The Secret Teacher (@DCSecretTeache1)

With the news of a new VP Head of Secondary starting soon, the task will be monumental. How do you deal with an exhausted body of staff with a heavily scarred morale? You may have read a number of pedagogy and strategy books or guides and have a wealth of experience but the task will remain a challenge.  Staff will have to come together and unite in making the work environment a positive one. All help and good intentions will be needed to draw a line between what's gone and what's to come. However, you can't just ask staff to do that, to draw again from the nearly dried up well of enthusiasm and positivity. A frank and open dialogue will be necessary to allow for honest feedback, acting on it and also time for healing. Our advice, never promise what you are not sure you can deliver. The memory of the broken promises is still a painful one. If a mistake is made, admit it. To err is human and so is to forgive. When thinking about a new initiative, consider if it is assessed f...

The current situation WCC finds itself is becoming even more comical. The total absence of the managers from the efficient day to day working of the school has reached a crippling point. With the announcement of the imminent departure of Dr Zimmer and his First Officer mark yet another low point for the community. It seems that these two have already moved on, shifting their focus to their next destination.  Some teachers argue that they would not feel any different. Whether the two leave or stay is not going to be noticed or felt. They are rarely seen anyway. We argue, however, that the level of dysfunctionality left in their wake will scar the school for years to come. What about the Leadership Group under them? The acute incompetence that characterises this group knows no limits. Even today, staff are trying to figure out what their role is and who does what exactly. The answer is that, within the current structure and hierarchy, they are causing more harm than any theoretical g...

 Now, it has been a while. The blog is back. It will go for good only with the departure of the ailments that cripple the once well reputed and prestigious WCC. The condition of WCC has become so acute that only an amputation is the remedy for the current crisis.  In the leafy and quiet suburbs of Wessex County College, a strange and unsettling chill is in the air. The end of year examinations have begun. Everyone is nervous. Every student is anxious. Every parent is hopeful.  Inside the college, things are even worse than feared. At the height of the exam period, problems (even described by some optimists as 'monumental c*ck-ups') are only multiplying. Forget the energy crisis and the possible government rebate and windfall tax. Think of the war on Ukraine type of problem.  Several issues have come to light this week. Mistakes have happened on a large scale. Students are left out of exam lists and then called at the very last minute, exam rooms are inadequate for ru...

  Extracts from the website: Extract 1 Comments: [School name edited out] has fantastic students and many good teachers which are just about holding it together. The salaries are still relatively good, however recent housing allowance cuts and having to pay contributions to school fees definitely places it below some of the other ‘top’ schools in the region. Doha is a great place to live and you can have an excellent standard of living. Singles and families alike have plenty to do, despite its reputation for heat, the weather is lovely for most of the year. Water sports, sports, international sporting events, shopping, nightlife, camping, dune bashing, beaches are all available and reasonably priced (well drinks are quite pricey, but the good salary and cheap petrol makes up for it). The school is a British Curriculum school. The students are the highlight of teaching at [School name edited out] . They are bright, ambitious and extremely well-behaved. They are ...

  We have not published any new blogs for a while. We have been observing.  For those students who sent emails asking about the identity of the authors of this blog, we applaud your admirable innocence. For the parents and university students who have sent us emails asking for more blog entries, you are welcome to send us your views. We will publish them. A contribution by an anonymous email: An intriguing development (if you can call it so) has occurred. With the outrage, protestation and complaints experienced over the past few months, now we see a fatigued staff body that seems to have decided to play the dead. Some have been quietly hopeful whilst others have just retreated in despair. You would think that the staff have just given up the fight but if you think about it again this is a far more serious outcome. When staff stop voicing their discontent, it is because of one of two reasons: they have succeeded in changing things or they have stopped caring. It is certainly n...

 Hello, Ex-pupil here. Attended said school until I “graduated” (cheers, Covid) in  2020. Among pupils at [edited out] there is a general consensus that the teachers themselves are great but the leadership is terrible. For us, the cracks really began to show following the implementation of high performance learning (whatever the f*ck that is). The senior leadership desperately trying to peddle this teaching structure/mindset (whatever you call it) that probably cost an arm and a leg and had absolutely NO use at all apart from making the school look good. I know HPL became a joke amongst teachers and pupils alike, and it was something many of us could tolerate although it clearly demonstrated the priority of the senior leadership to maintain a perfect school image rather than make any actual changes to learning itself. Many of us have long said that the current principal treats the school as a business/advertisement campaign rather than as a community of teachers and pup...

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 ...

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 infl...