A teacher who was suspended for a year after complaining about his school to the council and a cabinet minister has been sacked.
But Gary Day-Davies, 39, now intends to take Wentworth High School, Salford, to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal.
He was sacked by the school governors for a breach of trust. They also said he broke the council’s internet use policy by sending emails while teaching and by searching for information about tribunals.
The M.E.N reported that Mr Day-Davies had spent 12 months suspended on full pay, receiving about £35,000. He was sacked on June 25.
He had contacted Salford council and the office of Salford MP, Hazel Blears, then communities minister, about school finances and health and safety.
He said: “I went straight to the local authority because I believed there had been a tendency by governors and management of the school to gloss over previous issues raised by other teachers and to keep it from the local authority.”
He thought he was protected by the council’s whistle-blowing policy, but he was not as he dealt with the local education authority’s governors services section – not a whistle-blowing hot line.
Mr Day-Davies, of Monton Avenue, Eccles, joined the 781-pupil school in 2002 and was head of history, law and Latin. In 2008 he was nominated for a national award.
He said: “I think I’ve been treated appallingly. I raised legitimate concerns and was sacked for simply stating facts. I have been sacked for allegedly orchestrating a campaign to undermine the head teacher.
“I asked for mediation on five occasions to resolve the issues amicably and return to work. The head refused to discuss it.”
He added: “I believe the root of this action against me is because I was a trade union rep for the NASUWT.”
Wentworth head Jeremy Keeble would only confirm the sacking. Coun Norman Owen, leader of Salford’s Lib Dems said: “I believe the council may not have done enough to protect Mr Day-Davies.”
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I wish this teacher all the best in his case. He has not been sacked because of poor teaching or being a danger to a child; he was sacked because he did not follow the rules on whistle-blowing ... a technicality.The email/Internet usage were incidental to the whistle-blowing. This was the Governors being petty over the whistle-blo
wing and using whatever they could to discredit the teacher. And by the way, virtually every teacher in Salford is probably guilty of improper use of email/Internet.All this teacher has done is complained about the deficit budget that the Head and Governors (and ultimately the Council) have allowed to accumulate, which has led to cut-backs within the school.
As this teacher has been made accountable for his actions, it is now time for these Governors ang the Head to be made accountable for their inability to keep the books straight! Come on Council, show some backbone.
No wonder so many of our young people have little respect for authority when the people at the top of their education system will bend rules to get their own way.
This sort of attitude from the very top of the management structure can only filter down through the whole system to our children in my opinion .Somebody needs to look at the whole education system with a view to change.
I've had dealings with Mr Keeble myself so can understand Mr Davies. I also got the feeling other teachers were scared of Mr Keeble because the Board of governors do seem to do anything he says without question.
Why are Salford Council to blame here, School Governors are the employers and it is them who have made the decision.
[quote name=Knowall, stretford end]Why are Salford Council to blame here, School Governors are the employers and it is them who have made the decision.[/quote]
Because the Council still have to rubber stamp such decisions.
Because the Council allowed the school to run with a deficit budget.
Because the Council are not holding the Head or the Governors accountable for the events.
Though I do believe it is the Council that will have to stump up the cash if the teacher is found to have been unfairly dismissed.
Please do not believe everything that you read in the papers.
Speaking for myself and other colleagues who actually work at the school we would like to respond. You are only hearing Mr Day-Davies' version and those of his friends/associates.
During Mr Day-Davies' absence from school we had an Ofsted inspection which acknowledged that one of the school's strengths was that staff felt supported, and we have also recently received the Investors in People award which involved feedback from all staff. Are we all wrong?
We are very happy to work at Wentworth High School and support the Headteacher and the Governing Body in the difficult decisions they have had to take.
Wens Staff (30/07/2010 at 16:57)
Speaking for myself and other colleagues who actually work at the school we would like to respond. You are only hearing Mr Day-Davies' version and those of his friends/associates.
So...based on the comments from the post I take it that 'Wens Staff' is actually Jeremy Keeble?
to uncle bulgaria and the whole of Manchester - actually it is the view of ALL THE Wentworth Staff - people like you who spend time commenting on things they don't know anything about is so annoying.
John Cole - you don't say why you have had dealings with Mr Keeble but you don't say what the dealings were about - would you like to clarify what the 'dealings were'
What ever the rights & wrongs of this individuals case. No-one should be sacked for the reason of being a whistle blower or anything connected with that. ie undermining the governers. The issue should be addressed in a proper & fit manner . The Council should support these people. The whistleblowers policy is there to ensure that nothing untoward goes on & while whistleblowers continue to be sacked on some trumped up charges , systems can be abused. The matter should be investigated throughly & then all should be told to get on with it.
never ever be a whistleblower,
Having been a pupil at Wentworth high school myself. I’d just like to take this chance to say it is a terrible shame that, Wentworth have lost such a first class teacher. On hearing about mr Davies unfair dismissal I for one was outraged. He possessed a real enthusiasm for his subject and generally loved teaching. Which inspired his pupils and helped us all get the best marks we could achieve. On behalf of all Wentworth history pupils I’d like to say thank you!.
Good luck, i was sacked for Whistleblowing Manchester City Council and NCP, and at the tribunal they begged me to take a settlement because they knew they were wrong. There should be more protection for employees.
sw of Eccles
Please be very careful of you use of the word "all" when referring to staff at Wentworth. Or are the friends/associates of Mr Day-Davis not included in this "all"?
So, all staff are happy with a school in debt? Which will lead to cuts to deptmental budgets, possible reductions to CPD, less resources for pupils, reduction in appropriate staffing and fewer afterschool activities. These are all the effects of deficit budgets, particularly now in these times of reduced funding.
I have just finished my five years as a pupil at Wentworth High School, Mr Davies taught me History for 2 years in that school and i can honestly say he was the best teacher i have ever had. He taught me everything i know in that subject and also gave me an insight into basic human rights, if i ever felt i was being treated unfairly, he would be the first teacher i would go to, as he clearly had an interest in helping young people and he cared about our opinions. He interacted with every single pupil fantastically, and he treated everybody equally. Thats why me and my fellow pupils all had huge amounts of respect for him. I think its an an absolute disgrace, and personally i think that Wentworth would do a lot better if Mr Davies was the head teacher
'Wens Staff - During Mr Day-Davies absence from school we had an Ofsted inspection which acknowledged that one of the school's strengths was that staff felt supported, and we have also recently received the Investors in People award which involved feedback from all staff. Are we all wrong?
As long as you all agree with the headteacher's actions and never raise any issues, eh?
He saw things weren't right, tried to sort it and was suspended, despite 5 requests for mediation.
Good luck with you're tribunal Mr Day-Davies.