#95 May 11, 2014, 10:10
People, just don't get the whole idea of wrong... By continuing she will kill thenjewsih Ethos, by killing the Jewish Ethos,she will turn the school into an academy, by turning the school into an academy IJPS will suffer as well, because parents from IJPS would like their kids to continue is a Jewish school. KS losing its Jewish ethos will not be an option for them, hence they will send them to Jcos, JFS, Yaveneh and so on. By doing that the Jewish community of Redbridge, which isn't that big, will dimish in time.
When Shuter decided to change Jewish studies to a core subject there was a reason behind it all.
She began saying that new courses would be introduced. Fair enough. Drama, French, photography, philosophy. Why photography it is beyond me, anyway., to fund these course she needs money, KS doesn't have money, so what better way to do it the turning JS into a core subject, this way they won't need as many JS teachers and with their wages she can use it for the other courses. Now what message does that send out to you parents. Many will say, yes I am happy JS became a core subject. But let me ask you something, why did you put your child in KS to start with, this of course to the Jewish parents? I did because I wanted my kids to be raised in a jewsih community, with jewsih values. Call me old fashioned but to me the sense of community always brought me a feeling of well being and a place I knew I belonged..
Now having a Jewish head is something rare to find, but I am sorry Shuter has no Jewish values and she does not enjoy the Jewish festivities.
In regards to the sum of money that she admitted taking, her excuses are feeble . She told the year 11's not to judge her on what is in the papers, but went on to explain some of the reasons why she did it. " I bought furniture for my house, it didn't fit well, so I swapped it with the school's furniture?"
Come on, does she love the feeling of being in a school that much that she takes the school furniture. Her reasons for what she did are feeble and you can see right through them. Had she said yes I took them because I was dishonest then it would be another story, but still she wouldn't be able to continue the work.
What also amazes me is why with such a high salary she couldn't fund her own birthday. Do parents take money from their work to fund their kids bar/bat mitzvahs?
Also let me question the board of governors, why the hell did they hire someone who was still being investigated, wasn't it irresponsible, they knew that the story wasn't over. Wouldn't it have been better to wait till she was cleared and if so all of this could have been avoided. But in light of desperation so much from their side and her side they struck a deal. She took it because she needed to restart building her reputation, KS needed a head.
But all in all they did both wrong and if Shuter is banned from teaching the board of governors should as well go and a new one created, hopefully with a bit more sense.
There are always people up for a challenge and in need of a job, I don't believe there is no one wanting a job as head.
As I said before a school works as a team, the head does not do miracles.
If she stays our community dies, if you parents want that then fair enough, why did u put your kids in KS to start with? No other options? I put my kids there because of the Jewish ethos and community, and so far they have done really well.

#7: -

This is exactly what we talked about last night and I can't say that you are wrong. It would indeed have been far more admirable to admit she infact stole funds and was wrong.  I am not sure that many parents know of this speech given to year 11 children,  I for one did not, it smacks of inappropriate behaviour and it should not really be for our children to have to carry that burden? The board of governors have a serious amount to answer for. Where is the respect for parents of the school children keeping us all in the dark once this story broke in the national news? Deciding to offer the position and ending Ms Shuters trial period before the ruling regarding her innocence or guilt was decided.  I am a parent who signed a petition to keep Ms Shuter, a decision based on some changes made so far that have substantially improved my daughters learning environment. HOWEVER my daughters well being is paramount to me and that said the school had become a dangerous environment at times with woeful discipline and some students being allowed to seriously disrupt lessons and even exams before Ms Shuters appointment. My daughters feelings aside for one moment I have always tried to instil a strong moral code with her and I do not think as this rests Ms Shuter is any kind of moral example but it's where we go from here. Once Ms Shuter is allowed to speak on this matter, to the parents, NOT year 11 ' s can she progress further by saying I have absolutely done wrong, and now I will put things right. Because there is no excuse to be made but i believe people can learn from wrong doing and move forward. I do very much agree with the statements made about the parent governors as right now they seem to be a law unto themselves and in my opinion they are answerable for landing KS and our children in this dreadful mess.