THE APPOINTMENT of a head teacher to a Pembrokeshire school was ‘rigged’ to favour one candidate. That is the allegation that has been made to The Pembrokeshire Herald by a member of the panel for the selection of a head teacher for Ysgol Gelli Aur/ Golden Grove School in Pembroke. Pembroke Town Councillor, Mel Phillips told The Herald: “After the former head teacher of Gelli Aur, Les Johnson announced his intention to retire, the Council provided a shortlist of two candidates – Andrew Williams, who formerly taught at Broad aven School and a teacher from Brynconin School. Curiously, I had been told by a friend that Mr Williams would be the new head teacher, even before the job had been advertised as vacant.”

Mel explained that she was puzzled as to shortlist’s brevity and challenged the ‘adviser’ appointed by the Council to assist the Governors in selecting a head teacher as to why that was the case. The adviser, Sue Painter, told selection panel members that the post had been advertised in the Times Education Supplement (TES). Melanie Phillips expressed dissatisfaction at the shortlist’s length and checked with the TES whether an advertisement had been placed. Her enquiries revealed that was not the case and the selection panel demanded it was done properly and in accordance with the regulations governing the appointment of head teachers. After the post had been advertised, a further shortlist was produced. The second shortlist contained only three names: the original two candidates and a Mr Condon from Angle School.

The panel interviewed all of the candidates and at a meeting held at the County Archives, Haverfordwest, were unanimous in considering that the teacher from Brynconin School had performed the best in interview and was the best candidate for the job. Mel Phillips told The Herald: “Sue Painter then intervened and told the selection panel that there were ‘issues’ about the panel’s choice. “When we asked why his name had been put forward, we were told – ‘We didn’t expect him to get this far’.” However, Mel told us, when panel members asked what the issues were Sue Painter refused to say and told panel members it was a confidential matter. “Well, as you can guess, that left us hanging. We asked whether allegations had been made against him, but she would only answer it was ‘confidential’. That left us all hanging, inviting us to draw the worst of adverse conclusions.

“It stank then and it stinks now, Jon. I quickly concluded that the whole process was a stitch up from start to end and that whatever the allegations were they could not be that serious as the candidate was still teaching at another school. However, such was the doubt that Sue Painter had sown that panel members decided to reconsider their decision. “Two of us on the panel, me and Hywel Edwards, walked out in protest. In our absence, Mr Williams was appointed.” Mel explained how distressed she was by the events: “I tell you, I could not sleep. That poor man had been so badly served and so let down. He was clearly the best candidate for the job and I believe he would have been a terrific head teacher at our school. After a couple of days fretting, I had to phone him him and put him in the picture as to what had happened.

I assured him that we had all concluded he was the best candidate for the head teacher’s post and it was only the intervention of Sue Painter right at the end of the process that prevented his appointment. “In fact that there was NO issue regarding the panel’s choice. He has since been appointed to the head teacher’s post at another school.” The events have left Mel with a sour conclusion: “This whole thing was a stitch up from start to end. The best candidate was not appointed, the Council had clearly decided who was going to get the job and the so-called ‘adviser’ was simply there to make sure it got its way.”

The Herald put Mel’s detailed account to the Council as a series of bullet points and asked for a response from the Head of Education, Kate Evans-Hughes. The Herald made it clear that the inference to be drawn from Mel Phillips’s account was that the process had been rigged to favour one candidate over others. The Council DID NOT deny Mel Phillips’s account was truthful or accurate. Instead a spokesperson told The Herald: “The Staffing of Maintained Schools Regulations (Wales) clearly defines the recruitment process to be followed in the case of Head Teachers, with the governing body having responsibility for selection decisions and the Local Authority acting as an ‘adviser’. “This is the role the Authority played in this particular case.” No allegation of wrongdoing is made against the successful candidate and current head teacher at Golden Grove in relation to the selection process. However, the incident highlights concerns about further appointments to head teacher positions made by the local authority since 2012.