Swaffham headteacher remains suspended

Dominic ChessumTeachers, parents and pupils at a Norfolk high school face a summer of uncertainty after term ended without any more news on what is happening to its head teacher.Dominic Chessum

Teachers, parents and pupils at a Norfolk high school face a summer of uncertainty after term ended without any more news on what was happening to its head.

Yvonne Srodzinski was suspended as head of Hamond's High, at Swaffham, in April pending an investigation into her management.

School governors and Norfolk County Council have always refused to give detailed reasons for the move but have stressed that the matter in no way relates to child welfare issues.

Attleborough High School head Stuart Bailey was drafted in to run Hamond's during the investigation process, and now a council spokesman has indicated that he is likely to be there still when the new term starts in September.

Steven Reilly, for the county council children's services team, said: 'Yvonne Srodzinski remains suspended, with our investigation into management issues continuing.

'Suspension is carried out in the interests of the member of staff and the school to allow a fair and thorough investigation.

'Stuart Bailey has kindly agreed to be in place again from September until a resolution is reached.'

Since Ms Srodzinski's suspension, Hamond's has been through difficult times. In early May, parents and teachers rejected a plan by governors to apply for foundation status for the school.

Gaining such status would have meant that, although still main-tained by the local authority, the school's governing body would have taken control of its land and assets. It would also have been able to determine its own admissions policy and would have been responsible for employing its own staff.

But, while more than three- quarters of respondents to a questionnaire sent out to parents and teachers said they supported the aims and vision of the bid, 44pc said they did not feel the new governing body would be the right model for the school. Among other concerns, they questioned whether it had the capacity to manage such a change successfully.

At the time Heather Nunn, chairman of the governors, said the school board was not seeing the result as a vote of no confidence in its leadership.

Later the same month, it was revealed that the school was asking teachers and support staff to consider cutting their hours in an attempt to reduce costs.