ALL CHANGE AT THE BSB

THE British School of Bahrain (BSB) will experience a mass exodus of staff as an unprecedented number of existing teachers and senior managers of the highly-acclaimed school have either handed in their notices or failed to have their contracts renewed.

A number of parents have voted with their feet by moving children to other schools on the island, although options are limited as some alternative establishments have no spaces available in certain age categories and waiting lists have grown.BSB also has had little problem recruiting replacement teachers or attracting new students either as its reputation glows following official inspections and the examination successes of its pupils. The most recent report by The Schools Review Unit labelled it ‘outstanding’ in every category monitored, including the effectiveness of teaching and learning, how well the students have been guided and supported, as well as its leadership, management and governance.Dr Charles Wall, who replaced axed head Karen Moffat in 2013, has declined to be interviewed by GulfWeekly, although in a recent message to parents, he admitted ‘change is always a challenge’. As he stamps his mark and recruits his own team, he appears confident the school will move forward as its development plan is ‘refreshed’ and said: “My brief as Head of School is to lead the school to becoming world class.”He has been recruiting teachers with a ‘strong academic edge and IB experience’ over recent months and was pleased to say: “We have already recruited some excellent teachers for September 2014.”It is understood 60 per cent of senior school teachers have left or are leaving this year including Ian Gross, head of seniors, Gary Dietrich, head of ICT, Stephen Spicer, deputy head of seniors, Nick Atkins, Prya McPolin and Gill Gregory, assistant heads of seniors, Jacob Rusling and Sophia White, heads from the drama department, Mark Bannister, head of humanities, Carl Morris, head of psychology, Jayne Baker, head of business and economics, Vicki Sherman, head of modern foreign languages, Sukhvinder Raju, head of geography, Manuella Mavromichalis, head of RE, Ken Fay, director of sport, English teachers Kathryn Hogan, Martyn Wharrie and Fiona Coyle, maths teachers James Baker, Ali Chisti and Julia Doorne, Eleanor Porter, geography, Rory Adamson, business and economics, Yusuf Al Basri and David Spittal from the physics department, Euan Riddell and Jan Williams from science and Karen Kew, food technology.The list for juniors and infants members of staff is said to be equally long and includes the heads and other senior faculty.In a letter to parents, Dr Wall claimed that outgoing teaching executives have been replaced by ‘equally outstanding’ new heads of school.Tarryn Patel will take on the head of infants’ role from Julie Anne Gilbert. In the Junior School, Lisa Atkins will be handing over to Katy Brand and in the Senior School, Mr Gross is being replaced by Khalil Ahmed. Dr Walls says both have successful headship experience in high-performing international schools, and educational leadership qualifications, including the National Professional Qualification for Head Teachers held by Mr Ahmed.A wall of silence surrounds the leaving faculty who are said to be gagged by contractual constraints.Many parents are happy to speak ‘off the record’ about the issue but none GulfWeekly contacted wish to be named. One mum explained: “As a native English-speaking family, we are very fortunate that our children will be accepted at other schools and therefore we have voted with our feet and enrolled them elsewhere. “Most other families at the BSB are not in that position. They are worried about the school’s future and their children’s education but have no other options. “So after a lot of careful thought, and despite my disgust, I feel that to run down the school in a public forum would be a very negative thing to do to the majority of families there who have no choice but to ride out the storm and hope that things improve.”One such parent, from Holland, with two children at BSB, said: “The existing teachers are very professional and want the best for the kids and seem to have made a point of not letting the situation interfere with their work in the classroom. I’m sure the new recruits will ensure our children get a good education as they are very happy here.”BSB opened in 1995 in a small campus in Adliya with only 172 pupils. Esam Janahi, until recently executive chairman of Gulf Finance House, took over its ownership and merged it with Al Ruwad School in 2007. He was unavailable for comment.Its modern campus opened in September 2008 and the school was recently given the green light to go-ahead with a BD4.1 million expansion of its Hamala premises. The school currently has 1,585 students, aged from three to 18, and the development is part of a four-year plan to increase the number of places to 2,300, making it the largest English-curriculum international school on the island.