Parent Support for our Head Dr Tim Luckcock -victim of smear campaign for challenging weak Teaching
- by: Save Uplands Junior School
- recipient: Leicester City Council & DFE
We are the parents of Uplands Junior School, Leicester. Our headteacher Dr Tim Luckcock is a an experienced Headmaster, Teacher of Religion & Philosophy and Thought Leader in Education. In 2013, after 15 years experience of being a Headteacher in a variety of schools Dr Luckcock came to the school as a troubleshooter, the 5th Head in 7 years.
Sadly, the same staff who had seen the back of other Heads and Goverors by making similar malicious allegations, mounted a smear campaign designed to sabotage a legitimate staffing restructure intended to improve the quality of teaching and teaching assistants. Dr Luckcock became the victim of aggressive mobbing tactics including a media witch-hunt and complete lack of support from Leicester City Council meant that eventually he decided to quit. We deplore the fact that our school has become a graveyard for headteachers in which middle managers have a taste for blood and where learning progress has been low because teachers and teaching assistants cannot even speak and write standard English. What's worse: the unprofessional tactics of these staff have been aided and abetted by militant left wing teaching unions concerned with protecting members' jobs & ensuring their promotion rather than raising standards of learning for our kids. There have now been 7 Heads in 8 years which tells a tale in itself!
An unprofessional mob runs our school. The back-stbbing staff who stitched up Dr Luckcock were led by senior staff Mrs Ruth Gatherum (previously Acting Head & Temporary Deputy with an axe to grind), Mr Nick Peters (Temp Assistant Head), Mr Odedra (Temp Assistant Head) & Mr Paul Archdeacon who objected to Dr Luckcock making him go back into the classroom to teach instead of being allowed to mess about as a glorifed IT technician! All memebers of the NUT and all conspiring to make Mrs Gatherum the next Head for an easy ride! We parents are disgusted with this unprofessional behaviour which has gone on for years now under the very noses of the Local Authority and has seen off other good school leaders such as Mr Hayder JP and Cheryl Henderson. It is wrong that Dr Luckcock became their next victim.
Please sign the petition to defend the slur on his reputation and character. Dr Luckcock is not a racist and is not anti-Muslim as the media has made out. Indeed he is an academic expert on christian theology and islam and the most sympathetic Head our community has ever had! Another reason for staff to attack him! He is an authority on spiritual, moral, cultural and mental development in schools and has written books on Faith in School Leadership for the church school sector.
The Background
September 2011 - Dr Luckcock arrived at Uplands Junior School as an interim Executive Head to support an internally promoted Acting Head. The school was in a volatile state due to the power vacuum created by having 5 Heads in 7 years.
February 2012 - OFSTED inspectors judged the school to be Good and praised Tim's joint leadership with the Acting Head.
March 2012 - Tim succesfully applied for the permanent post
Emerging Signs of Hostility & Dirty Tactics
March 2012 Staff complained to Leicester City Council to challenge the Governing Body's selection despite it being approved by the Director's representative
April 2012 - a member of staff lodged a grievance with career-damaging allegations which on investigation were totally unfounded
June 2012 - Dr Luckcock appointed a temporary senior leadership team and made other senior staff go back into class to teach
September 2012 - another member of staff made an Employment Tribunal claim with malicious allegations which were thrown out of court
October 2012 - an anonymous member of staff made a whistleblowing disclosure about financial irregularity which internal audit investigated and found there to be no wrongdoing
November 2012 - Member of staff makes covert career-threateneing allegations in the guise of a Stress Action Plan
Social Exclusion & Cyber Mobbing
December 2012 - The Governing Body initiated a staffing reorganisation consultation which led to the decision to advertise externally for a Deputy Head and a number of low level Teaching Assistants being made redundant in favour of hiring more higher level Teaching Assistants and Teachers in line with government expectations
January 2013 Bullying ringleaders start to coordinate a hate campaign inciting insubordination and seeking to undermine his work as Head. Dr Luckcock increasingluy ostrasized. Email evidence shows how staff were working behind the scenes to undermine him masterminded by Paul Archdeacon who was pretending to be off sick at the time.
Harassment & Stigmitization
March 2013 Unionised staff ganged up to give a vote of no-confidence in Dr Luckcock and the Governing Body and then lodged a collective multiple grievance which manufactured evidence of gross misconduct against Tim and demanded his and Chair of Governors resignation. Ostracism & passivie aggressive disruption continue.
Critical Incident: Facebook Smear Campaign
April 2013 - Staff leaked a private Facebook photograph of Tim wearing a turban taken at a schol diwali assembly in which he says 'Nearly Gone Native in Leicester' and starting a media witch-hunt, accusing him of being racist and anti-muslim when he is an academically trained theologian and sympathetic to Islam. He has children of mixed race and comes from an Anglo-Indian family. Having been denounced on television with union leaders calling him disgraceful and demanding his resignation, Dr Luckcock defended himself in an interview with BBC
May 2013 Dr Luckcock lodged his own Grievance about bullying and harassment in the workplace
June 2013 Unions closed the school for two days with a series of three stikes. Support staff conspire to go off sick as a group in order to make sure the school could not stay open.
Adjudication
July 2013 An Independent Investigation (jointly commissioned by the Local Authority and GB) was held to look into the staff and Head's grievances and the Facebook issue. In breach of lawful procedure, neither party has yet been informed of the outcomes. Acting on independent legal advice Governors took action to hold further disciplinary investigations into the conduct of seven staff including the Head.
August 2013 - under pressure from Unions, the Local Authority intervened to stop the disciplinary investigations, issuing an official warning notice to the Governors. Governors appealed but Ofsted upheld the LA's warning notice without having any knowledge of the bullying and harassment of the Head.
September 2013 - with the threat of more industiral action by unions, the Local Authority suspended the powers of the Governing Body and on the same day suspended Dr Luckcock pending a disciplinary investigation into his 'professional judgement.'
Elimination?
Usually the targets of workplace mobbing end up leaving through ill health due to the psycholgical violence suffered, or they resign, get redeployed or are unfairly dismissed. Underestandably Dr Luckcock has now gone elswhere due the way he has been stictched up and we are left with the bad staff who caused the broblems in the first place. We and the children have been sad to see him go.
More information about Dr Tim Luckcock' positive track record and reputation can be found on this official Profile
Leicester City Council & DFE
Re support for frontline Headteachers being mobbed out of work by staff or governors
We, the undersigned, call on you to use everything in your power to:
- defend the professional reputation of Dr Tim Luckcock as a highly quallified and respected Headteacher who has been the victim of a maliciiusly coordinated mobbing campaign to eliminate him from the workplace by staff and unions
The Record of Work-place Bullying, Malicious Allegations & Unprofessional Behaviour of Staff
For months, Dr Luckcock was the target of an aggressive mobbing campaign designed to bully and harass him out of work and the passivity of Local Authority officers in not acting to support him are also party to the mobbing.
September 2011 - Arrived at Uplands Junior School as an interim Executive Head to support an internally promoted Acting Head. The school was in a volatile state due to the power vacuum created by having 5 Heads in 7 years.
February 2012 - OFSTED inspectors judged the school to be Good and praised Tim's joint leadership with the Acting Head.
March 2012 - Tim succesfully applied for the permanent post
Emerging Signs of Hostility
March 2012 Staff complained to Leicester City Council to challenge the Governing Body's selection despite it being approved by the Director's representative
April 2012 - a different member of staff lodged a grievance with career-damaging allegations which on investigation were totally unfounded
June 2012 - Dr Luckcock appointed a temporary senior leadership team and made other senior staff go back into class to teach
September 2012 - another member of staff made an Employment Tribunal claim with malicious allegations which were thrown out of court
October 2012 - an anonymous member of staff made a whistleblowing disclosure about financial irregularity which internal audit investigated and found there to be no wrongdoing
November 2012 - Member of staff makes malicious covert career-threateneing allegations in the guise of a Stress Action Plan
Social Exclusion
December 2012 - The Governing Body initiated a staffing reorganisation consultation which led to the decision to advertise externally for a Deputy Head and a number of low level Teaching Assistants being made redundant in favour of hiring more higher level Teaching Assistants and Teachers in line with government expectations
January 2013 Bullying ringleaders start to coordinate a hate campaign inciting insubordination and seeking to undermine his work as Head through cyber-bullying. Dr Luckcock increasingluy ostrasized.
Harassment & Stigmitization
March 2013 Unionised staff ganged up to give a vote of no-confidence in Dr Luckcock and the Governing Body and then lodged a collective multiple grievance which manufactured evidence of gross misconduct against Tim and demanded his and Chair of Governors resignation. Ostracism & passivie aggressive disruption continued.
Critical Incident & Witch Hunt
April 2013 - Staff leaked a private Facebook photograph of Tim wearing a turban taken at a schol diwali assembly in which he says and starting a media witch-hunt, accusing him of being racist and anti-muslim when he is an academically trained theologian sympathetic to Islam and has children of mixed race. Having been denounced on television with union leaders calling him disgraceful and demanding his resignation, Dr Luckcock defended himself in an interview with BBC
May 2013 Dr Luckcock lodged his own Grievance about bullying and harassment in the workplace but this has still not been addressed.
June 2013 Unions closed the school for two days with a series of three stikes. Support staff conspire to go off sick as a group in order to make sure the school could not stay open.
Adjudication
July 2013 An Independent Investigation (jointly commissioned by the Local Authority and GB) was held to look into the staff and Head's grievances and the Facebook issue. In breach of lawful procedure, neither party has yet been informed of the outcomes. Acting on independent legal advice Governors took action to hold further disciplinary investigations into the conduct of seven staff including the Head.
August 2013 - under pressure from Unions, the Local Authority intervened to stop the disciplinary investigations, issuing an official warning notice to the Governors whilst he was on summer holiday. Governors appealed but Ofsted upheld the LA's warning notice without having any knowledge of the bullying and harassment of the Head nor the lack of impartiality in the information presented to Ofsted by the Local Authority.
September 2013 - with the threat of more industiral action by unions, the Local Authority suspended the powers of the Governing Body and on the same day suspended Dr Luckcock pending a disciplinary investigation into his 'professional judgement.'
Elimination
Usually the targets of workplace mobbing end up leaving through ill health due to the psycholgical violence suffered, or they resign, commit suicide, get redeployed or are unfairly dismissed. It is hoped that the Ofsted judgement of January 2014 addresses the historically entrenched dysfunctions in the school for the betterment of pupils. However, natural justice demands that Dr Luckcock should have been consulted on the facts surrounding the leadership of the school during his watch (including the LA's dysfunctional partnership) and that he should have a right to reply concering any factual innacuracies that may have been made about his leadership in his absence. Ofsted should moderate their judgement very carefully.
Unanswered Questions which have been Covered Up in the interests of scapegoating the Headteacher
1. Why is the historical context of the school’s leadership being covered up? As the 5th Headteacher in 7 years the Local Authority and School have obviously struggled to retain a Headteacher causing a major power vacuum and zero modelling of effective Headship. Dr Luckcock inherited a situation in which competing ambitions and the unionised self-interests of staff led to significant levels of unprofessional behaviour and it is baffling as to how this dysfunctionality can prevail in a way which is counter to the priorities of school improvement and the needs of the local community?
2. Why has it not been acknowledged that within this period other key school leaders have been maneuvered out of post by staff? The previous Chair of Governors and a previous Acting Headteacher (substantive Deputy) were mobbed out of post through similar unprofessional behaviour, particularly the abuse of grievance and complaints procedures in ways that have subsequently been directed at driving Dr Luckcock out of post. It is puzzling as to why historical issues which the LA knew about are not relevant to the recent incidents of unprofessional behaviour?
3. Why is the real issue of standards being so distorted so as to scapegoat the current Governing Body and Headteacher in post for less than one year before the recent crisis? The elephant in the room concerning School Improvement is that RaiseOnline for 2012 and 2013 demonstrates that the issues concerning pupil progress predate Dr Luckcock and are longer term trends. This in fact was the only reason for the staffing restructure rationale that Dr Luckcock took a lead on and one is at a loss as to how this can be construed as poor people management when what was required was robust leadership with the full support of the LA in line with central Government policy and Ofsted criteria? How can good Heads carrying out vital reforms in backward looking Local Authorities be sacrificied on the front line?
4. Doesn’t this RaiseOnline data suggest that Ofsted got their February 2012 judgement wrong? Both the Governing Body and Dr Luckcock as the incoming Headteacher were misinformed about the real standards in the school and quality of teaching and learning. Although Governors were aware of inconsistencies in the quality of teaching their concerns were not substantiated by Ofsted in February 2012. Is it fair to scapegoat a Headteacher for academic problems which predate him by several years? And how can he expected to improve teaching when Ofsted did not pick up on the inconsistency of pupil progress in Years 3-5 and when locally agreed policies with the unions militated against him making systematic improvements in teaching making a Headteacher’s position untenable e.g. restrictions on only 3 lesson observations per year! How will Ofsted demonstrate objectivity in not covering up evidence of their own misjudgements since Feb 2012 which RaiseOnline corroborates?
5. Why is there an attempted cover up of seriously unprofessional behaviour on the part of the staff body? The so called ‘breakdown in staff relationships with the Headteacher is simply a matter of insubordination concerning which Dr Luckcock presented evidence of gross misconduct to his employers. One is again mystified as to why the Governing Body’s proposed investigation of such unprofessional behaviour is what precipitated the Local Authority’s warning notice unless their priority was to appease powerful union interests? The local authority’s intervention against the Governing Body served to compromise the capacity of Leadership to deal with this problem of staff discipline properly at the appropriate level of responsibility and lawful jurisdiction. Is this kind of undermining to be condoned by the respective jurisdictions of Ofsted and Secretary of State?
6. Why is there no admission on the part of the Local Authority concerning its woefully inadequate partnership with the school? The principal reason why escalating conflict with unions was not contained and dealt with preventatively in April is the dysfunctional level of support from the LA for the school’s leadership which they then had the audacity to subsequently criticise. As a new Headteacher in Leicester Dr Luckcock did not undergo any proper induction and had three different School Improvement Advisors within 12 months of taking up his post, none of whom were there long enough to establish a professional working relationship. In Autumn 2012 he consulted his second SIA about the problems of the existing structure in relation to the serious issues about academic standards which had come to light with RaiseOnline 2012. He was duly advised on the school improvement solutions the proposed structure was designed to deliver in a way which meaningfully informed the rationale for change. However, with a sudden change in SIA from January Dr Luckcock was hung out to dry when the staffing consultation turned into unionised rebellion against the right of management to manage. Why did the Headteacher receive no support in tackling unprofessional behaviour which he had previously requested earlier in the Autumn term? Why was he later unable to influence the LA’s tacit support for illegal strike action? Why did the new SIA herself behave unprofessionally in fabricating evidence against Leadership that was used to misinform Ofsted in their adjudication of the Governing Body appeal against the LA’s warning notice? Why did she not at any point between January and September raise any concerns about academic standards directly with him as Headteacher as a SIA should? And why did she definitely not pick up on RaiseOnline 2012?
Justice demands that these questions be answered fully in order to defend Dr Luckcock's reputation and record a fair judgement about the complicity of Leicester City Council's educational administration in the school's failure.
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