Headteacher Eve Ritchie-Fallon has become the latest person to be hung out to dry by the CPS following their policy of: "Believe any accusation made against someone in authority, no matter how ridiculous"
For a whole year this highly regarded woman; credited with turning around a failing institution, has been suspended from her job awaiting trial not for burglary, fraud or murder; but because a pupil alleged that she slapped him when he wouldn't stop smoking!
Never mind the fact that he was already at a special centre for nightmare children; had a history of bad behaviour, or that he had ADHD and would say the first thing that came into his head.
Mother was no doubt advised by her no win no fee solicitor that there was a good chance of some taxpayers money coming her way, and also that her dear son could do whatever he liked at the centre, as nobody would dare punish him whilst this complaint was being investigated.
I wouldn't have wanted the Head put on trial if she had run down the street waving the boys ear muffs (what sort of boy wears ear muffs?) whilst shouting "That'll learn him!". However despite being found innocent of all charges by the court, Hampshire Council are still suspending her whilst they carry out their own independant investigation! I wonder whether local Council Tax payers think this is a sensible way to spend their money?
21 comments:
Why not leave the job?
Stoney silence.
Of course, Teach: there is absolutely nothing else you could do. Is there?
No transferable skills whatsoever
... so why not just shut up and keep drawing your paqrasite's wage from the public purse and stop kvetching, eh?
What's a paqrasite?
I left the job after almost 20 years, not just because I wasn't prepared to carry on by-standing while the profession was slowly and steadily neutered by a political class made up mostly of incompetent individuals who couldn't hold down any kind of job elsewhere, but because I was recruited by a company who understood just how valuable and transferable my skills were.
I would assure any teacher reader who prepares all their own lessons, marks all the kids work on time, can write a decent sentence and stand up in front of a room full of people and ensure they listen, that you are superbly well qualified to work in any of the numerous businesses I have worked for, or with, since I left the classroom.
where are the unions?
Anonymous(1) you sure are an asshole. Just walk away, eh? Walk out of teaching into a job that will meet those commitments you made when you weren't quite as sure you'd be hung out to dry by the witchfinder's legal separtment?
Hey, Halifax, hey, Kids' University, Hey, credit card guys, I'm making a bit of a statement here (or possibly kvetching though I'm not sure what that is). If you could just keep meeting my repayments whilst I start again in an entry position in a new emnployment area, I'd be frightfully obliged.....
You utter child. And not the child filled with wide-eyed wonder and Jesus's love; the one who hasn't got a fucking clue about the real world.
Think about planning for a moment. Economy goes down the toilet. As a planner, very few are building. End result a dearth of planning applications. What do you do? You start finding any objection, delaying, dragging out work, in order to keep your job.
Now why do you think the council is organising a separate investigation?
Most teachers I work with are so fed up with the endless red tape, unfounded allegations by Dwayne and Chantelle, the never-ending meetings where nothing happens but you have to show your face to prove your "dedication" and "Commitment"..they'd like out sooner rather than later. But as there are not many alternatives, they have to stay on and keep being abused, hissed at, disrespected and breathed down their necks (endless lesson observation and Maoist self-criticising sessions with SMT)...depressing. I know no other profession where you are so constantly observed and taken to pieces and where you have no human rights and where you are automatically assumed guilty until you prove your innicence, and then the slimy little accuers don't get any "consequences" because they hafe ISSUES.
We need a National Boot Up The Jacksie Day, when every teacher throughout the land promises to deal with each miscreant by applying a foot to his or her backside. Let the authorities suspend the lot of us: out of the ensuing chaos might emerge some order and respect for authority.
with you on that one!!!
I might have to check out whether Chanteesh's Dad is bigger than my Dad first, Mr Natural. I'm pretty sure his sense of grievance, self-righteousness and entitlement is bigger than my Dad's for a start.
The teachers at my childrens school are excellent. I have got 100% trust in what they are doing and if they ever said anything negative about either/both of my sons a) I would die of embarrasment, and b) immediate action would be taken to rectify the situation. It is a great pity that this has happened to Eve Ritchie-Fallon. Management, Unions and parents have failed a woman who should be allowed to get on with doing what she is quite clearly good at doing
You think you have problems now? Just wait until Vetting & Barring comes in.
At least a CRB check has some evidence (remember that?) behind it. V&B can use "soft" intelligence - aka rumour.
Anonymous (1).
You are an obvious troll; why not foxtrot oscar?
I also think you meant "stony" rather than "stoney".
Please write this out three times.
NB Whilst I work in a school, I'm not a teacher.
While I hate to be pedantic, I am concerned when even educated people such as teachers display such a lack of understanding of how our system of justice operates as was shown in this post.
No-win-no-fee solicitors have bugger all to do with criminal prosecutions or defence... in fact all they do is personal injury work. If this woman was suspended it would be because a police officer investigated and thought there was sufficient evidence of a crime to report the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service (a firm of lawyers employed directly by government to prosecute those charged with offences). A lawyer there would have considered a (complex) test that assesses whether a person should be charged. Throughout the case there would have been a duty upon the prosecution to consider whethe the case should continue. If the case went to the Crown Court then a panel of magistrates would have heard some of the evidence and agreed there was sufficient evidence for the case to contue (or Ms Ritchie-Fallon would have agreed there was sufficient evidence). It would have been open to Ms Ritchie-Fallon to apply to dismiss the case prior to trial and if she failed to do so then presumably she accepted there was a case to answer or a judge thought there was such evidence.
The decision to suspend her would have come from her bosses/employers and not from anybody in the criminal justice system.
Two things.
In Spain, there was the movement known as the "Generation of 98", (1898, BTW), who were famous in the country for "their criticism of the Spanish ... educational establishment, which they saw as having characteristics of conformism and ignorance, and a lack of any true spirit." (Wikipedia)
Surely it's time for our own "Generation of ????" to restore and invigorate proper education.
There's also this quote from Edmund Burke - ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’.
Reason enough to do something, I reckon!
Phatboy, as a teacher how am I supposed to understand this country's legal system when it appears to be completely random.
Read Inspector Gadget's blog for numerous examples of inexplicable CPS decisions and ludicrously inadequate sentences handed out by judges, who claim that their hands are tied by the Government but never seem to protest about it, presumably because they do not live in areas plagued by crime.
I think we all know that the Head was suspended by the Local Education Authority who always seem to do so whenever an allegation is made against a teacher, no matter how little evidence or how unlikely it is to be true.
I would like to reassure fellow readers of this excellent Blog that Phatboy's comments regarding the police involvement in this are totally incorrect.
We send loads of 'Advice Files'(which I take it is what he is on about) to the CPS without anyone having to be suspended.
Or is he referring to CPS Direct; who would give an officer charging advice in a few minutes?
I know exactly what you mean, Lilyofthefield. My father still tells of the fearsome woman, mother of one of his classmates in the 1920s, who bodily picked up the village schoolmaster on his way home and hurled him from the bridge into the canal. He had, in her opinion, unjustly punished her son. Perhaps there never has been much respect for authority in this country.
Anon 1: Er, Chalk is no longer a teacher. He left the job, as he says in his book. You cock.
I think she didn't hit the boy, but didn't he need a slap?
I worked with Ms Ritchie-Fallon and found to be the most trust-worthy Heads i have ever worked with. She worked bloody hard to turn that school around and if you knew the child in question, you would know how obnoxious, rude and disrespectful he is. She did nothing wrong, she asked him to put the cigarette out, he refused, so she knocked it out of his mouth the same time he went to put his face in hers, giving it the big i am. End of.
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