Barclay Community

Barclay seem to pile on the stress so much that the teachers buckle under the pressure and leave. They cannot retain staff at all. My child had 8 teacher changes in one year! Barclay seem to have forgotten school needs to be a balance of academic work and fun – they are children who need to let loose sometimes! There hasn’t been any trips or anything fun or enriching. Literally academic work 6 hours a day 5 days a week with 20 pages of homework every school holiday. It’s relentless for these poor kids let alone the teachers! They make the environment so toxic and academically competitive that it damages children’s self esteem, confidence and social skills. I hope Ofsted visit in the near future (given all the recent concerns) and give the school’s SLT, CEO and governors a shock – they are not “Outstanding” in any way shape or form! Have a look at staff turnover for a start!

AG’s return back into the summer 1 term hasn’t even been a week yet and already this narrow minded woman is starting to cause trouble amongst the staff and the children. Refusing to comply with various teaching staff members; avoiding to support staff and addressing staff with trivial matters; snapping at children during break and lunch times for no apparent reason; approaching children whilst they were playing to tell them off for some made up misbehaviour they were apparently displaying; shouting at children for taking leaves off a tree – seriously? Will this demise ever end? CEO JJ you really ought to wake up and open your eyes! Is he really going to keep on having his outstanding school’s reputation be in disrepute for the rest of his life in the public eyes of the parents, their children, the media and his school staff because of this one unpleasant person? Or will he do the right thing for once and for all and get rid of this bitter woman, who clearly only cares about herself and not about anybody or anything else. Get AG out! And bring back some of those brilliant teachers, support staff and SLT members, who sadly left the school over the years and especially at the end of the 2022/2023 academic year because of this one person. You will be dumbfounded by the number of them willing to return back if this woman wasn’t here. But unfortunately, it seems this school will lose its outstanding title in the next OFSTED inspection as already more than 3 quarters of the school is standing on ECTs alone to teach pupils, who lack experience and relevant support from their mentors. More staff are expected to leave at the end of this 2023/2024 academic year. Resulting in more ECTs to join as no experienced class teacher applies to work here or stays for more than 2 terms. It cannot be said enough that AG needs to go, she has complete disregard for all the children, their parents, the staff and more importantly the school – as she proudly claimed: “I don’t care, I can work at any school at any time with my level of experience and expertise” (AG’s exact words). Still continuing to make herself appear as the number one defenceless victim, who had to leave work for some time last term due to mental health reasons and personal safety, which is nothing more than her pathetic and useless tactic for sympathy votes from staff and parents.

Parents I cannot urge you enough – keep up with the fight to get your children’s school and education back on the outstanding level it once used to be! Best wishes.

With various accusations being made both by and against my previous employer, I feel it is an opportune moment to tell people about my experience of working at Barclay Primary.

The vast majority of staff members were brilliant. They were incredibly hard working and cared deeply about the pupils and the community.

However, there were countless instances of unprofessionalism, bullying and incompetence from senior members of the school and trust. I distinctly remember an NQT +1 (who had been made Year Lead) asking the Head of school for support with their new role. They felt the Head’s response to this request was not particularly helpful and so asked for clarification. The Head’s response was to yell “You are my subordinate.” This shocked us all.

The result of Head’s behaviour towards members of staff, as well as the ever increasing workload, resulted in very high staff turn over. This, in turn, meant that members of teaching staff were getting promoted to senior leadership roles with little experience and almost no expertise. The Reading, Writing and Maths curriculums were a hotchpotch of ideas and CPD became almost non-existent. Any challenges or ideas about pedagogy were instantly shot down, often with a threat of a written warning.

During my time there, workload continued to increase to the point of being literally impossible to manage. Any time I tried to make a case of looking at ways to reduce workload for teachers, my SLT line manager would cry. When I suggested it would be a good idea to give warnings before book scrutinies, planning checks or learning walks, they cried. When I reported this to the Head of School, I was told to forget it ever happened. My line manager was a constant thorn in my side, making any interactions at best awkward, at worst thoroughly unprofessional.

I have many, many happy memories of Barclay. Sadly, however, I am not surprised by the tone of the messages on this site, or the stance the school seems to have taken in light of recent events. I found members of the senior leadership team to be unsupportive, obstinate, and ultimately more interested in themselves rather than fostering a profound love of education.

My tenure at Barclay Primary School was characterised by a diverse mix of individuals, fostering meaningful connections with many. However, this positive aspect was marred by an unsettling undercurrent of toxic behaviour exhibited by Senior Leadership Team members. Throughout my time there, I, along with the majority of others, found ourselves entangled in a distressing pattern of negative experiences. This has caused a concerning retention issue among staff, particularly teachers and leaders, in the school. There is a lot to read, however, there is a lot of context that needs to be known in order to truly understand the culture at Barclay Primary School.

Workload is one of the biggest issues at Barclay Primary. The teaching hours far exceed the mythical 8:30am – 3:30pm that teachers are accused of. The majority of teachers at Barclay work 60+ hours per week – some even 70+ hours. Keep in mind, teachers are only paid for 32.5 hours a week. Selective, outdated research influences Barclays meticulous yet unnecessary levels of planning and marking. This means that students are taught by extremely tired, demoralised, and burnt-out teachers daily. Some are strong enough to smile through the exhaustion in the presence of the children while others do just enough to pull themselves together. Not only are your children being taught by burnt out teachers, but also unwell teachers. This excessive workload takes a toll on teachers’ health – both physically and mentally.

The amount of teachers who have developed regular illnesses since joining Barclay Primary is staggering. Poor sleeping and eating habits due to excessive work hours has run them to the ground. Comments from leadership such as, “If you cough, you’re not off.” during the height of COVID, along with INSET sessions, where staff sick days were highlighted as a danger to the school, exacerbated this sick (literally) culture. During these INSET sessions, graphs were created to illustrate sick days, reasons, trends and budgetary concerns as a result. This seemed designed to coerce and guilt-trip staff to working whilst sick, branding them as “selfish” and hinting at the possibility of redundancies if they take a day off – this further heightened stress levels among staff. Have you ever had a class teacher mysteriously disappear mid-way through a school term? That’s most likely a teacher taking stress leave before they can resign at the end of term. Even though staff are encouraged to use the employee health services, mental health is rock bottom amongst staff at Barclay – even to the point of suicidal thoughts. Any guesses on how a senior leader dealt with a teacher who disclosed suicidal thoughts? The only way they know how – get back into the classroom.

What does J**** J****, the CEO of Lion Academy Trust, have to say about this? Afterall, the Staff Charter likes to talk about how much the Trust does to help staff workload. Well, it’s as simple as this: when asked, J***** J**** either claims he doesn’t know why the school is asking teachers to do this or he gaslights staff into thinking that the reason they’re working so much is because they’re unproductive and not managing their time well. In fact, J***** J**** once spoke to a year group team with the above points, comparing them to class-based SLT members who work ‘reasonable hours’ when it’s well known that these particular SLT members are often at school from 6:30am – 6:30pm and work additionally at home. Yet he expresses no concern over the school’s high staff turnover rate. Think about how many teachers that have taught your children have left?

There are no surprises about Barclay Primary’s lack of respect towards teaching staff, especially when you know how those in Lion Academy Trust view teachers. J***** J****, the CEO of the Trust is known to have said, “You are all my insubordinates.” to fellow staff. Now, while this is legally true within the workplace structure, to actually say this to staff members is revolting and concerning. Another officer, who’ll remain anonymous but is ranked highly in the Trust office, has shared his thoughts to multiple staff members over the years that teachers aren’t professionals. They are merely labourers who deliver a curriculum directed by an organisation.
This lack of respect for those in the profession manifests itself in how they’re treated at Barclay Primary School. Why didn’t the staff inform OFSTED of all this in the staff survey? Well, J***** emphasised how staff had no right to complain about the school due to no formal complaints being made. Additionally, the OFSTED staff survey link was sent out whilst we were teaching after lunch and was closed before it was even home time. We had no chance to even open it.

One of the most pervasive issues at Barclay was the constant feeling of staff having a ‘target’ on their back. The phrase itself would be delivered from SLT members to teaching staff. This troubling practice extended beyond mere perception, manifesting in instances of bullying that affected both teachers and leaders within the school community. Open displays of constant undermining, witnessed by students, fellow staff, and parents, created an unhealthy atmosphere, hindering professional growth and collaboration. The biggest culprit is A***** G***.

There are countless complaints that can be, and have been, made against this Deputy Headteacher. However, not many are on record in the school system. Instead of being naïve and assuming no issues exist, one must ask: why don’t staff feel protected enough to use formal complaints channels? J***** J**** is correct in stating there have been no official complaints against A***** G*** – in recent years anyway – but that story is not mine to tell… Every September INSET, J***** reminds us of the process for addressing any issues with colleagues: speak directly to them first, then, if nothing improves, speak to their line manager. However, any staff member confronting A***** about her disrespectful treatment has then had a “target” on their back. This is because A***** would often cry (literally) to the CEO J***** J**** to complain about a teacher’s “insubordination” instead of reflecting on her disgusting behaviour. This not only fostered an atmosphere of mistrust but also instilled a pervasive sense of insecurity and paranoia among the staff. So, put yourself in the teacher’s shoes: you follow the process and approach her, as directed, only for her to manipulate the CEO against you. Why would anyone take the formal channels after that? You’ve already lost the fight.

Five years ago, close to ten staff members individually informed then Head of School T** M****** that A*****’s unprofessionalism and bullying would lead to them leaving the school. As a result, she was moved to the Hoe St site the following year, hoping to improve the culture of the school. This didn’t stop her. In fact, it only made the entire Canterbury Rd site her target. The constant shadiness and competitiveness between sites that she heavily instigated was disturbing to witness. Putting down Cant. rd leaders and teachers to elevate those at Hoe St was common practice under her reign there. Now, back at Canterbury Road, she remains unchanged. She is still a bully.

A*****’s mistreatment didn’t pertain solely to staff. As mentioned in one of the previous statements, her interaction with students lacked any sense of parity. Her well-witnessed prejudice towards men transcends to how she even treats boys in school. The way this tall, imposing adult emotionally lashes out at boys can only be explained as a projection from a past trauma. These incidents would make, and have made, all present staff deeply uncomfortable, regardless of their gender. It’s unprofessional. It’s emotionally unstable. It’s unacceptable.

There is little surprise in how Barclay Primary School handled students showing solidarity with those in Gaza. At the situation’s centre, as usual, is A***** G***. What more can be expected from someone who used the N-word in front of two black teachers when recounting a student’s comment (making colleagues – both black and white – feel extremely uncomfortable) or someone who calls out Arabic phrases to Pakistani pupils, assuming that they can speak the language just because they are Muslim? There are no surprises that K****** W***, another SLT member, allegedly stormed into classrooms asking any students with Arabic writing on their clothes to step forward. K******, an SLT member known for trying to involve herself in everything that happens at the school. Someone who has also said the N-word out loud at school when reading graffiti on a wall. The lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity is evident in how leaders at Barclay treat others. The unconscious bias reeks amongst Senior Leadership (and other staff for that matter). The disparity in addressing parent concerns and how parents are treated was clear – those from ethnic minorities had their issues dealt with reluctantly, while white parents would have their matters dealt with urgency. Educated white parents put SLT on edge, scrambling to appease the child and parent regardless of whether it unfairly increased staff workload or not. Of course, there are exceptions to any generalisation, but these were the trends which were very evident.

In conclusion, despite forming positive connections with the amazing students and staff at Barclay Primary School, the overall experience was overshadowed by a series of concerning incidents perpetuated by senior leadership. These issues not only affected individuals on a personal level, but also had broader implications for the overall well-being and effectiveness of the school community. Whilst it’s nice to see the veil being lifted on the toxicity of the school, it’s a shame to see it develop into the farce that’s happened this year with the treatment of students and parents. I definitely wouldn’t send my children here.

My daughter was in Miss G***’s class, n Miss G*** also spoke to me like I was stupid, She asked my daughter awkward questions after I’d explained her absence and misplaced my daughter’s property n didn’t own up to it.
I have been involved in Barclay for 30 odd years, all my children went there and I worked there as a midday and tea time assistant for about 7 years.
I always thought it was a great school until I worked there n then discovered the farce of OFSTED inspections, with teachers running round n filling in books n the head of extended services making out that playtime is always full of activities… I was horrified, midday staff are also expected to work on school trips (a 6 hour day for free) when their pay is 1.5 hours a day.
Tea time meals are abysmal n repetitive, lunchtime vegetarian meals consist of jacket potato 5 days a week.
Some Senior staff have no respect for midday assistants, n cannot even be bothered to say ” thank you” when you hold the door open for them.
I also volunteered for several years, n was left in the classroom one day while all staff went for a Christmas lunch … seriously? You guys cannot even ofter a nice gesture to one whom gives their time to help.
I was just so disappointed with that place in the end, it was seriously effecting my mental health n I was only a midday/ tea time worker, I can thoroughly understand the difficulties n stress of teachers.
Never found any problems with Mr J****, always found him polite and respectful whatever your position but Ms G*** and Mr M****** were awful and down right rude.

Having worked alongside J***** J**** and L***** H*** as a member of the leadership team, this school requires urgent intervention from educational authorities. I urge you to remove your children from the school. J***** J**** and L****** H*** are not fit to do their job and should not, under no circumstances, be educators. This needs further, urgent, external investigation.

During my time in this role, I witnessed horrific treatment of both staff and children. The workload is not just excessive and completely unrealistic, it is a breach of basic human rights. Staff are told they are not managing there time and there would be threats made against them should they not follow a directive. I witnessed several staff members so anxious and stressed that they had to go on sick leave, I witnessed members of SLT being shouted at in meetings and threatened, middle leaders and senior leaders forced to put teachers on support plans and tell them they are at risk of being put through disciplinary proceedings and threaten/scare them into conforming. If they failed to do so, disagreed or simple chose to leave, J***** J**** and L****** H*** would ensure they themselves faced disciplinary proceedings and that their whole career be at risk. I witnessed cheating in SATs to ensure results appeared high. I witnessed children’s work being edited in preparation for moderation, I witnessed staff crying/distressed daily because of the unacceptable way they were being treated. I witnessed members of SLT encouraging members of staff to take grievances out on other members of staff they did not like so an investigation could take place. Additionally, staff were regularly refused to go on interviews, making them feel trapped into working for Barclay. Staff are silenced and are fearful. I am aware that current members of staff have recently been threatened with criminal action should they speak about this matter. This is unacceptable.

Those on support plans had no support. Instead, they would be liable to intensive scrutiny until they reached breaking point.

I am embarrassed to have worked at this school and I regret being in this role longer than necessary. I urge all staff to leave. I understand that this is extremely difficult and you will feel trapped but I can not tell you what a relief it is once you are out. I wish you all the best. As for J***** J**** and L****** H***, they are a disgrace and need to be revealed for what they really are. I strongly believe this school requires a relentless focus on its mistreatment of staff and pupils and that J***** J***** and L****** H*** are held accountable.

As a senior teacher who used to work in this school, I found that the best way to describe was that it was an extremely toxic place to work in. Teachers were often found to be quite distressed with the amount of workload they would receive (irrespective of experience in the profession) which led to a huge turnover of staff on regular basis. Every term teachers would leave the school and in the time I started in the school up until I left, I cannot even say how many teaching staff members have left. Because of this, leaving Barclay Primary at the end of the term was a common occurrence and I would even argue that it even impacted on the toxic culture of the school.

The impact of teachers leaving meant that there were some cohorts of children who did not have a qualified teacher teaching them up to a term! A poor HLTA would be placed in the class for a term followed by periods of long term supplies. The impact of this would then lead to children perform poorly in exams and poor behaviour.

SLT would refuse to admit that the poor results were due to the toxic culture they created. when teachers (usually inexperienced ECTs) were unable to plug in those gaps and improve test scores, they were placed on support plans, had daily observations, and expected to work until 6/7pm, rather than tackling the poor culture in the school.

Reviews of the school, observations and books looks were never used as a CPD tool, these were rather used as a stick to beat teachers into conforming to the teaching practices of the school and trust. In addition to this, Mr J**** (CEO of Lion Academy) was also very quick to also mention that the school really cares about the weakening of its staff through the complimentary teas and coffee that would be set up in the staff whenever staff complained about their mental health/wellbeing.

For the brief time I was part of SLT as a deputy headteacher, it became very clear that majority of the leaders in SLT, including myself, were enforcers of Mr J****’, Miss H***’s and Miss G***’s vision of the school, and not leaders that build to inspire teachers. The SLT was also chopping and changing over the years I was employed until it reached a point where all SLT members were very inexperienced and definitely not qualified to be leaders. Apart from a few exceptional leaders in the school, most never received any training of any kind to be leaders in a school.

There are, of course, many more elements of the school which have caused the school to decline so drastically and I could probably go on for ages in regards to this.

As a former teacher at Barclay Primary School who has experienced working under J***** J****, A***** G*** and L***** H***, I cannot tell you how happy I am to no longer be working with the Lion Academy Trust.

Like a number of former teachers who decide to leave Barclay, we tend to leave quietly for the purpose of receiving a favourable reference (something Mr J**** is well aware of and has used as a tool to threaten staff who have expressed a desire to leave). With what has been going on at Barclay School at this time and the appalling treatment of both parents and pupils, I believe that now is a suitable time for me to voice the serious concerns I have with leadership structure at Barclay.

Although the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) consists of at least 10-15 members of staff, the school is controlled by 3 people: Mr J****, Ms H*** and Ms G***. No actions or decisions can be made without their approval. I learnt that although Mr M******* was the Headteacher, he was bound by any decision made by those 3 members of staff. Both Ms G*** and Ms H*** were able to overrule him by speaking directly to Mr J****. All staff were informed of their decisions via email and/or meetings. As a class teacher, it was very unsettling to sit in a room and be told what to do and have absolutely no way of being able to question a decision made by those 3 members of staff. When questions were raised they were shut down immediately.

One of the first things that was made clear to me from the beginning of my time was that some teachers were treated differently from others. This was especially the case with Ms G***.

In one of the very first meetings my year group had with Ms G*** I learned that she does not respond well to ANY form of discussion that she perceives as being negative towards her or something she has said. I saw first hand where a member of staff asked for clarification of a decision she had made and Ms G*** becoming very defensive and hostile towards that member of staff. As the term went on, It became clear to me that Ms G*** is someone who gets very emotional when she is questioned on anything. This is especially the case if the member of staff is male. This created a culture of fear and staff feeling intimidated by leadership to the point where staff would just do what they were told in order to avoid jeopardising their careers.

The above is just one example of the sort of degrading treatment that had led many teachers feeling frustrated, exhausted and overworked.

I believed that this emotional and volatile behaviour was only limited to adults but I soon had students from different year groups approach me and explain how Ms G*** had been crying in their lessons and they wanted to know if she was alright. The children went on to say that this happens at least once every other week and it would lead to Ms G*** sharing stories of her personal life with them. (A child gave an example of how Ms G*** began crying in his class because she was stressed about her Visa Application – this was during his Maths lesson). I was horrified by this and spoke to my year leader who rightfully felt uneasy raising this with SLT. Ultimately, nothing was done.

Parents and staff from different ethnic backgrounds are treated and spoken to differently at Barclay. Both Mr James and Ms Gunn have a very condescending tone towards those parents who are from different ethnic backgrounds and sadly this has extended to the children of those parents. I have actually witnessed this first hand where some parents are catered to in a conversation (mainly white parents) and others are simply spoken at. This was the same when it came to staff working at Barclay.

Due to Ms Gunn being so emotionally unstable and the treatment of staff by SLT, I had no choice but to leave Barclay and the Trust. It is frightening to know that someone like Ms Gunn is still in such a strong position of leadership in a school that has such a huge number of children from different ethnic backgrounds.

All the above is just the tip of the iceberg. It is for the reasons mentioned that I have witnessed at least 30 high-quality teachers and leaders leave during my short time there.

I am deeply dissatisfied with my niece & nephews’ primary school due to a blatant double standard in their approach to global issues. While the school demonstrates commendable support and empathy for the Ukrainian crisis, the lack of similar concern for the plight of Palestinians raises questions about the consistency and inclusivity of its values.

Furthermore, the school’s handling of Palestinian-related matters is abysmal. The use of threats to refer parents to Prevent, a counter-terrorism initiative, for expressing solidarity for & with Palestinian issues is neither necessary & multiple steps too far. It was an entirely disproportionate threat on their first ever communicaton with parents regarding the issue. Additionally, the denial of education to a Palestinian child for wearing his country’s flag on his coat is a violation of the right to free expression and fosters an environment of discrimination. The alleged fabrication of stories involving threats to teachers adds another layer of concern, casting doubt on the school’s transparency and integrity in addressing sensitive issues. Such actions undermine the principles of free speech and equal access to education and contribute to a divisive atmosphere that contradicts the values of empathy and inclusivity that a school is responsible for upholding.

I went to Barclay as a child until 1997 and it was a very good school in terms of education and welcoming all cultures equally now today my children attend Barclay school and the current situation would never have happened in my days and today I’m upset and annoyed at the way the school and the people who run the school are acting out of order in my personal opinion when I first heard or read about the treatment y***** had gone through I was so sad for him that I made contact with his father directly offering him any help or assistance as I would for any other child who is mistreated and is singled out because he is of a certain heritage now him being of Palestinian descent it really affects me that after all him and his family have been through instead of being supportive and understanding the school and the teachers have been very unsupportive and in my opinion this is completely unacceptable now they say we are an apolitical school meaning they don’t talk about politics or have anything to do with politics but I clearly remember them being very supportive and showing respect and understanding towards the Ukraine and Russia war even to the point they had a flag up outside the school sending letters to parents and guardians of students just a year or so ago now today will the genocide continues in Palestine they have now claimed they are an apolitical school now I personally believe this is absolutely disgusting and we the parents and guardians of the students currently attending Barclays can not let this go unpunished I would like to see the people who run lion academy and the head teacher held accountable for this horrible act of unjustifiable behaviour we demand justice for Y**** and any other students who have been suspended or expelled or parents who have been ban from the school for basically showing humanity for the poor children of Palestine today Y**** isn’t in school and everyday he’s away it’ll become harder and harder for him to settle back in under these circumstances. Also to top it off parents and guardians are now showing signs of how scared they are of being bullied by Barclay school staff because they are afraid of being banned or their children being expelled or threatened to be suspended if they try to support Palestine plus police officers and security guards at the school gates newly placed cctv cameras are another example of the school scaremongering us.
The future generation will not know or have the ability to stand up for their rights if today we stay silent or better yet be silenced by the current administration.
We stand with Palestine today and we will stand by anyone who is mistreated in front of us no matter what we will only benefit if today we speak up and speak out.

Very disappointed in Barclays school. They have dealt with this whole situation in a very negative way.
The attitude and energy across the board in that school is disgusting.

I said to my son today on the way home I feel so sorry for you when I drop you off and collect you from the school as it’s not fair on the children to be going through this.
We are looking at other options

For four years, my children attended Barclay Primary Site 2, initially drawn in by promises of an “Outstanding” Ofsted rating. While the academics were respectable and some teachers truly cared, beneath the surface, a disturbing reality unfolded. Senior leadership displayed a glaring lack of cultural understanding and communication skills, struggling to interact with individuals from diverse backgrounds. This sentiment echoed through whispers in teacher lounges and admissions from those who’d left, painting a picture of a school plagued by bullying, micromanagement, and punitive measures for minor infractions.

Then came the chilling realisation of blatant bias. After reading about unconscious prejudice, I observed how a female leader’s warmth and engagement morphed into icy distance when interacting with families of different ethnicities and faiths. This trend reached its grotesque peak with the arrival of a new executive headteacher, devoid of charisma, with glacial eye contact and the menacing presence of a bouncer, not an educator. My daughter, barely containing her distress, described “witch hunts” conducted by this duo, invading classrooms and disrupting lessons to scrutinise students’ belongings.

The diversity that drew me to Walthamstow, a vibrant tapestry of cultures, felt ostracised within Barclays’ walls. Their proclamations of inclusivity rang hollow, met with the deafening silence to parent governors who only entertained issues aligning with their narrow interests. Any attempt to discuss diversity or prejudice was met with a slammed door, silencing concerns before they could bloom.

The school’s communication? Abysmal. A refusal to acknowledge, take responsibility, or even offer a simple apology for their shortcomings left me utterly astonished. This, coupled with whispers of an academy more concerned with profit and prestige than the well-being of their community, confirmed my worst suspicions. The façade had crumbled, revealing a stark reality.

Barclay Primary is no haven for diversity. It is a school where unconscious bias festers, leadership fails to lead, and inclusivity remains a hollow promise. With heavy hearts, I removed my children and enrolled them in a school that truly embodies the values I cherish, values that Barclays sadly claims, but fails to deliver.