The Secret Teacher (@DCSecretTeache1)

Our dear principal's wish has finally come true. When he announced it again to the whole staff that if they were not happy with how things are at the school they would have to leave, he did not expect that teachers would do just that. With the unprecedented number of teachers leaving, the school's reputation is now in an accelerated descent. The critics and competitors of the school are watching with gleeful eyes. For them, every departure of an experienced teacher at WCC is a gain for them and their schools. At least three Heads of Departments have 'jumped ship' and joined one of the competitor schools in the same country. Others are contemplating joining them where they can be free from the tyranny of the current principal and his First Officer. Unleashing your wrath on teachers because they are suspected of being the authors of this blog and threatening them with police and disciplinary actions broke the camel's back. Teachers were left in fear and in a delica

 In the growing trend of falling standards at WCC, it has become ever more pertinent to ask why there has been such a drastic change. This change is especially of deep impact in the secondary school. The change started just over two years ago when the new Head of Secondary joined the school. Never has such addition been this impactful on the normal functioning of a once decent establishment. There are a few reasons for this but we will touch on the main ones. The new Head of Secondary has almost single-handedly united the staff in their disapproval of her ways. Stubborn, inflexible, lacking in warmth and genuine empathy, she has made some deep changes in the way the school works. Some teachers, heads of departments and heads of faculty have resigned themselves to the fact that presenting her with an alternative view would be futile. In a Borg-like style, she has recruited members of staff who are compliant and eager to please. The new teachers or heads of departments/faculties are perf

When you look at TES job adverts, you will notice that a number of WCC teachers have chosen to leave their feeding grounds and look for greener pastures. This is a normal event that occurs yearly and, in early summer, the teachers along with the whole family take off from their nesting grounds to find more productive feeding areas—and this movement could be in any direction. This happens in the early summer before the massive outward migration as job opportunities open up across the continents.  However, if you are familiar with the surroundings, you will find that an abnormally large number of Heads of Departments have regained their flight. At least eight (8) HoDs or Heads of services have been compelled to look elsewhere for a safer environment. (A.K.A a mass walk-out) Among the most conspicuous key roles to leave the nest we find Arts, Chemistry, Psychology, History, MFL, Digital Leader, School System Expert and Business Studies, not to mention some other roles of critical influenc

  Today, we are advancing the argument that less is more.  It has become obvious through all the interactions between teachers, Heads of Years, Heads of Key Stages and tutors that information exchange has suffered as a result of all the layered instructions, changes, additions etc. It seems that no one has a clear answer to anything. Directives are unclear as are too long to understand. Who the heck is putting this together? What planet are they on? The level of stress is continuing to go up and the embarrassment among teachers has now grown legs to kick us in the groin every couple of minutes. Teachers are buried in meetings, schedules, data analysis, more meetings, assessments, revision sessions, before-school and after-school meetings, materials, activities --and sprinkle a little goal-setting, demands, testing, accountability, evaluations, and relentlessly high expectations for change and improvement on top for good measure. And did we mention meetings? We have to realise this

 School Governors play an important role in any school. Governors set the aims and objectives for the school and set the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher and their management team.  The best governing bodies act as the school’s critical friend, take difficult decisions where necessary and make a major contribution to the leadership of the school and its successes. They ensure that the schools fulfil their duty to their students, their budget and their staff.  For governors to be effective there must be a good working relationship with the school, especially between the principal and the chair of governors, with candour and mutual respect. The chair of governors should be a head’s greatest advocate and so it’s essential to be totally open and frank and kept in the loop about all major events and decisions. A good chair will lis

WCC has seen better days. Amidst the continuing struggle to get a grip on the hundred and one issues that the school has to face, we know that teachers continue to express their dissatisfaction with the current conditions. Again, the pandemic is one of the causes but one cannot ignore the developing trend of teachers leaving or wanting to leave. This trend started before the pandemic and continues to show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.  People entering the education field tend to be ambitious, passionate, and lively. We choose to be on our feet all day: popping from table to table, often performing to engage students, and immersing them in active, relevant, real-world issues that get them on their feet and diving into the work. However, the job itself is increasingly sedentary. Our time, instead, is occupied with filling out Google Doc after Google Doc, answering emails, filling in admin forms, temperature checks, after-school meetings. Teachers spend more tim

 We're back! We would like to wish all our colleagues a happy new year but we reserve the right to hold back on our enthusiasm for positive change. To us, it seems quite clear that it's all just a little bit of history repeating. (Please refer to the great Shirley Bassey's song for further details). We would like to inform you that our blog has been the target of multiple attempts to hack it. Some have attempted to gain access to our email box and the blog login but their attempt can only be qualified as amateurish at best. We have a sister blog as backup with a copy of all the blog entries.The blog would be up again hours later. Thank you for your interest.