Shotley Bridge head suspended at ‘top of class’ school

Dec 15 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A POPULAR village primary school has been rocked by the suspension of its headteacher just a year after it received a glowing Ofsted report.

Parents have received a letter from the governors at Shotley Bridge County Infant School saying headteacher Margaret Bainbridge “will not be in school for some time”.

The suspension comes just a year after Ms Bainbridge was praised in an Ofsted report for her “clarity and vision”.

The school, in Benfieldside Road, Shotley Bridge, near Consett, County Durham, has 123 pupils aged five to seven.

Parents were given no indication as to why Miss Bainbridge had been suspended.

One said: “The letter was enigmatic, to say the least. It came right out of the blue.”

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: “I can confirm that the head- teacher of Shotley Bridge Infant School has been suspended, without prejudice and effective from December 1, pending an investigation into a range of matters at the school.

“The county council has taken measures to secure the leadership of the school in the meantime.”

The suspension of Ms Bainbridge, who is in her 50s, comes despite the school being branded “good” in an Ofsted report from inspectors last year. They described it as serving an “advantaged” village.

The report by Ofsted inspector Rosemary Rodger said of Ms Bainbridge: “Leadership and management are good.

“The headteacher provides a calm and influential steer to the school’s work.

“Her clarity of vision and prompt actions to deal with issues that might adversely affect pupils’ learning are second to none.

“She leads a team of committed staff effectively and has very sensitively and compassionately dealt with staffing issues in the recent past.

“She is knowledgeable and supports her senior management team ably. Self-evaluation is good. Monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning and the curriculum are frequent and serve to keep everyone abreast of progress towards key priorities.

“As a result, development planning is an accurate reflection of the school’s needs.

“Governors are kept well informed by the thorough headteacher’s reports to their termly meetings and rightly support and challenge as required.”