Following the recent news about the change of leadership at Sandown Bay Academy, it appears there is a fog surrounding the information released by AET, the Academy’s sponsor.
The school announced on 15th November that their Principal, Mrs Shaheen Khan Jones, who had not been seen at the Academy for weeks, was to leave their employment.
Principal did not resign
A spokesperson for AET told OnTheWight that following negotiations between them and Mrs Khan Jones’ representative – which concluded on 13th November (one day prior to AET telling OnTheWight that Mrs Khan Jones had been on extended leave) – her leaving date would be backdated to 31st October.
They also confirmed – twice – that she had not resigned from the post.
Contradictory statements
However, that directly contradicts the statement given to Isle of Wight Radio on 18th November by David Fuller, AET’s executive director for performance.
He told them,
“Mrs Khan Jones did resign from her post in the end and it’s well documented she has been working in Kent. That was without our knowledge.
“We were not surprised she resigned given the circumstances at Sandown but we were surprised she was working elsewhere.”
We asked why the two statements were so diametrically opposed and the spokesperson told OnTheWight,
“He [David Fuller] was wrong.”
Reason for departure
He went on to explain why Mrs Khan-Jones was asked to leave,
“The lack of progress being made by the school since its full inspection, as detailed in Ofsted’s latest visit made public on 15 November, was a clear factor which brought about the need for a rapid change in leadership.”
Who’s telling the truth?
With both of these official AET voices saying directly contradicting things, who is to be believed?
Image: David Dolphin under CC BY 2.0
