the level of support schools have been offering children, including one which said a statement all schools were working hard to help pupils was ‘simply wrong’.

Though the BBC interviewer praised Mrs Wood for her ‘very refreshing’ honesty, the school’s governors suspended her after a complaint that she made ‘potentially disparaging comments’ about her staff. 

She was told this ‘raised serious concerns about your professional conduct and judgement… which potentially brings the school into disrepute’. 

Mrs Wood claimed that some teaching staff had reportedly refused to work on site for three days a week – instead of two – citing problems getting childcare cover.

After she was suspended, she told Schools Week: ‘It is very concerning that a headteacher can be suspended for giving a truthful answer to questions posed by members of the public.’ 

78% of education settings that normally have children in nursery, Reception, Year 1 or Year 6 were open to at least one of these year groups on June 18, DfE says

This is up from June 11 when over two in three (67 per cent) primary schools opened more widely to pupils.

92 per cent of settings were open in some capacity on June 18 – the same as the previous week, according to the Department for Education (DfE) statistics.

Around 1,160,000 children attended an education setting on June 18, representing 12.2 per cent of pupils who normally attend, up from 9.1 per cent on June 11.

Attendance continues to be highest among Year 6 pupils, with 34 per cent of all Year 6 children in attendance on June 18, up from 26 per cent on June 11.

Attendance was 26 per cent in Year 1, up from a fifth the previous week, and 29 per cent in reception, up from 22 per cent on June 11, the figures show. 

She has since tweeted: ‘As Headteachers, our job descriptions say we should hold staff to account.’ 

Mrs Wood has been at Grange Park for 15 years and has been repeatedly praised in Ofsted reports for her ‘relentless’ pursuit of ‘excellence’. She was credited with overseeing an extremely positive impact on pupils’ outcomes’ and saw the school shortlisted for a prestigious TES award in 2012.

The head teacher said she did not know who had nominated the school for the award, but said she was thrilled. 

Mrs Wood has also championed breakfast clubs to help low-income working families avoid going on the dole.

She had kept the price of the school’s club at just £1 for nine years to 2014 in a big boost for parents.

She told the Sunderland Echo in 2014: ‘The cost of childcare can be a big barrier to working, and the lower-paid the job, the less likely it is that parents will feel it is worth it.

‘Even breakfast clubs can start to add up if parents have more than one child at school and need to use them every day. The cost can then eat into a salary and make it seem pointless for parents to work. 

‘But it is vital that parents are given the opportunity to work and set a good example for their children. And that’s why we haven’t raised the price of our breakfast club in almost a decade.’  

Grange Park, which is in one of the most deprived areas in the country and has 226 pupils, now sits in the top two per cent for phonics and maths at key stage two level nationally. 

Chair of Grange Park school governors Mary Hodgson previously said that she could not comment on personal circumstances as it would be a ‘breach of confidentiality’. 

Mrs Wood was working out her notice period and a job advert for her position closed in March. It offered applicants a salary of between £57,986 and £67,183 a year for the permanent role, starting from September 1.

General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Geoff Barton said head teachers can ‘give their perspective and insight to the public via the media’.

He added that general advice to workers is for them to have three key messages for the interviews and to be helped by someone when they prepare. 

It comes after education unions faced accusations they were sabotaging efforts to get children back to school, with the National Education Union insisting Boris Johnson’s ‘one metre plus’ rule will still make teaching difficult. 

School closures are overwhelmingly impacting disadvantaged children, with a recent survey revealing two million children in the UK had done barely any schoolwork at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

Around one in five pupils have carried out no schoolwork, or less than an hour a day, since schools closed partially in March. Meanwhile, only 17 per cent of children put in more than four hours a day.  

Other figures revealed that nearly a third (31 per cent) of private schools provided four or more online lessons daily, compared with just six per cent of state schools. 

MailOnline has contacted the school’s board of governors for comment.