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?’

[quote]It is understood Mr McCann has not reported any of his pupils for unauthorised absences due to parents taking them on holiday.[/quote]Love it. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good witch hunt.

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. 😉

Some people have these daft views about being off work, like you’re only allowed to sit around and be miserable.

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 is taking the piss.

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.

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.

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….

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.