EXCLUSIVE: A dispute with a former headteacher is being linked to the abrupt exit of their successor at a Coulsdon secondary school.
By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent
Staff, pupils and parents at Woodcote High were left shocked yesterday after the school’s head quit her job just two days after the return from the spring half-term break.
Interim arrangements made by the governing academy trust, The Collegiate Trust, will have a knock-on effect at two of its other schools in South Croydon.
Kirstie Woodcock had been principal at Woodcote since 2021, and worked on the teaching staff there for 16 years. In a letter to parents and carers sent yesterday, Woodcock wrote of her “mixed emotions” that she was announcing her decision and how it is “bittersweet” that she was leaving. With immediate effect.
Not unreasonably, some interpreted this as meaning that Woodcock was not leaving of her own volition. Late February is not usually the time in a school year when senior teaching staff make abrupt departures.
The school on Meadow Rise, Coulsdon, was rated as “Good” by its most recent Ofsted inspection, in February 2022.
Woodcote is a coeducational secondary school of 1,300 pupils which became an academy in 2012. Last year it joined The Collegiate Trust, which includes seven other schools, including five primaries as well as Quest Academy in South Croydon and Riddlesdown Collegiate.
In his own letter to parents, Soumick Dey, the CEO of The Collegiate Trust, wrote that “it is with great sadness that… Ms Kirstie Woodcock has left her post as Principal at Woodcote High School with immediate effect.
‘Bittersweet’: Kirstie Woodcock’s letter to parents used language not associated with someone leaving willingly
“After 16 years, including the last three years leading the school, Ms Woodcock has decided to step down from her role… I know that she will be hugely missed by students, colleagues and parents who will be grateful for the stability she has delivered to the school and its community.”
The reference to “stability” is thought to be the circumstances that Woodcock inherited after the dismissal as head of Paul Mundy-Castle in July 2021.
The events which led to Mundy-Castle’s departure are still hotly disputed, and are expected to be subject of an Employment Tribunal claim brought against Woodcote High School due to be heard later this year.
Wasting no time, with Woodcock having barely reversed out of her headteacher’s parking space, The Collegiate Trust has already advertised for her replacement, who they hope might start in September this year (although they will have missed the usual recruitment round for senior teaching staff which usually occurs in January to allow for six-month notice periods).
‘A period of challenge and instability’: Soumick Dey, CEO of The Collegiate Trust
The new head’s job, which can pay up to £115,000 (the Trust reckons the school is a £12million per year income operation), “arises at a very exciting time for Woodcote High School… following a period of challenge and instability”, apparently, according to the Trust’s ad.
“We now wish to appoint a new Principal who will bring the highest level of ambition to our Ofsted ‘Good’ school and lead our community into the next phase of its development.”
Dey’s letter to parents outlined some interim staffing changes – none of which will have been made at without some careful planning and discussions.
Andy Crofts, the “executive principal” at Quest Academy and Quest Primary in South Croydon, is being seconded to Woodcote for four days a week from tomorrow. Crofts, according to his CEO, “will provide the stability and reassurance required at this transitional time”.
Crofts will have support from two deputy principals, and The Collegiate Trust is also out to appoint an “interim assistant principal”. The interim arrangements are expected to be in place until the end of the summer term.
“I recognise that change like this may be unsettling,” Dey wrote, displaying an impressive command of understatement, “but I know that the team at Woodcote High School will ensure that students’ learning and wellbeing are prioritised throughout.”
The Collegiate Trust was invited to comment on the abrupt exit of Woodcock, and was asked whether they can deny that the principal’s departure was unconnected to the on-going dispute between the school and its former head, Mundy-Castle.
Inside Croydon had received no response by the time of publication.
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Listened to Mr Dey speak on a secondary school open evening when he was in charge at Riddlesdown.
I got the impression that everything he did and said was to further his own career – he opened the speech that evening with a long list of all his achievements when I actually wanted to about the school I was potentially sending my child too – and wouldn’t let anything/one stop him in achieving his goals. It gave me the impression that the children were second to his ambition.
We never sent our child there and luckily they never wanted to go there anyway else I’d have had a hard time accepting that after listening to him extolling his virtues and ambition before talking about the school.
From the admittedly short impression I got of him that evening, I imagine there’s not a lot of love lost in the relationships between the staff and him so wouldn’t be surprised if there’d been a falling out between them – teachers wanna teach while the CEO wants to CEO. Education as a business can be a toxic relationship.
His Linkedin profile is light on his educational achievements. I expect he’s been too busy furthering his career ambitions to list any of them
Disgusting man, doesnt care about children at all but being in charge and control and his own career. I’m sure this poor women and the previous head would have been forced out as wouldn’t blindly follow him.
Perceptive words. The running of education as a commercial activity rather than as a social goal in itself seems to be leading to greater upheaval in staffing and provision and can only negatively impact the service provided. It seems a very grim future if the likes of this character start infecting education and it’s forgotten that this is about benefiting the wider community than being part of someone’s career plan.