Statement from Headteachers’ Roundtable

December 2023

All at the Headteachers Roundtable keep Ruth, her family, her school community and the co-heads who stepped in to lead the school after her passing and then faced another inspection, in our thoughts.

As current and former serving headteachers we have all experienced the pernicious and perilous accountability system for many years.

The assessment and findings of the Coroner’s report into Ruth Perry’s death confirms what has been known within the whole system for some time; that the current methodology of inspection, underpinned by high-stakes accountability, is not fit for purpose. It is dangerous, cruel and drives a culture of fear, anxiety, hurt and pain across the system.

In the case of Ruth Perry, as well as others, it has directly led to death. This cannot go on.

As a group we have campaigned for nearly five years to pause Ofsted and to see genuine root and branch reform. If this had been heeded lives could have been saved. During Covid, we again raised our voices to insist on a pause which was not initially forthcoming, despite the unprecedented level of disruption the pandemic caused. The Inspectorate has a well-documented history of being both tone-deaf and slow to respond to what is obvious to us all.

Without a doubt, parents want to know the schools their children attend are safe and provide an excellent education; what they don’t want is the current system deemed so unattractive the DfE has failed to recruit half its target of trainee teachers and the role of Headteacher has never looked less appealing. There isn’t another accountability system in the world that treats and labels those it serves in such a toxic and damaging way. 

More recently, our Chair, Caroline Derbyshire, has contributed to the group Beyond Ofsted (Home – Beyond Ofsted) to find a better way. No leader within our sector believes that there should be a vacuum of accountability- however, in recent years the approach has gone from ‘measuring’ and ‘inspecting’ to destroying and this is ethically, morally and strategically wrong.

Collectively we now call for:

1.      An immediate pause and cessation of school inspection.

2.      For the DFE to engage with the incoming HMCI on a root and branch reform of the methodology and approach of inspection.

3.      For this reform to be closely aligned to the findings and recommendations of the Beyond Ofsted commission.

We ask all teacher and school leader associations to do the same as a matter of urgency.

We do this in the name of Ruth Perry. We do this for all of us, including the staff and students of the schools we lead. For the countless tears and anxiety, for the good people decimated, for the careers ruined and lives left in tatters. We do this for justice. Please lend your voice and your hearts by signing the following petition (Pause Ofsted inspections and reform how school performance is evaluated – Petitions (parliament.uk)

Ofsted broke me

Shared confidentially with the Headteachers’ Roundtable by an anonymous serving headteacher in England

The tragic death of a much beloved headteacher, Ruth Perry, brought it all back. I did not expect to be so triggered by the news of her experience and had thought that I was doing fine after the devastation of my own school’s Ofsted inspection. Little did I know that the trauma buried deep inside came hurtling back, leaving me feeling broken, upset, angry and hugely resentful. As human leaders, we bury our deep emotions as we place the well-being of others over ourselves. However, I cannot be silent as through the tears that keep on coming – the dam has been broken, there is no going back. This is my story of how the inspection affected me, and still does today.

My school was inspected the day after October half-term 2021. I remember when half term arrived, I thanked an exhausted and emotional staff force in the staff room for their hard work and commitment to children and colleagues as this was the most difficult term yet, post-lockdown. The magnitude of what we had to do, what we were doing, the high absence rates amongst pupils and staff had placed considerable pressure on a one form entry primary school. And yet, through the seven weeks of the first half term of the new academic year, we somehow managed to survive, teach well, and carry on with curriculum development which was halted over the period of lockdown and disruptions. My mantra had always been, we do what is best for the children, never for Ofsted! During this period of pressure and turmoil, I supported several teachers and staff facing huge personal issues and upheavals in their lives, These circumstances are important to note as it gives context to a school trying its best to serve our community.

When I received the call, I remember telling the staff, ‘We’ve got this. Ofsted will see the hard work we have done, and the efforts we have placed to put our children first and foremost in what we do’. There was considerable anxiety and I remember telling staff to go home, there is nothing more to be done. Just teach as you teach every day.

I was naïve. I recall now that trusted members of my leadership team were suspicious of the HMI and the additional inspector as the way they were questioned, led them to believe that we have already been judged – the inspectors were looking for evidence to back the case for the ultimate label.

It is only when I read Caversham Primary’s Ofsted report that I knew our school had been judged through a similar lens. Safeguarding was judged ineffective, and I am unable to say more on this to protect the children I still serve. I will say that the ‘lack of’ evidence is contentious, as these ‘issues’ were rectified immediately. As I repeatedly said to the inspectors, nothing we do as a school was to deliberately make any child unsafe. In fact, it has always been the opposite, and Ofsted confirmed this in its own report – “This means that pupils are potentially at risk or may not get the help and support they need.” In feedback sessions with me, and members of the governing board, the inspectors confirmed that all children were safe. They confirmed that we had taken the right steps in safeguarding children, it is the paperwork that was not obvious, and the inexperience of some governors in helping to create an effective culture of safeguarding. I wish at this point to ask readers to remember the context and remember the timing of this inspection.

Our school was judged inadequate in early November of 2021 because safeguarding was judged ineffective; the report was not published until February of 2022. There was nothing I could say or do to change this. If you read our initial inspection report, there were many, many things we were doing well as we were judged Good in Behaviour and Attitude, and also Personal Development. These matter, but also did not matter. The great Ofsted conundrum! Prioritising pupil, staff and family mental health did not seem to matter. High absence rates due to Covid or the effect of Covid did not seem to matter. Covid was not taken into consideration at all even though it was less than a year after lockdown was lifted. I could tell you about how our 3 weakest readers were so anxious reading in front of the inspector and could not ‘perform’ so guess what that did to how Reading was judged?

Do not get me wrong. If you used the Ofsted framework, in that inspection, our school was not Outstanding, maybe not even Good. However, we are not, and we never were, inadequate.

I remember breaking down in front of both female inspectors. I remember how devastated and emotional I was. I challenged them to help me understand how I can carry on with leadership, and yes, I do take it personally, being judged inadequate. I asked them to understand how a humane organisation could treat people and communities this way. I asked them to reflect how they would feel, and act, as both inspectors were former headteachers, and had ‘sat’ in my chair. I asked them to help me understand how, when my heart and soul had been given to this role, when I sleep, breathe, and live this job at the expense of my family, and well-being, I could carry on. I remember that although I thought they heard, they did not listen. Both said that ‘I now had the mandate to turn the school around’. It is only now that I can see that I do not require their mandate at all – I have always served my school community, I have always had the best interest of staff and pupils at heart, I have always pursued academic excellence but not at the expense of well-being. Our school priorities are timely and well planned, ensuring that staff are supported to teach, and lead subjects well.

I had to be silent on our outcome for seven weeks, through Christmas and New Year. I had to reassure a staff team who knew something was up, and yet I could not speak of what had happened. I had to reassure parents that all was ok, and that the report would be communicated to them when published. I had to speak to potential parents who wanted to know if we had been inspected recently.

When I read Ruth’s story, it brought it all crashing back. The sleepless nights, the crying endlessly at home with my husband picking me up each time I said I cannot do this anymore. My children trying their best to support an unhappy mother who looked lost. The feeling of being a failure and, of failing. The over thinking of the impact of this outcome – what would our parents say and do? How are we ever going to come out of this as a small school dependent on pupil numbers to survive?

I remember Bonfire Night 2021, a school event attended by hundreds of parents, children, and members of the community where I had to make a speech, knowing the judgement, but unable to say anything. I remember feeling devastated and proud at the same time as I peered at a lit-up playground at what we had truly achieved during, and after the pandemic. Our school kept a community safe, cared for, and alive. Our ethos of inclusion, courage, service, and collaboration saw us through a time like no other. I have been told that my words that night were inspirational and hopeful. This is the one thing I do not remember. I just remember feeling totally exhausted, drained and broken and thinking, there is no way back. I felt alone.

Of course, writing this today means that I did ok. I am still here, just! Six working months later, Ofsted came back and turned a monitoring inspection into a full inspection. Oh, we are now an RI school don’t you know? I suppose I should be grateful, and yet I am actually resentful. Nothing much has changed since the last, devastating grading. I had to work harder to ensure the staff were supported mentally, emotionally, and physically. I had to work harder at pre-empting difficult conversations with parents and consider carefully how we can increase pupil numbers after the inspection. I had to work harder when some parents use the judgement to unfairly (in my opinion) criticise the school for any perceived errors or complain about things.

What has changed is how cynical I have become. My heart has been broken, and I am unsure how to mend it. I have had thoughts of leaving headship, in fact, leaving the sector as I observe injustice in the way education serves all our children, and our staff who work tirelessly every single day. There is too much politics, division, and unhealthy competition, with inspections being part of the battleground. I have battled and argued and reached out to people in rather high places to be listened to. Some listened, some helped in ways they will never know, and to these people, who are still here for me today, my deep gratitude for their ongoing support. I do not have to imagine Ruth’s experience of Ofsted as I believe it was also mine. However, I can only imagine what the impact of the inspection did to her, on top of all the other pressures that life, the job, and work can bring.

Part of her story is mine too. This cannot be the legacy we leave behind. The way schools are inspected and ‘labelled’ must change immediately. If Ofsted is about improving schools, then truly help leaders improve their schools by highlighting to the school, the results of their audit, and allowing schools to rapidly improve. Do not leave broken leaders behind when you leave on the second day, without turning back. Do not deny us a voice to raise our concerns appropriately. Be the humane organisation that education requires, so that schools, leaders, and communities can continually improve together, rather than leaving a trail of devastation without ever looking back. There must never be another tragedy like the life and death of Ruth Perry, and countless others. Be the tool for successful school leadership, and not the sword that maims, injure, or worse, destroys.

#PauseOfsted Again

Caroline Derbyshire, Chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable

In 2020, The Headteachers Roundtable asked Ofsted to pause; to stop what it was doing and think about the harmful consequences of what had become a painful and bruising inspection regime for very many headteachers. It invited all school-based employees to consider standing down as inspectors.

A few months later there was a global pandemic and a pause occurred anyway, but in 2022-23 we are back to the pre-pandemic routine of regular school inspections and reports of career-breaking and community-destroying school gradings. Following the tragic suicide of Ruth Perry, her family has made a direct link between her school’s November Ofsted inspection outcome and her desperate state of mind and this has brought the issue to the forefront of the media this week. Finally, our calls to ‘Pause Ofsted’ are echoed across the teacher and headteacher unions and associations. Why does it always seem to take a terrible and avoidable tragedy to galvanise an orchestrated response?

Of course, in recent weeks there have also been some shards of light and hope thrown onto this issue. Bridget Phillipson MP, vowed to end Ofsted gradings at the recent ASCL Conference in favour of a School Report, but her proposals, which Headteachers Roundtable endorse, will only be implemented if Labour win the next General Election. A lot of damaging inspection outcomes can happen in 18 months.

Let’s remind ourselves of what needs to change. In our 2021 Alternative White Paper we addressed the problem of the high-stakes nature of Ofsted inspections and we made proposals around accountability:

1. Remove Ofsted grading – OFSTED inspection to be reformed with labelling and categorisation of schools and academies removed. The purpose of inspection should instead be to identify excellence, the capacity of an institution to assist in system-wide improvement, and the identification of areas requiring attention and support.

2. Contextualise school accountability – Inspection frameworks need to be fit for purpose and properly reflect the education sector that they are inspecting. Accountability judgements need to be informed by a full appreciation of a school’s unique circumstances and contextual challenges, including levels of disadvantage.

3. Create a Headteacher recruitment and retention strategy – All school leaders, including Headteachers, Executive Headteachers and CEOs, should have access to regular professional supervision and all new Headteachers should be provided with an experienced mentor and a programme of high-quality professional development.

4. Reframe the education accountability system – A commission should be established, involving all Headteacher organisations, to establish an enquiry and review into the support, management, protection, and accountability that surrounds Headteachers and make recommendations to achieve a more coherent and purposeful accountability system.

5. Introduce specialist safeguarding audits – Establish a national safeguarding service to oversee an annual safeguarding audit for all schools and colleges. This annual audit should be conducted on a similar basis to financial audit, with RAG rating against a set of criteria and specific recommended actions.

There has never been a more important time to take these proposals seriously. We can’t risk another 18 months of the same punitive approach.

Reflecting on a Moment

“Today, we face our own 1945 moment” boldly stated the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres in 2020. Since then, other sources have increasingly referenced calls to embrace a “Beveridge moment” from papers such as “Unequal Britain” (Duffy et al, 2021) to newspaper columnists, political papers and a radio interview I heard just this week, all suggesting our current political, socio-economic complexities offer a similar paradigm shift to that facing the nation in 1945; all inferring a signal for a comparable 5-year programme of reform and reconstruction.

Now I love a historical reference and there’s no doubting embracing a wartime rhetoric has worked for many in this country over the years, but a recent visit to Singapore courtesy of the British Council’s Building Educational Bridges Partnership and a passing knowledge of modern history tells me there is considerably more to solving our current complexities than soundbites and memories. The chance to observe another culture and country that has redefined itself in the face of significant political and cultural change enabled this school leader a moment of reflection on what can be learnt; a moment to consider how we might gain hope and inspiration from a former colony and now world-leading education system and economy.

After a history too complex for this blog (but fascinating), Singapore became independent in 1965.  Since that point, its journey from ‘third world to first’  (Yew, L., 2011) in one generation is one of Asia’s great success stories. The subsequent rapid and highly successful transformation of their education system and consistently high levels of performance (PISA, TIMSS etc.) have garnered international respect and interest.

It is an outward-looking cohesive nation with a diverse population of c.6 million. ‘Singapore’s education system aims to bring out the best in every child’ (Ministry of Education, 2022) and does so through just 181 primary schools, 136 secondaries and 27 mixed level or junior colleges. The system has regenerated throughout its nearly 70-year history from ‘survival’ and ‘efficiency’ driven first phases creating the workforce and skills needed to build a nation to the later ‘ability’ and ‘aspiration’ phases which placed education at the heart of a national identity providing the knowledge and skills to compete globally.

Since 2020, Singapore has embarked on a ‘Learning for Life’ phase in response to the Covid-19 period, including a commitment to e-learning. So, what if anything, did I learn about this country, smaller than the Isle of Wight, that could be relevant to our larger more fragmented system in a UK of c.60 million with 16,791 primary schools and 3,456 secondary schools within England alone; a different scale and context completely.

I saw and learnt that Singapore has incredible national cohesion, there is immense optimism and pride in their collective endeavour. They see themselves as nation-builders, making the most of their small island where humans are the primary resource. Within a diverse population, temples, businesses and apartment blocks flourish where races, religions and languages co-habit in harmony, mutual respect and understanding.  It was a clean and safe environment where the overwhelming impression of its people was of generosity and kindness. A much-needed taxi ride from the city to our hotel in an hour of need left the distinct impression that our driver was not in fact a taxi at all but a well-intentioned citizen who simply wanted us to be well looked after.

Across the education system there is remarkable cohesion and trust; a sense of collective responsibility and common vision that drives decision-making and fidelity to implementation. Educating the next generation is seen as the most sustainable way of securing a prosperous future for the country, “education is viewed as investment not expenditure. It is the human enterprise of paying it forward.” (Pak Tee, N., 2023). As such, teaching is highly respected and recruitment is strong. Professional development is high-quality at all levels, career pathways are broad and focus on expertise rather than hierarchy, including developing teams of SEND practitioners in each school. There is no published school ranking and no high-stakes accountability. Checks and balances in the system ensure core principles are realised authentically in the local context.

Which raises interesting questions. How many of our much-heralded personal freedoms and liberties would we be willing to surrender for such unifying national cohesion. Headteachers/ Principals do not choose their leadership posts, they go where the Ministry sends them for the benefit of the country. They trust there is a greater purpose being served when they uproot their career and restart wherever sent. In 2022 Singapore was described by the Economist Intelligence Unit as a ‘flawed democracy’ raising questions about artistic freedom, same sex marriage and openness to government critique. Whilst there is evidence of cultural shift and change, personal destiny and educational pathway is still largely determined early in life. The safety I felt to walk around at night was a product of heavy fines and strict laws – not least with a serious ban on jay-walking. How far do our ideals of liberal freedoms and individual liberty mean we struggle to achieve the unity and sense of common purpose visible in this so-called “nanny state” (Harding, 2004)? And across the education system how much of our vaunted, hard-earned freedoms and autonomy would we be willing to surrender for cohesion, common purpose and consistency for all young people? And in a system so much larger and fragmented how possible even is that as a goal?

Conversely, although prior to meeting there was preconceived perception in the English participants that the Singaporean colleagues, sitting in harmonious cohesion at the top of the world rankings, would have little to learn from the English system – the reverse transpired to the true. Through their eyes there was much to admire in our own practice and success. Where we saw fragmentation, they saw a system created for individual creativity and innovation. Where we felt pandemic-weary and accountability-exhausted they saw determination throughout the system for high standards. They saw resilient leaders, determined to succeed for every child. They saw a research-informed profession, willing to debate, to collaborate and co-create. We know this professional control is a powerful factor in retention and wellbeing (Collie and Carroll, 2023).

There is no doubt that exceptional practise exists within our system. The question is why and in what context?

In March 2022, the DfE’s Schools White Paper, “Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child” communicated a vision for a “school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time“. Whilst the White Paper has been withdrawn, many of the key ideas remain. the Green Paper for SEND: “right support, right place, right time” remains a live discussion.

From the remarkable leaders I was privileged to spend the journey with to the inspiring leaders we visited in London schools it is clear there is talent in the English system that is powerful and dynamic; there is practice in the English system that is aspirational and rooted in moral purpose. Galvanising this energy and talent into a national vision that has cross-party consensus would allow long term sustainable planning that could be transformational.

Whilst the baseline belief across the Singaporean system is that every school is a good school, there is by nature of scale, more variability in the English system. In high-performing schools, there is a clarity of vision driving improvement; a coherent curriculum, and a commitment to supporting the children who need it most; early identification of SEND and a determination all students should access and progress. There is clarity about what great teaching looks and feels like with focused CPD to ensure no student or teacher is left behind. Teachers are well supported with clear standards for all levels and pathways for development, culture and ethos is clear and tangible leading to consistent approaches to behaviour and routines for learning. These schools have an energy and purpose that serve their communities effectively despite barriers and contextual difficulties.

So, what might be the “moment to embrace” here, what learning can be taken from a system that is a continent away and a 10^th of the scale and complexity? I have some emerging thoughts:

1. There is huge power in a common and compelling narrative with moral purpose. This could be and currently often is created to great effect within federations/trusts and partnerships but could be super-charged in its impact if rooted in a commonly understood and collectively embraced national sense of purpose and vision for education.
2. Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration at every level: within and between schools, across and between trusts and systemically across the system. Together we are significantly more than the sum of our parts and for our current challenges we absolutely need to be.
3. Recruitment to a highly valued and revered profession of experts is competitive, retention is secured through the autonomy, mastery and purpose (Deci and Ryan, 2012) ensured through generous and purposeful CPL. Dedicated time in schools and out for development in post and for future posts, supports the implementation of accepted effective practice relative to context, developing expertise and excellence at every level. 
4. Cohesion through fidelity to a consistent understanding of “what works” (curriculum and pedagogy) combined with respect, professional trust and autonomy for context and ability to innovate. An end to frequent change for ideological purposes. The Singaporean model creates expertise sustained over time ensuring 6-7 yrs. for any new development: through phases of research, pilot, review and launch. Such time and consultation would enable review and innovation but ensure authenticity and commitment to any change, reducing the influence of political cycles that can prove so distracting.
5. Commitment to early identification and expert intervention for SEND, the streamed pathways seen in Singapore would need a much more open view to vocational and technical education than we have currently but commitment to expertise in every mainstream classroom would achieve a great deal; clarity and confidence in all teachers, guided by knowledgeable leadership, in every school for every child, inspiring trust and genuine partnership with parents.
6. Digital understanding and skills. We may not be able to replicate at scale the Singaporean model of a device for every child, but we do need to equip all our young people (and staff) with an understanding of what it means to work effectively and be safe and healthy in an online environment.  That will not happen if we eschew digital learning as a fad in education.

The famous Merlion statue (part lion part fish) in Singapore’s harbour represents the courage, strength and resilience needed to build a nation. We have yet (rightly) to see the benefit of combining the traditional Lion, Oak and Rose into a single English symbol but channelling the strength and endurance of the former and the unifying symbolism of the Tudor Rose might not be a bad start. However, history has many valuable lessons. In reimagining a 1945 spirit we might not be so keen to embrace the austerity, rationing and cold winters of a post-war period with escalating international tensions.

Instead of post-pandemic re-construction, maybe we should be focused on the co-construction of a new vision, a future-focused approach; investing in and building on our collective strengths, recognising context and embracing diversity within a clearly-articulated, nonpartisan, long-term aspiration. That could be a moment.

Caroline Barlow, Vice-Chair of Headteachers’ Roundtable

References

Collie, R. J., & Carroll, A. (2023). Autonomy-pressure profiles among teachers: Changes over a school term, leadership predictors, and workplace outcomes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 103998.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory.

Duffy, B., Hewlett, K., Hesketh, R., Benson, R., & Wager, A. (2021). Unequal Britain: attitudes to inequalities after Covid-19.

Economist Intelligence Unit (2022). Democracy Index 2022

Harding, Andrew (16 August 2004). “Singapore slings a little caution to the wind”. BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

Yew, L. K. (2011). From third to first world.

Bastions of Hope

I started my first headship under collation rule in 2011, serving one of the most deprived schools in the country. In easy walking distance of the Academy was a walk-in health centre where families could get treated quickly and we could send students with bumps and grazes. There were numerous ‘Sure Start’ centres where pre-school children and their families were supported and educated. Help was sought and given and these centres fed into the nurseries of local primary schools. Next to the Academy was a fully staffed, operating police station and the local officers were out and about, known to the community and part of a collective of services whose drive hugely reduced anti-social behaviour in the area. In the evenings, there was a range of youth provision, led by dedicated and inspiring youth workers. When I left this school in 2018, all this infrastructure, all these professionals, all this kindness and capacity was gone.

In suburbia, no one noticed for a long time. There was an assumption that all these services were luxurious, added extras that could no longer be afforded. Austerity’s bite was less severe when you have a thick padded jacket and could still see your GP. A candidate knocked on my door in a local election and I told them that we were now regularly buying footwear for our students, providing food for large numbers of children and had to fully finance most of the school trips that so enriched the lives of our children. She called me a socialist, laughed and knocked on more welcoming doors. She won the election.

Yet like the cliched frog, who doesn’t notice the water is boiling around her until it’s too late, it was becoming clear to most citizens that the cosy assumption that there were woven threads that bind society were unravelling. There was a pay freeze for school staff and budgeting became more frightening. Heads looking around at valued staff who heroically inspired and nurtured the students, hoping they could afford this support network the school relied upon. No one came if you dialled in a burglary, you dreaded taking your child to A&E as it was guaranteed to be a length of stay where you became mind numbed at memorising all the treats in the waiting room snack machine. Things were getting worse. There was a referendum and in school many of the local support staff cheered the results, an expression of their anger, many of the teachers were in despair. This disconnect humbling but troubling.

As a global pandemic swept across the world, there seemed a chance for a reboot. We celebrated the community connectivity of schools, the heroism of public sector workers, we thanked people we had previously not thought of for too long, who fed and provided for us and helped us navigate through the pressing basic needs of life. We clapped for NHS workers, for our imaginations did not want to peak at the horrors they were healing. There was a belief that we would recalibrate to prioritise the roles which care and contribute with compassion. It seems we have forgotten.

Yet the enthusiastic, bold young trainee teachers still emerge and inspire. Cover managers cope with another winter of challenge as supply colleagues are scarce and everyone else is coughing away. Staff collaborate and share, learning from each other, from research and from the generous experts whose command of classrooms is like watching Nina Simone, inspiring and electric. School site staff keep boilers working, mend rooves on the cheap, make pots of paint last and become such DIY experts that Channel 5 could run a reality hit based on their know how. Support staff do just this, support – cajole, care, smile, know when to be firm, know when to shut up and listen. We could all do with such support in our lives. Leaders juggle duties, inspections and improvement and toil often on ground that feels so unstable it might swallow and banish them from the jobs they love.

This Christmas and into 2023, I say a huge thank you to my staff and to all school staff. You are bastions of hope in complex and troubled times. Your continuity, reliability, smiles and determination make cold days better. Your willingness to stay whilst a child practices a sum, to ref a fixture when it’s pouring down, to praise a perceptive quotation make you bastions of hope. Burn bright so our children can emerge from our mess.

James Eldon, Principal, Manchester Academy