THE headteacher of a school in Winnersh has resigned, citing the mounting pressures of funding cuts.
Mary Sandell, who became head at The Forest School, in Robinhood Lane, in September 2014, announced today (Monday) that she would be stepping down due to the sheer amount of cuts her school was facing.
With nearly 30 years of teaching experience at six different schools, Mary became the school’s headteacher following the retirement of Keith Quine in 2014. She also holds the title of Fellow at the Royal Geographical Society.
In a statement released to parents and students on Monday, Ms Sandell said that, at 59, she felt she was “far too old for the high levels of stress involved in running a school in today’s economic climate.”
She said: “The situation with regard to schools funding, both nationally and locally, is bleak; in common with other head teachers, I did not enter the teaching profession to make cuts that narrow the curriculum, or to reduce the number of teachers and increase class sizes, and yet my hand has been forced, and I see no immediate easing of the situation.
“Consequently, I feel unable to deliver the quality of education the boys at The Forest so clearly deserve.”
Local campaigner Annabel Yoxall, who this week is taking her fight for fairer school funding to Parliament, said she was saddened by the news.
She said: “We are shocked and saddened to hear of Mary Sandell’s resignation.
“Mary has been a brave and proactive voice in the campaign to make sure Wokingham Borough’s schools get more funding. Her support has been essential for our success.”
Councillor for Bulmershe and Whitegates, and leader of Wokingham Labour Andy Croy, who’s party has lent its support to the fairer funding campaign in recent months, said Wokingham MP John Redwood needed to do more to support local schools.
He said: “On January 20th John Redwood visited The Forest to discuss school funding with the Head Teacher. On February 20th the Head Teacher resigned.
Read Mary Sandell’s statement in full:
Dear parents, guardians and boys,
It is with deep regret and with very mixed feelings that I have tendered my resignation, with effect from August 31st 2017.
I would like to be able to say that I am taking early retirement, but that simply isn’t true – I am 60 in July which, funnily enough, makes me the same age as the school, but, much more importantly, makes me far too old for the high levels of stress involved in running a school in today’s economic climate, with not always enough understanding and support from within. By August 31st, I will have completed 29 years and 43 days in teaching, but it is the last few years that have been the hardest.
The situation with regard to schools funding, both nationally and locally, is bleak; in common with other head teachers, I did not enter the teaching profession to make cuts that narrow the curriculum, or to reduce the number of teachers and increase class sizes, and yet my hand has been forced, and I see no immediate easing of the situation. In addition, there is an acute teacher shortage, which is really beginning to bite.
Consequently, I feel unable to deliver the quality of education the boys at The Forest so clearly deserve. I must further stress that these issues are by no means confined to The Forest alone, and I know there will be people out there prepared to take the situation on and to make a positive difference. I have confidence in the existing leadership team and the governors to ensure continuity going forwards, a smooth transition and a fine new appointment. The school is a great school and will continue to be so.
From here on in, I will continue to work tirelessly for the pupils’ benefit in general, and towards a positive outcome from the Ofsted monitoring visit in particular. Currently, I am working with the governors to try to bring the Reading FC training dome to our site, which would be a fantastic new facility for the pupils.
My main regret will be leaving the pupils here: they are such characters….funny, bright, talented, frequently bonkers and, for the most part, an absolute delight to work with! I will never forget them, and will continue to do what I can from the sidelines to secure more appropriate levels of funding.
With very best wishes,
Mary Sandell
Headteacher
- THE campaign for fairer funding in Wokingham’s schools will be marking a National Day of Action with a stall in Market Square this weekend.
Campaigners will be collecting signatures for their petition and sharing information about the campaign from 9am on Saturday.
