Without consultation, the Chairman of Highfield and Brookham Schools has informed parents that the Head Teacher of Brookham is to be removed, and that the school will be forced into remote leadership from Highfield. We object to this on many fronts:
- Mrs Baber is a driving force behind the development of our children and the reason that many of us chose the school
- The Chairman claims that there will be benefits from the merger and we do not beleive these to be in any way real. It appears to be a cost cutting exercise dressed up as a beneficial re-structure
- We strongly believe that the needs of Brookham children are fundamentally different from Highfield and need their own dedicates leadership team
- For decades, the schools have been aligned and this has never caused difficulty before, it works well and must not be changed.
The undersigned demand that these plans be frozen, whilst proper consultation is undertaken
Updates
January 31, 2023
I have spent my week digging through the budget reports to see if the Chairman is really just masking their financial mismanagement. It is clear that our children are being treated like line items on a spreadsheet rather than students who deserve their own dedicated leader.
January 31, 2023
Seeing this level of support confirms that I am not the only one who sees this merger for what it truly is. My heart swells knowing so many of you care just as deeply about protecting our school and Mrs Baber.
15 Comments
Incredibly disappointed to see the news this morning without any prior notification or discussion with the parent community. Mrs Baber is the driving force behind all that is brilliant at Brookham and the reason we chose the school. She offers so much to the children and encourages all of them individually. Any material change of this nature requires full discussion and consultation - it is unacceptable to simply announce it like this.
As a family of three children, we moved to the area for the kids to attend Brookham. Mrs. Sophie Baber was the main reason we enrolled the boys. Her presence is synonymous with the school in my opinion. Brookham will feel like it has lost its soul if she leaves. Please don’t make this decision without consulting the parents. We feel incredibly betrayed and mislead.
I strongly object
I believe Mrs Baber should stay in post. Her leadership is a vital to the school and it was a key reason for choosing the school in the first place. This decision seems arbitrary and ill-considered Christine Sundt Dolan .
I have already emailed both Sophie and Bill Mills this morning with my personal thoughts, but am very happy to sign the petition to keep both Sophie and the existing structure.
We have just joined the school having moved from London specifically for the school. I have one child at hughfield and one at Brookham. Although one flows to the other, they are very different schools and the need of children in early years is totally different to that of children aged 8 and upwards. It is catastrophic to try to merge these two parts of the school. Mrs cryer is incredible as new Head to Highfield but it’s simply too much for her to also manage Brookham. Mrs Baber is the life force of Brookham and I have never met a primary school Head like her. I taught for years and she is beyond amazing at her role and her relationship with both the children, staff and parents. And that’s from someone who has only been here for one term! This decision must be reversed, we as parents, and our children, cannot lose this invaluable Head to the merge.
Absolutely devastated. Please don’t let this happen.
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Without consultation, the Chairman of Highfield and Brookham Schools has informed parents that the Head Teacher of Brookham is to be removed, and that the school will be forced into remote leadership from Highfield. We object to this on many fronts:
- Mrs Baber is a driving force behind the development of our children and the reason that many of us chose the school
- The Chairman claims that there will be benefits from the merger and we do not beleive these to be in any way real. It appears to be a cost cutting exercise dressed up as a beneficial re-structure
- We strongly believe that the needs of Brookham children are fundamentally different from Highfield and need their own dedicates leadership team
- For decades, the schools have been aligned and this has never caused difficulty before, it works well and must not be changed.
The undersigned demand that these plans be frozen, whilst proper consultation is undertaken
Updates
January 31, 2023
I have spent my week digging through the budget reports to see if the Chairman is really just masking their financial mismanagement. It is clear that our children are being treated like line items on a spreadsheet rather than students who deserve their own dedicated leader.
January 31, 2023
Seeing this level of support confirms that I am not the only one who sees this merger for what it truly is. My heart swells knowing so many of you care just as deeply about protecting our school and Mrs Baber.
15 Comments
When choosing to educate our children privately we expect the best interests of our children to be put first. Removing such an outstanding Head teacher and leader in order to save costs is clearly not in the best interests of the school or of our children.
Incredibly disappointed to see the news this morning without any prior notification or discussion with the parent community. Mrs Baber is the driving force behind all that is brilliant at Brookham and the reason we chose the school. She offers so much to the children and encourages all of them individually. Any material change of this nature requires full discussion and consultation - it is unacceptable to simply announce it like this.
As a family of three children, we moved to the area for the kids to attend Brookham. Mrs. Sophie Baber was the main reason we enrolled the boys. Her presence is synonymous with the school in my opinion. Brookham will feel like it has lost its soul if she leaves. Please don’t make this decision without consulting the parents. We feel incredibly betrayed and mislead.
I strongly object
I believe Mrs Baber should stay in post. Her leadership is a vital to the school and it was a key reason for choosing the school in the first place. This decision seems arbitrary and ill-considered Christine Sundt Dolan .
I have already emailed both Sophie and Bill Mills this morning with my personal thoughts, but am very happy to sign the petition to keep both Sophie and the existing structure.
We have just joined the school having moved from London specifically for the school. I have one child at hughfield and one at Brookham. Although one flows to the other, they are very different schools and the need of children in early years is totally different to that of children aged 8 and upwards. It is catastrophic to try to merge these two parts of the school. Mrs cryer is incredible as new Head to Highfield but it’s simply too much for her to also manage Brookham. Mrs Baber is the life force of Brookham and I have never met a primary school Head like her. I taught for years and she is beyond amazing at her role and her relationship with both the children, staff and parents. And that’s from someone who has only been here for one term! This decision must be reversed, we as parents, and our children, cannot lose this invaluable Head to the merge.
Absolutely devastated. Please don’t let this happen.
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When choosing to educate our children privately we expect the best interests of our children to be put first. Removing such an outstanding Head teacher and leader in order to save costs is clearly not in the best interests of the school or of our children.