Report reveals tales of staff bullying at Cambridge High

1.00pm

Staff bullying at Cambridge High School resulted in some teachers suffering insomnia, paranoid thoughts and depression, according to a report obtained by a newspaper.

A six-page summary of individual complaints obtained by the newspaper and provided to the school's board of trustees in July this year by the Education Review Office (ERO) is understood to have been used by former judge Dame Augusta Wallace in a scathing report she completed last month.

The former judge's report, commissioned by the Cambridge board in response to bullying allegations at the school, is now unlikely to be released because of a deal done between school commissioner Dennis Finn and former principal Alison Annan. The employment dispute between Mrs Annan and the school has resulted in her resignation, effective December 3.

The ERO is in the process of completing a final report on the education and care of students at Cambridge High. Its draft determination has been obtained by the Waikato Times but an Employment Court order prohibits its publication.

Kaine Hansen, a former economics teacher at the school and now teaching in Tauranga, told the Waikato Times the bullying started with questions regarding professional or personal competence which were aimed at undermining confidence. He said he was asked to rig marks and was regularly shouted at by senior management.

In the summary, other teachers, who cannot be named because of the Protected Disclosures Act, said they were made to feel they had no value. One said he/she was spoken to as if an idiot in front of students.

Another said responsibility was removed without any reason and given to another staff member. Constant put-downs took place and confidential information was distributed to staff. Teachers were shouted at and abused. Some suffered insomnia, paranoid thoughts and depression. Crying was common. Teachers were often sick or unwell.

The summary of complaints talks of an ineffective board which allegedly did everything Mrs Annan wanted.

- NZPA