It’s hyperbole to say reply school has failed
I STRONGLY dispute your claim that 360 pupils have been “catastrophically failed” (KM, May 24) following the recent Ofsted report at St Francis. Although I have no doubt that the report has indeed “thrown the school into turmoil” (which is surely not what any parent would want at their child’s school). My daughter has just completed seven happy and fulfilling years at St Francis and as a parent, I simply do not recognise the school and its head teacher from the description in your paper. While accepting there was room for improvement in some areas, I saw it as a caring, respectful and nurturing environment under Mr Bray’s leadership, and indeed this was recognised in the Ofsted report as a strength: “Every pupil is valued; pupils behave well and are safe.” Personally, I don’t care if he didn’t tick all of Ofsted’s boxes or jump through all of their hoops. Catastrophe? No. Hyperbole? Yes. My wife and son both work in primary education and the idea that either one of them could one day find themselves paraded across the front page of a newspaper for perceived professional failings like the unfortunate Mr Bray, is truly alarming. I believe one does not need to look much further to discover why there are dozens of vacancies for head teachers in Kent schools. Richard Ewence, Boughton Lane, Maidstone
I AM writing to register my deep concern over your front page headline in relation to St Francis school. It is usually the case that the approach of the KM is seen to be supportive of the local community, to whom you report and whose lives and interests your newspaper reflects, even when reporting ‘bad’ news. It does not fit the usual profile of responsible reporting I have come to expect of the Kent Messenger. I know many teachers and understand how very demanding this job has become, especially as the inspection regime has recently become very much more critical. It may be their job to criticise and for governors and parents to hold their schools to account. Schools do a great number of jobs with children and it is clear that at St Francis a great deal is still going well, while there are some significant areas of concern. The general tone of the rest of your article is more measured, and the controlled responses of parents to the report and news of the headteacher is shown to good effect in the quotes your reporters obtained. This is in stark contrast to your headline, which can only undermine the school, its teachers, the families and the children who still attend what is, by all accounts, a highly sought after school in west Maidstone. Your headline is a blatant assassination of their reputation and a disservice to our community. What do you suppose the effect on 300 or so school children is when they read your newspaper this week? The school will, I am quite sure, recover its reputation sooner than that of the KM. I note in conversation with local and county councillors that I am not alone in registering my views with you in this way. I hope you will be as public in your acknowledgement of the future improvements at the school as you have been in your broadcast of unflattering news in such an unhelpful way.
Mr S Thompson
MAIDSTONE has many good and excellent primary schools but, in the opinion of Ofsted more than 56% of our primary schools are not good enough. The media are right to report this and clearly we all want the situation to improve. However, the “FAILED” headline on the front page of last week’s KM does no favours to the staff at St Francis’ Catholic Primary School who are already under severe stress nor, most importantly, to the pupils and their parents. The KM’s headline and article were in marked contrast to the letters published in the same paper. The vast majority of our primary school teachers are hard-working and dedicated to making schools a stimulating place of learning and giving their pupils a good start in life. Yes, there is room for improvement, even at the best schools, but teachers need good support from governors, parents and above all from the county council to achieve this. At last week’s council meeting I asked the new cabinet member for education what steps KCC was taking to help Maidstone primary schools. He gave a comprehensive