Undermined by his school head, a teacher survived thanks to his local community, Robert Boyland reports
A deputy head given one of the highest compensation awards for being bullied by his headteacher has said he could not have survived without the hundreds of letters of support from his local community.
Alan Powis, 53, of Llansamlet, Swansea, was awarded pound;230,000 because he was forced to take odd jobs to make ends meet after being sacked in 1997. The out-of-court settlement followed his allegation that he had been bullied by a headteacher who questioned his ability and accused him of incompetence.
He said he had to stop teaching, and took jobs ranging from nightwatchman to double-glazing sales.
Mr Powis worked under headteacher Sheena Ball, now retired, at Coedffranc junior school in Skewen, South Wales, until his dismissal.
He alleged she had accused him of incompetence within months of her arrival, constantly criticised his work and then said he was “the ringleader” in a conspiracy to undermine her authority after he confided in colleagues.
“It (the bullying) took the form of intimidation,” said Mr Powis. “On one occasion, she said she wanted to observe my work, and came into my class at 9am. She stayed there until 3.20pm.”
He said she picked him up on almost everything. “She wanted far more from me than from other teachers. Once one set of her criteria was met she would replace them with another. I could see in the end that they could never be met. It was a wearing down process.”
He sued Neath and Port Talbot council in the county court on the grounds he had suffered a breakdown as a result of his treatment.
His sacking at the time was backed by the school’s governors and the local authority. Mr Powis could not find work as a teacher after his dismissal. “The compensation goes some way to redressing the losses I have had to date, although money was never the main issue,” said Mr Powis.
“The only reason I survived was that I had the whole community in the village behind me, who demonstrated when I was dismissed. I had hundreds of letters of support. I knew all these people could not be wrong, even if I had doubts.”
Karl Napieralla, director of education for Neath and Port Talbot, said:
“While disappointed with the outcome in this case, the authority will not compromise on issues of staff underperformance. To do so would only undermine its drive for school improvement to which all its schools are committed and its statutory responsibility to ensure a good standard of education for its pupils.”
