ISC sends response to the Guardian

9 May 2008

The Independent Schools Council's Induction Director, Judith Fenn has written a letter to the Guardian following their 'Private schools leader compains of cold war with state' story.

Letter to the Guardian: 

Dear Sir, 

Further to the statement in the Guardian by John Bangs, Head of Education at the NUT, that an assertion of bullying in teacher training was ‘an outrageous claim' (Report, May 8), I would agree that while such a situation is indeed outrageous, it is not ‘a claim'. Of the 750 NQTs in Independent Schools Council (ISC) schools surveyed in 2007, 20% reported a negative reaction from their teacher training provider personnel upon accepting a post in an independent school. A further third reported a ‘neutral' reaction, while 11% were told it was impossible to complete NQT induction in the sector (when ISC is the single largest provider of the process in England). Trainees were variously told they were wasting government money, selling their souls and needed to examine their social consciences. The NQTs themselves remarked on the institutional bullying they had experienced whilst training because they had simply decided to exercise their right to choose where they would teach. Such attitudes were found in a broad range of training institutions across England and Wales.

Judith Fenn
Director of Induction & Recruitment Programmes
Independent Schools Council