‘I was called curry lover and humiliated by other teachers’: The toxic truth about staffroom bullying
Warning: This story contains references to suicide along with racist and sexist language readers may find distressing.
When Maya* started a new teaching job, she did not expect to be called the n-word as she walked down the corridor.
The bullying from her fellow teachers proved relentless. She was called a “curry lover” and believes she was hidden from meeting parents at one point due to her skin colour.
It was not just racism she faced there but also sexism. Male colleagues told her she would have to “bend over a desk to get a promotion” and had “blowjob lips”. Incidents like these happened “almost every day”, she says.
Eventually forced to leave her job, Maya signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) making her unable to speak about the abuse she suffered. As part of the conditions of her exit, she also received a significant payout, which she describes as “money to keep quiet”.
Sky News has spoken to over 320 current and former teachers from state, private and special schools across the UK, who allege having been bullied at work. Among those, 119 say they signed NDAs and received payouts ranging from the low thousands to tens of thousands of pounds in compensation.
Sky News has calculated that the total amount of money paid to these teachers is more than £1.73m.
This is taxpayers’ money meant for school budgets, which is instead being used to pay teachers to leave. We cannot verify when the earliest of these payments was made, but most were completed within the last decade.
The National Education Union, the UK’s largest education union, confirmed that the “vast majority” of financial settlements included NDAs.
NDAs used to ‘cover up’ bullying
The use of these NDAs was “not appropriate,” said Phil Clarke, the NEU National president. He added that the use of them was “covering up” or preventing further investigation into whether “it was appropriate for the individual, and an appropriate use of public money, for them to be paid to exit a school”.
Maya says she felt there was no other option but to accept the payment and NDA to escape the bullying, which left her feeling “worthless, sad and suicidal”.
Over a third of the teachers we spoke to have experienced similar thoughts and made plans to harm themselves to escape the bullying. A handful have gone as far as trying to end their lives.
It’s a familiar story for Tracy*, who says she “drove into school each morning willing myself to have an accident so I didn’t have to go in”.
Suicidal after management bullying
A teacher for 25 years, she loved her job and rose to a senior leadership position. Tracy says that during a move to change the school to an academy, she was “targeted” and bullied by the new management because she “questioned the direction” they were taking.
In her role, Tracy says she was privy to the “tactics” used on other members of staff and so when she was put on a performance plan, she knew it was “code for you don’t fit, we want you out”.
She told Sky News the “impact [of bullying] was such that I was suicidal and fundamentally unable to function at even the simplest level for a period of time”.
Tracy was also paid out and signed an NDA.
Among the teachers we spoke to, the academisation of schools came up repeatedly as a catalyst for bullying.
A school might become an academy by choice or if they are rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. Teachers say they are run as businesses, with CEOs and a board, without the due care for teachers.
‘Power imbalance’ between teachers and heads
Speaking to Sky News, the National Education Union confirmed that the growth of multi-academy trusts has contributed to a “significant” power imbalance between management and teaching staff.
Phil Clarke, the NEU National President said academies are run as a “corporate system”, but “without the safeguards and professional respect that corporate environments would provide”.
Responding to the findings of this investigation, he confirmed that schools are becoming “more authoritarian places to work”.
How this culture of bullying is fixed is a complex question with no easy answer.
Attitudes need to change
Teachers throughout this investigation say that attitudes from senior leaders and managers need to change. The National Education Union says headteachers are under immense pressure from Ofsted, which can lead to this approach towards getting rid of staff.
Ofsted declined to comment on the findings of our investigation. Instead, a spokesperson said they always seek to minimise “undue pressure on those we work with” and that they were “ready to hear feedback, accept criticism and reform”.
Appealing directly to the government, Maya asked for the abolition of NDAs within schools, so teachers could speak out without “legal repercussions”.
Responding to this investigation Education Minister, Catherine McKinnell, said: “All school staff should feel safe and supported at work, and confident in being able to report concerns – and we expect school leaders as employers to take appropriate action to tackle any issues that are raised.
“For our part, we are determined to reset the relationship with education workforces so together we can drive high and rising standards across our schools.
“We have also worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter – and encourage schools to sign up as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing.”
*Names have been changed
If you are a teacher and have had experiences similar to those discussed above and are willing to share them please email us at Sky.Today@sky.uk
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
UK
Post Office scandal: At least 8 convictions may be linked to second IT system used by Post Office
At least eight convictions predating the Horizon Post Office scandal are being looked at by the body investigating potential miscarriages of justice, Sky News has learned.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed it is examining multiple cases of former sub-postmasters affected by Capture software.
The computer accounting system was used in the early 1990s, prior to Horizon being introduced to Post Office branches from 1999 onwards.
Horizon was at the centre of the Post Office scandal and saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of stealing from their branches.
The Kroll report, commissioned by the government earlier this year, found that Capture had bugs and glitches and there was a reasonable likelihood it had caused cash shortfalls too.
Lord Beamish, the former Labour MP Kevan Jones, has been supporting victims and is calling for the government to extend current legislation to automatically quash convictions.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act was passed in May but does not include Capture victims.
Lord Beamish told Sky News he has raised the issue with the Justice Secretary and called for a House of Lords debate.
“The government are going to have to take this seriously,” he said. “We can’t have a situation where we have a two-tier system where people get exonerated from Horizon and the Capture cases are either forgotten or have to go through a very lengthy legal process to get their names cleared.”
Chris claims his mother was wrongly jailed because of accounting problems with the Post Office software Capture
He added he had “little faith” in the CCRC’s “ability to deal with cases”, after multiple Horizon cases were referred to the body years ago.
“The problem with these cases is the lack of evidence… that has been destroyed or lost so actually proving some of these cases through that process will be very difficult.
“Therefore I think a blanket exoneration like we had with Horizon I think has got to be discussed and considered for these cases.”
The CCRC told Sky News it has five cases under review “in which the Capture IT system could be a factor”.
It also said it is “seeking further information” on eight cases referenced in the Kroll report.
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The CCRC added that the time taken for a case review to be completed was dependent on the “complexity” of each case “and how readily available information about it is”. In a statement, it admitted: “The availability of information can be a particular hurdle in older cases.”
Chris’s mother died earlier this year following a battle with Alzheimer’s and never got to clear her name
Chris Roberts’ mother, Liz Roberts, was convicted in 1999 of stealing £46,000 from the Post Office and spent 13 months behind bars.
Liz, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, passed away earlier this year.
Chris said she was jailed four days before he turned 17, and he used to have “nightmares” that she was “going to die in there”.
“There was no evidence of any financial gain because they went through everything. And obviously the money wasn’t in our accounts because it didn’t exist,” he added.
Despite being offered “three deals” by the Post Office to plead guilty, Liz refused and was sent to prison.
Liz Roberts during happier times before she was jailed for theft – her son insists she was innocent
Chris believes that the 2019 High Court win by Horizon victims was a missed opportunity for the Post Office to look back at Capture cases.
“It would have been worth something then because my mum would have died knowing that everybody else knew she was innocent,” he said.
“My dad would have died knowing that the love of his life wasn’t vilified as a criminal.”
Chris wants his mother exonerated and “those actively responsible” to “stand up in court… and justify themselves”.
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Sky’s Adele Robinson examines Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We were horrified to learn about the issues with the Capture system and are working closely across government to thoroughly examine Kroll’s independent report and consider what action should be taken.
“We continue to listen to postmasters and others who have been sharing their views on the report’s findings since its publication last month.”
Official accounts have revealed for the first time how much the King’s 2023 coronation cost UK taxpayers.
According to the accounts, the government spent £72m on the coronation – the first in Britain since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953.
The figure includes £50.3m of costs attributed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which coordinated the coronation, and £21.7m in costs for the Home Office for the policing of the event.
By comparison, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and events during the period of national mourning cost the government an estimated £162m – £74m for the Home Office and £57m for the DCMS as well as costs to the devolved governments.
The figures come from the culture department’s recently released annual report and accounts.
The department said it had “successfully delivered on the central weekend of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation, enjoyed by many millions both in the UK and across the globe”.
People walk past a souvenir shop during the coronation. Pic: Reuters
It described the event as a “once-in-a-generation moment” which provided an occasion for the “entire country to come together in celebration”.
Both the King and Queen were crowned at Westminster Abbey in May last year, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world.
A star-studded concert at Windsor Castle, featuring Take That and stars such as Olly Murs, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, took place the following night.
It had been described ahead of the event as being a “slimmed-down affair” – with the country still in the grips of the cost-of-living crisis – and accounts show an “underspend” related to the coronation of around £2.8m.
Olly Murs performing at the Coronation Concert. Pic: Reuters
Did coronation boost the economy?
Despite talk of a coronation boost, the UK’s economy actually contracted in the month of May 2023.
However, experts said that was mostly due to the cost of the additional public holiday for the event, which weighed on output.
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Each bank holiday costs the UK economy around £2.3bn, with the extra bank holiday for the late Queen’s funeral estimated to have cost around £2.4bn, according to government figures.
With the extra coronation bank holiday, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed negative growth of 0.1% during May 2023.
However, that was slightly better than economists had predicted ahead of the event.
Prior to the event, economic forecasters, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), had predicted a boost of £337m for the UK’s economy due to the coronation – including £104m in extra pub spending and an estimated £223m spend from tourism to the UK during the period.
Hotel revenue was also said to be up by 54% compared to the same point in the previous year, while bookings for UK-bound flights for the coronation weekend jumped by 149% within 24 hours of the day being announced, according to TravelPort.
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