Cranford Primary School

Pros

Supportive regarding worklife balance Curriculum outstanding in providing children with enrichment opportunities Great SLT who are forward thinking and driving the school to success! Middle leaders who are passionate about their careers Teaching assistants who are valued and celebrated - we are lucky to have such provision to aid out teaching

Cons

Parts of the school building could be updated

Pros

Lovely school with great children, facilities,.parents and some staff.

Cons

The SLT is incompetent, unprofessional,.rude, everything that it shouldn't be, which creates an atmosphere which is toxic and runs the school down. As such parents who know don't want to send their children there and it ends up taking the left over children within the borough. Thankfully Meena Walia has.left but when there would falsify attendance records, parent governor elections, reasons for staff leaving, talking inappropriately about staff in meetings etc. No wonder so many staff left year on year. Surprisingly the governor's never questioned it?! What's even more shocking is that she has gone on to be an Ofsted inspector. What ever has the world come too! Like others have said staff that are or were promoted were not based on merit, but on whether you were in with the existing SLT. Meena Walia often promoted inexperienced, young people, so that she could minipulate them in doing what she wanted and needed them to do. From what I have read of the other reviews it would appear that things have not changed within the school. So glad I don't.still work there!

Pros

A really lovely community. Parents generally supportive and children are keen to learn. Really hardworking teachers and TAs.

Cons

Management is really poor. The headteacher (Meena Walia) is incompetent, a bully and arrogant. The deputy (Jazz Chana) is inexperienced, manipulative, two-faced and out of her depth. The school promotes a culture of bullying and fear. People are promoted on favouritism (such as the deputy and assistant heads) rather than on experience and merit. If you are a favourite, you can have as much time off as you like but others are made to feel bad for the smallest time off for genuine reasons. The children are never put first. Everything is a show for visitors, governors and ofsted and if people actually stopped to find out what is going on and why there is such a big turn over of staff, they will open a huge can of worms and unveil a toxic environment that the staff have to endure.

Pros

- teaching assistants are fantastic - some of the teaching staff are lovely - insets, assemblies, dates for year are well organised - playground is large with new equipment - parents are supportive - five new classrooms recently built

Cons

- management unforgiving of any home emergencies/life circumstances - culture of bullying and mistreatment by headteacher - myself (and others) were told off/shouted at in front of the children, undermining us in the classroom - informal meetings ‘quick chats’ used to intimidate/bully - management set unrealistic and unattainable goals - anti-union atmosphere - many staff are untrustworthy and will report back to management - mandatory expectation for attendance at Summer & Winter after-school events outside of contracted working hours - incredibly heavy workload for marking - staff are treated like children (no shared cutlery/mugs in staff room) - surprise book scrutinies of entire class sets of books at random which are used to catch out teachers - random drop-in observations and learning walks of teachers without notice - CPD and career progression are based on favoritism

Pros

-the school was organised and knew what it was doing

Cons

-I experienced racism from the headteacher -Meena Walia -There is a huge turnover of staff each year- no one has questioned why -The school is racist and staff feared for their jobs, even though the maltreatment continued -During the last ofsted inspection, I was told to 'hide' in a cupboard. I was sat in the locked room all day. I was told that I cannot leave the room as ofsted would see the school as 'overstaffed' -I was screamed at by the headteacher in my classroom in front of the children I taught - The teachers union came on multiple occasions as many members of staff rang them frequently because many of our mental health was being effected by the constant bullying by the senior management

Pros

SOME staff are lovely especially the unsung teaching assistants Good playground and resources are well equipped around the classroom.

Cons

Where to begin.... Bullying in the workplace certain members of SLT have cronies that report back to the head. Be careful who you trust or talk too. I was told to sit in the staff room to eat my lunch otherwise I would get in trouble with the cronies .... Some year group leaders inexperienced and promoted within 1 to 2 years of teaching. My head of year was awful and didn’t have a clue most of the time. I ended up doing a lot of work on her behalf. It also depends if you are in with the head to be promoted, you are given a subject without being shown what to do and having to figure it out on the way.... Comparing to the school I am now at the marking policy is over the top and you can spend 2 plus hours marking books to be doing it again the next day!! Overall unless you want a mental breakdown, AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!

Pros

Good organised communication between SLT and staff, insets, behaviour policy, outdoor space, staff room size. Good amount of TAs: one per class. Year 6 has additional HLTAs to offer smaller class sizes during task time. Mostly supportive parents. Mostly great children eager to learn.

Cons

Not enough open consultation happens between SLT and staff on policies and changes, no shared cutlery in staff room, not much grace for family emergencies, heavy workload of marking, can have a bullying/harassing culture. Polluted roads near by.