Heron Hall Academy

1. The headteacher does not consistently uphold commitments, demonstrates a lack of transparency, and treats staff as if they are easily replaceable. This has resulted in an extremely high staff turnover. The leadership approach can be described as authoritarian and, at times, intimidating.
2. The senior leadership team (SLT) frequently disseminates inaccurate information to the headteacher. Middle leaders' meetings are controlled entirely by SLT, leaving little room for genuine discussion. When it was politely suggested that middle leaders should have an opportunity to discuss ideas independently before presenting them to SLT, the request was escalated negatively, resulting in the headteacher describing the behaviour as unacceptable and subsequently excluding middle leaders from further meetings.
3. The SLT lead responsible for behaviour management demonstrates reluctance to review or revise an ineffective behaviour policy, which currently allows students to receive up to five warnings before removal from class. Despite receiving repeated constructive feedback, there is an insistence on enforcing a flawed system that fails to support effective teaching and learning.
4. The SLT and Head of Science (who has since resigned) did not provide the necessary support to staff managing behaviour in challenging classrooms. In instances where staff applied the behaviour policy to maintain a calm learning environment, leaders often sided with students who were persistently disruptive rather than supporting staff. Leaders would address every minor complaint raised by students or parents, often without context, resulting in a culture where staff felt undermined and unsupported.
5. Departmental meetings often lacked structure, with discussions dominated by the loudest voices rather than clear agendas or strategic planning. As a second in charge (2iC), it was apparent that meetings frequently drifted without direction, with critical decisions made impulsively rather than collaboratively and thoughtfully.
6. The school is not an ideal environment for teacher training due to the absence of structured systems, inadequate support in behaviour management, and a poorly implemented behaviour policy. Leadership often models ineffective practices for new staff, hindering professional growth.
7. A small minority of staff exhibited unprofessional behaviour, including shouting and confrontational actions during disagreements. On one occasion, while attempting to introduce structured assessments, I experienced a colleague shouting at me in the presence of others, with no intervention from leadership to address this inappropriate conduct.
8.The ineffective behaviour policy significantly impacts teaching time, with substantial portions of lessons consumed by managing repeated low-level disruptions. Students are aware of the system’s leniency, interpreting it as multiple opportunities to disrupt learning without meaningful consequences.
9. The trust’s CEO appears to prioritise business interests over staff well-being, treating teachers as expendable and disregarding the implications of late contract terminations on staff financial stability and family commitments. Agreements made between the headteacher and staff have been undermined, with decisions made that negatively affect staff security and morale.
10. The school is highly disorganised, lacking clear structures and consistency in teaching practices. In many instances, lessons consist solely of students copying from the board, with little emphasis on engaging pedagogy or meaningful curriculum development. Although the school claims to maintain an open-door policy for professional development and collaboration, several staff members react negatively when colleagues enter their classrooms and assert exemptions from observation. Ironically, these same individuals often receive the highest volume of student complaints regarding ineffective teaching, yet there is minimal accountability or targeted support to address these issues.

Advice for Management:
To improve the school environment for both staff and students, it is essential for leadership to prioritise creating a structured, supportive, and transparent culture. Establishing a clear, consistent behaviour policy that is enforced fairly will empower teachers to focus on high-quality teaching and learning. Leaders should actively support staff when managing challenging behaviour, rather than undermining them based on isolated complaints.

Investing in curriculum development and ensuring all staff deliver engaging, purposeful lessons aligned with clear learning objectives will help address the inconsistency in teaching quality across departments. Leadership should model professionalism and encourage genuine open-door practices to foster collaboration rather than fear or hostility around observations.

Additionally, it is important for management to uphold fair treatment of staff, including transparent communication regarding contracts and workload, and to demonstrate that staff are valued members of the school community, not expendable resources. These changes would significantly improve staff morale, reduce turnover, and ultimately benefit student outcomes.

At present, this environment is highly challenging for skilled staff who have been trained to implement research-based practices effectively. The loss of passion, enthusiasm, and professional drive does not stem from working with challenging students but rather from the pervasive lack of curriculum development and the culture of complacency that undermines meaningful teaching and learning.

Heron hall is the worst, I don’t recommend ANY CHILD GOING THERE‼️
number 1: The headteacher is Horrible and very passive aggressive, he thinks he’s all dominant and assertive and it’s very bad for a headteacher to give off that vibes. Students tend to run away from him and avoid him at all times which shows that No student in the school has a fond of him. He puts people in isolation for the dumbest reasons and I am actually being for real. He puts people in isolations for being disrespectful, skirt length etc or just whenever he feels like it. The headteacher is the worst no one likes him.

Number 2 : Random phone searches, the school is very strict on not bring phones to school and I understand that but being forced to get searched and have to take off your shoes and pat down yourself is just weird and in appropriate.

Number 3: lunches, the school are extremely harsh when it comes to lunches. Free school meals are only Allowed 3 items and no drink but only water instead, they use to let the free school meals have drinks but now they stopped it due to their money being short and it’s very unfair compared to the non free school meals students

Number 4: CAMERAS INSIDE THE TOILETS‼️ (not the cubicles) I think that this is highly inappropriate no matter what the circumstances are they shouldn’t be allowed it’s disgusting and weird to have the feeling that someone is watching me go inside the bathroom…

But there is positives sides like the staff are friendly especially the English department they are the best!

There was this one time in English this was a year 11 class by the way we were waiting for the teacher to start the lesson however it got interrupted because someone let out a fart bomb in the classroom. Some people had asthma and almost fainted becuase of pungent the smell was. It took forever for SLT to sort the situation out took a massive chunk of our learning and the boys who did it never even got in trouble this school is an absolute piss take. And the English teacher we had did not even show up to school for like months and we had our Gcses coming up so what ended up happening is the class had to be split to the point where it was 60 pupils in one class. Learining was not effective as pupils were misbehaving by throwing objects around and screaming, I ended up having to teach myself GCSE English by myself there was only so much I could do I passes luckily but it was not the grade I wanted.

Very helpful staff, teachers are great and supportive. Never had any issue

Pupils are rude and disrespectful. The headmaster has no understanding of being humble and showing humility. I would never recommend send my children, grandchildren or any family members to this school. The school is a total embarrassment to the borough. I’ve never seen such a high turnover of staff and because of that I cannot see how this school is of such a good standard if staff are leaving every term