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2 weeks during term time without permission. Naughty boy..
A headteacher who sparked fury by taking a Brazil holiday in term-time is now facing the sack.
Ian McCann, who returned at the weekend, had jetted off on a two-week cycling tour despite governors rejecting his request to skip school.
The 58-year-old then handed in a sick note saying he was stressed after he failed to overturn the decision - and headed off last month, missing the final week of term.
But the head of Rosewood Primary School in Burnley, Lancashire, has now been suspended while an investigation takes place.
Parents at the 380-pupil school have backed the governors' stance.
One mum said: 'He's been a good head but what he did was wrong.
'Rules are there for everyone to follow and it is right the school is taking action.'
The Sun reported that angry parents at the school accused Mr McCann of double standards.
The newspaper reported that one incensed parent said: 'What sort of example does it set? He's told he can't go on holiday when he wants, now he goes sick and goes anyway.
'If parents take kids out of school in term-time we face fines. What'll happen to him?'
Lancashire has handed out 3,907 fines to parents who took their kids away during term from September 2014 to last July, the highest number among 71 education authorities.
It is understood Mr McCann has not reported any of his pupils for unauthorised absences due to parents taking them on holiday.
Fool, should have just thrown a self certified sickie to start with.
what was he thinking and how/why did he think this would end well?
'If parents take kids out of school in term-time we face fines. What'll happen to him?'
Love it. Don't let facts get in the way of a good witch hunt.It is understood Mr McCann has not reported any of his pupils for unauthorised absences due to parents taking them on holiday.
How did people find out what he did over the course of two weeks. Couldn't he have said he was sick, and that he was convalescing at his family's house in another town?
My money's on him putting the whole thing on a public social media account 🙂
I went on a bike holiday while I was signed off with stress. It made me less stressed. Good result really. Some people have these daft views about being off work, like you're only allowed to sit around and be miserable.
It could be he was taking the piss here, or, it could be he asked for the time off to try and get himself together and when he was refused, ended up feeling he had to take off sick. Who knows?
Suspect that there may be more to this is than is obvious, but on face value he has been stupid and should be disciplined.
Strava
58 years old ? Public sector pension ? Smells like constructive dismissal. Breaking Bad etc.
How did people find out what he did over the course of two weeks.
Came back with a cyclist's tan and souvenir baseball cap from the Maracana?
To be fair, the parents do face fines when they take unauthorised absence for their children - but it sounds like he chooses not to pursue that option.
Sounds pretty badly handled all round. He does sound like he has some support of the parents, too, really.
Be interesting to see what impact this has on his exam results.
Not sure the head has to sit exams. But his mum will probably send him upstairs to study for being naughty.
Daily Mail reading mob, Assemble !
Not sure the head has to sit exams. But his mum will probably send him upstairs to study for being naughty.
With no pudding I assume. 😉
I agree with your point but this *sounds* like he asked for holiday got knocked back and just took those 2 weeks off as sick. If so then that most definitley [i]is[/i] taking the piss.Some people have these daft views about being off work, like you're only allowed to sit around and be miserable.
But by the sounds of it he hasn't fined other parents so not hypocrisy just a HR/work matter
(but considering the current tensions about holidays he's been pretty bloody stupid and he can expect a big reprimand)
Not sure the head has to sit exams. But his mum will probably send him upstairs to study for being naughty.
An no pudding for a week, perhaps 2 😉
what was he thinking and how/why did he think this would end well?
Clearly he doesn't give a toss and/or thinks the fallout will be minimal, slap on wrist, short suspension. Perhaps he's ready to retire anyway ? £100-120k pa plus as a head and 50% final salary pension - so not much downside for him really ?
But by the sounds of it he hasn't fined other parents so not hypocrisy
The hypocrisy suggestion doesn't stand up. There's a statutory obligation for parents to educate their children; if you bugger off on holiday your kids will miss out; you can't arrange for someone else to learn on their behalf. It is otoh perfectly possible to get someone to cover for you while you're away from work without your "clients" missing out - esp if you're in a non teaching role anyway.
If the head had failed to act on truanting kids because he himself was a shirker and didn't want to be a hypocrite - he wouldn't have integrity, he'd just be failing to do his job properly in two ways.
£100-120k pa plus as a head
Er, not so much.
http://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-headteacher-salary
Despite how much of a dick move it was, if he's got a doc's note surely he's covered?
£100-120k pa plus as a head and 50% final salary pension - so not much downside for him really
Another classic Jambalaya fact.
£100-120k pa plus as a head and 50% final salary pension
Not for a primary head I wouldnt think. Thats sort of sum wpuld be for a large secondary school head. As for the pension are heads pensions diffetent to other teachers as that is not what mine is or was before it got changed.
I have known a head take a term time holiday. Seemed a bit poor to me but to be fair they are avtually in school for most of the holidays....
"He's told he can't go on holiday when he wants, now he goes sick and goes anyway."
My cousin did that with her kids and she was fuming when she got fined - presumably she'll have a lot of sympathy for him.
That salary checker is wrong though.
Fair point konabunny.
Still not hypocrisy even if my working out was wrong 🙂
That salary checker is wrong though.
I think it's calculating the average salary for all teachers which is mid thirties. I think the average head teacher salary's upper 50ks:
http://schoolsimprovement.net/hard-evidence-are-uk-headteachers-the-highest-paid-2/
“The average pay of a head teacher in England is £56,000 – far below the headline-grabbing paychecks and far less than their skills would earn in the private sector.”
do we know if it was a roadie cycling holiday or a proper one? 😈 😛
58 years old ? Public sector pension ? Smells like constructive dismissal. Breaking Bad etc.
Heading to Brazil? Hope customs checked inside his downtube on the way back in.
The old "Easy Rider" pension plan.
[quote=pondo ]My cousin did that with her kids and she was fuming when she got fined - presumably she'll have a lot of sympathy for him.
Did she have a genuine sick note because her kids were stressed?
Well if the governors had already rejected his request then he was a bit of numpty going.
far less than their skills would earn in the private sector
Once you factor in the complete packages of both, rather than just pay packet then they end up far more comparable.
Must be a roadie to pull off that kind of stunt 8)
Did she have a genuine sick note because her kids were stressed?
I think she did for blood pressure when the fine came through the door. Gets no sympathy off me, dappy mare.
[quote=centralscrutinizer ]Must be a roadie to pull off that kind of stunt
I thought stunts were usually the domain of mountain bikers - unless of course Peter Sagan has suddenly become a 58yo head teacher.
What is like on the descents that is what will give it away as to whether he is a proper roadie or a MTB er 😀
Another classic Jambalaya fact.
I like best the way he changes his views when shown that what he says was just wrong.
I'm currently seeking a head for our Primary (on the governing board)
Lemonysam has it about right.
£100K plus is likely to be a 'super' head of a federation of schools, I doubt there are many examples about. It's equivalent to managing a reasonably large business, and when put like that people tend to not bat an eyelid.
£100K plus is likely to be a 'super' head of a federation of schools, I doubt there are many examples about.
From the article I linked before:
According to the Department for Education data for 2013-14, 900 heads earned six-figure salaries, up from 700 in 2011-12. Most of the highest earners are employed by academies, which can deviate from national terms and conditions and have more freedom over pay than local authority schools.
900 heads earn 6 figure salaries, there are about 25000 schools in the country, so assuming each one has a head, that's about 4%.
For reference, there are about 3000 academies.
Sorry to bang on about this, but....[img] 
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Seen other stats from this year that say there are around 20200 heads across the country, so 4% seems reasonable. Not sure where 'head of school' and 'executive head' fit into that as it'll skew the figures a little. Again, if you said that 4% of SME directors earned 100K+ it wouldn't be a massive surprise, and wouldn't raise a headline.
Anyway, judging by the lack of applicants, it would appear they aren't being paid enough - we've had to raise the salary and are into our 3rd round of advertising.
58 year old primary head?
55-65k,most likely.
Probably a lot less very shortly.
does anyone have a non-DM link?
JY where in my post did I say it was a fact? I was seculating on the reasons the head seems not to give a ****. The key point is the relationship between is salary, pension and age, seems to me whatever the outcome it won't be so serious for him. How can it be, even if he takes 2 weeks unathorised leave what can they do. Btw forging a sick note before he goes away is a bigger issue as that's fraud rather than a break of employment T&C's
JY where in my post did I say it was a fact?
Interesting defence/approach. Are you saying you posted a deliberate lie then ? May I ask why ?
£100-120k pa plus as a head and 50% final salary pension
Really Jamby I am just shaking my head in disbelief at this approach. You said something and it was not accurate just accept this and move on as its very strange to say /claim you posted a statement you were not saying/claiming it was true.
Do the other teachers have to stare out of the window while he catches up?
Really Jamby I am just shaking my head in disbelief at this approach. You said something and it was not accurate just accept this and move on as its very strange to say /claim you posted a statement you were not saying/claiming it was true.
In the context of his whole post, it was just some numbers* (*which have since been said to only apply to 4%, so not wrong just biased) to support the point. You seem to be taking personal offence? Certainly you need to stop taking talk on the internet quite as seriously and perfect as you seem to think it needs to be...
The point is its entirely possible the guy did consider the consequences and decided to take the holiday anyway. Just as possible as suffering a near breakdown and needing a holiday.
I am not taking personal offence I just think if you type something it should be accurate and its bizarre to claim you are not claiming what you you type is true.
You are free to think we can all just type stuff we are not claiming is true whilst making up figures but i am not sure in what sense we would be debating internet or otherwise.
Take this place serious no one is that daft but its still pointless if we dont fact check or own and other statements
You always take offence, every single time anybody writes something on here you disagree with.
I note that I'm not claiming there are any facts in my previous post.
[quote=aracer opined]You always take offence, every single time anybody writes something on here you disagree with.
I do and I am sorry
[quote=aracer opined]I note that I'm not claiming there are any facts in my previous post.
THIS
I think he should lead by example.
Happy days for parents of kids in that school, cheaper holidays all round I say.
They can laugh in his face when he says their kids can't be taken out of school a few days earlier than school hols allow, to save a grand....
''Twas an example of reasons why he may have done it
I would like to point out, he didn't miss two weeks of school as everyone seems to be saying.
He missed a week.
Important to gets facts correct as JY pointed out 😉
Even while eagerly rubbing linseed oil into the handle of your pitchfork.
would like to point out, he didn't miss two weeks of school as everyone seems to be saying.He missed a week.
Important to gets facts correct as JY pointed out
Even while eagerly rubbing linseed oil into the handle of your pitchfork.
My fault for putting it on the first line. It did come from the daily wail so no point in the facts getting in the way of a good headline..
Even the Daily Mail got it right though 🙂
(Edit) in the actual article.
In June my doctor signed me off work and told me to ride my bike as much as possible.
I have had issues with managers over annual leave dates that I have put in the diary that were looking like they wouldn't be honoured and have felt at times that I would have to take sick time and go anyway because otherwise a meltdown would occur and that fallout would have been worse.
I'm not a head teacher.
The heads job at my school (Scottish secondary with c1100 pupils) was advertised a few years back at a salary of £74,000.
But it wasn't two weeks term was it.
Read the quote.
Two week holiday, last week of term. Id even hazard a guess it wasn't a full week.
Not that its right but not guilty of the degree of crime the head is being accused of.
So, surely he can self certify if it was only the one week?
Case closed?
Fair play to him anyway.
Not read the whole thread but he was doing the ride for charidee so I wonder if he ended up getting a load of sponsorship/paying a huge wadge to do the ride and then applied for leave assuming he'd get it.
When he was turned down he didn't want to let everyone down so went anyway?
I say good on him, if he supports the action not to fine parents for taking their kids away in term time then why not.
I dare say (no facts) that during half term and such he's working on behalf of the school in one form or another.
My Sis is a Head, earns a decent whack but for that most of her half terms are taken up in preparation or other work related actions. Fair play in the summer term she buggers off somewhere, so too Xmas but the other holidays are taken up either teaching underprivileged kids or next term prep.
However I counter all his actions with a silly mistake by sending in a sick note covering him when the facts everyone knew beforehand.
I did exactly the same, asked for time off to go somewhere, nobody available to cover, said I had an exam, boss found out and I got sacked.
I was 18.
Working as a Saturday boy in a petrol station.
Learnt the hard way with little or no consequences.
As a grown man? Nope, if its genuine then it doesnt set a good example to the rest of the school.