Principal's anger at Fiona's rant (From Daily Echo)
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Principal's anger at Fiona's rant
8:25am Saturday 27th October 2012 in News
Fiona Phillips at the school's grand opening ceremony
THE principal of the new £16m academy in Southampton has spoken of his anger over TV star Fiona Phillips’ rant at the school’s grand opening ceremony.
Principal Ian Golding has distanced himself from the celebrity presenter’s tirade, which happened when she was guest speaker at the ceremony at Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill school in Southampton, in front of a packed hall of guests.
During the awkward rant – which has drawn angry criticism from former pupils and governors – she slammed her old school, Millbrook School, saying it had crushed her aspirations and left her with just one O-level.
She said the school was “rampant with hormones and no discipline” in the 70s and even described then headmaster Fred Lowry as a man “who commanded no respect whatsoever”.
In a statement issued to the Daily Echo Mr Golding highlighted how even some of his staff were educated at Millbrook School – with positive experiences.
And he sympathised with Mr Lowry, now aged 85.
He said: “Ms Phillips’ comments were definitely her own personal experience but not those of everyone. In fact, some of my current and highly successful staff had extremely positive experiences at the school around the same time.
“In relation to Fred Lowry, the former head teacher, I empathise with him. He will have had many positive outcomes as a head which unfortunately can be easily overshadowed by comments like this.”
Mr Golding criticised the focus placed on the 51-year-old’s angry comments rather than what she said about young people taking responsibility for their development and making the most of opportunities that come their way.
But he was quick to distance the academy from its Millbrook School roots.
He said: “Contrary to reports that have appeared in national newspapers, Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill is not a rebrand of any predecessor schools. It is an Oasis Academy, it has a different ethos, a different outlook and different aspirations. I am disappointed that these few words have appeared to dominate what was a highly successful grand opening occasion. Our staff, volunteers and participating community organisations put a huge effort into the ceremony, as well as the massively successful Community Arts Festival, and I do not want a couple of minutes of words to overshadow their efforts and the success of the day.”
Today Fiona Phillips herself hit back at criticism in her column in a national newspaper.
She stood by her rant saying the education she received at Millbrook School was bad.
But she said she urged the students to "grasp every opportunity given to them by the talented, dedicated teachers they now have".
And even promised to go back to the Southampton school.
She said: "On Tuesday I went back to my old school in Southampton and, according to some newspapers, delivered a "rant" on how bad it had been.
"Well it was. That's why, under Tony Blair's academy system, set up to take over failing schools and turn them around, it was finally closed down in 2008 after decades of failure."
She added: "I wanted to be a doctor and was asked if I'd thought of hairdressing.
"These students are being told they can achieve anything they want to.
"I shall be visiting them to make sure they do!"
Comments(27)
nedscrumpo
says...
8:40am Sat 27 Oct 12
Stillness
says...
9:09am Sat 27 Oct 12
True Chandler's Ford resident
says...
9:40am Sat 27 Oct 12
Linesman
says...
10:21am Sat 27 Oct 12
I take her rant with a very big pinch of salt, and regard it for what it is, a publicity stunt to boost the sale of her book.
I will Not be buying.
Sir Ad E Noid
says...
11:31am Sat 27 Oct 12
LornaMay
says...
1:07pm Sat 27 Oct 12
southy
says...
1:44pm Sat 27 Oct 12
Maybe she was just not good enough to gain any more than that.
southy
says...
1:48pm Sat 27 Oct 12
I think we should keep Millbrook and Oaklands schools open and running just in case, and give people a choice off type of schools
electrolux
says...
3:01pm Sat 27 Oct 12
southy wrote:Were you educated at Millbrook?? You have spelt 'off' with 2 'f's.. you mean 'of' as in 'pull out of education', a choice of schools' - you are just confirming Fiona's point..
What happens when oasis go's bank rupt or they decide to pull out off education, what happens to the kids and the school .
I think we should keep Millbrook and Oaklands schools open and running just in case, and give people a choice off type of schools
electrolux
says...
3:04pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Also 'go's' should be written 'goes' and bankrupt is all one word.. seems like Millbrook wasn't such a great school after all..
southy wrote:Were you educated at Millbrook?? You have spelt 'off' with 2 'f's.. you mean 'of' as in 'pull out of education', a choice of schools' - you are just confirming Fiona's point..
What happens when oasis go's bank rupt or they decide to pull out off education, what happens to the kids and the school .
I think we should keep Millbrook and Oaklands schools open and running just in case, and give people a choice off type of schools
Stillness
says...
3:35pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Southy went to Redbridge, thank God.
electrolux wrote:Also 'go's' should be written 'goes' and bankrupt is all one word.. seems like Millbrook wasn't such a great school after all..
southy wrote:Were you educated at Millbrook?? You have spelt 'off' with 2 'f's.. you mean 'of' as in 'pull out of education', a choice of schools' - you are just confirming Fiona's point..
What happens when oasis go's bank rupt or they decide to pull out off education, what happens to the kids and the school .
I think we should keep Millbrook and Oaklands schools open and running just in case, and give people a choice off type of schools
cherrypi
says...
3:52pm Sat 27 Oct 12
Paramjit Bahia
says...
4:23pm Sat 27 Oct 12
BUT the woman has right to say what she thinks, has every right to scream if she feels she was let down during her young life by the school and teachers.
Yes every situation and its shock effect may be completely different; but there is thread of common denominators. We as society collectively tend to put too much faith in certain professions and institutions, and do not listen to many on their receiving end especially when they happen to be vulnerable or children.
These may be extreme examples but Church Priests having abused kids, Dr. Shipman having killed his patients and Police cover up after Hillsborough, abuse of vulnerable elderly in care homes, and latest being Jimmy Savile’s obnoxious actions, occurred only because the priests doctors nurses and people involved in charities etc are always respected and their actions not questioned. Teachers and schools are also part of the same scenario.
Facts must be faced, while our schooling system keeps on ticking reasonably well, it can’t be denied that bad or failed schools also exist and there are also SOME teachers who are disgrace to their profession.
If Millbrook School was really that good then why have they shut it down? Is this at long last admission by the Oasis that they were wrong to argue for closure of Millbrook School?
Although in my own opinion Oasis which is dominated by ‘god brigade’ should not have been touched even with a barge pole, their hypocrisy (well what else can be expected from those who believe in unscientific myth?) is enormous even when measured by religion’s own not exactly very high standards.
They probably expected Fiona, to have become part of the establishment, sing praises. But she obviously has not forgotten her own bad experience at her old school.
Rather than getting niggled, people in education system should stop closing ranks like freemason and start asking themselves questions regarding where and why in SOME CASES they failed to do their jobs properly and seriously think about how to avoid those mistakes in the future.
Stillness
says...
4:32pm Sat 27 Oct 12
Paramjit Bahia wrote:You missed local councilors of your list of people abusing the misplaced respect and trust that some people place in them. Any reason for that omission?
NO I am not fan of Fiona Phillips, in fact as believer in equality do not contribute to this celebrity culture i.e. just because somebody with pretty face on TV he or she has to be worshiped and respected etc.
BUT the woman has right to say what she thinks, has every right to scream if she feels she was let down during her young life by the school and teachers.
Yes every situation and its shock effect may be completely different; but there is thread of common denominators. We as society collectively tend to put too much faith in certain professions and institutions, and do not listen to many on their receiving end especially when they happen to be vulnerable or children.
These may be extreme examples but Church Priests having abused kids, Dr. Shipman having killed his patients and Police cover up after Hillsborough, abuse of vulnerable elderly in care homes, and latest being Jimmy Savile’s obnoxious actions, occurred only because the priests doctors nurses and people involved in charities etc are always respected and their actions not questioned. Teachers and schools are also part of the same scenario.
Facts must be faced, while our schooling system keeps on ticking reasonably well, it can’t be denied that bad or failed schools also exist and there are also SOME teachers who are disgrace to their profession.
If Millbrook School was really that good then why have they shut it down? Is this at long last admission by the Oasis that they were wrong to argue for closure of Millbrook School?
Although in my own opinion Oasis which is dominated by ‘god brigade’ should not have been touched even with a barge pole, their hypocrisy (well what else can be expected from those who believe in unscientific myth?) is enormous even when measured by religion’s own not exactly very high standards.
They probably expected Fiona, to have become part of the establishment, sing praises. But she obviously has not forgotten her own bad experience at her old school.
Rather than getting niggled, people in education system should stop closing ranks like freemason and start asking themselves questions regarding where and why in SOME CASES they failed to do their jobs properly and seriously think about how to avoid those mistakes in the future.
andysaints007
says...
6:18pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Why 2 question marks when you only need 1 ? You really shouldn't slag someone off when you are no better yourself.
southy wrote:Were you educated at Millbrook?? You have spelt 'off' with 2 'f's.. you mean 'of' as in 'pull out of education', a choice of schools' - you are just confirming Fiona's point..
What happens when oasis go's bank rupt or they decide to pull out off education, what happens to the kids and the school .
I think we should keep Millbrook and Oaklands schools open and running just in case, and give people a choice off type of schools
electrolux
says...
6:25pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux
says...
6:33pm Sat 27 Oct 12
Stillness
says...
8:29pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Like I said, southy did not go to Millbrook. Proofread that! ;-)
I'm not slagging anyone off, this story is about standards of education and if I was a teacher at Millbrook I would be embarrassed that any of my pupils would leave not knowing how to spell 'of'.. that's all..
jonnyx
says...
10:30pm Sat 27 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Grammatical pedantry on an internet message borad is the last refuge of the t**t. Oooh you're a proofreader woo-hoo. This must be like shooting fish in a barrel for you then. Does it make you feel superior to upbraid contributors in such an unnecessary manner? Just because Southy doesn't (or can't) spell, punctuate or otherwise write in a particularly clear way, doesn't de facto invalidate the contribution that he/ she wants to make. Also, double exclamation marks are redundant; the whole point of an exclamation mark is to add emphasis, the same with double question marks, the inclusion of a question mark indicates a question, you cannot have 'more' of a question by adding two marks.
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
Linesman
says...
9:21am Sun 28 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:In that case, why two full stops after the word 'living' and two exclamation marks at the end or your 'I am a smartarse' comment?
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
If you are a proofreader, and you let things like that pass without correction, I can only assume that you do not work for a quality publisher.
skin2000
says...
10:51am Sun 28 Oct 12
Stillness wrote:Yes,Nu Labour not mentioned once. Must be an oversight.
Paramjit Bahia wrote:You missed local councilors of your list of people abusing the misplaced respect and trust that some people place in them. Any reason for that omission?
NO I am not fan of Fiona Phillips, in fact as believer in equality do not contribute to this celebrity culture i.e. just because somebody with pretty face on TV he or she has to be worshiped and respected etc.
BUT the woman has right to say what she thinks, has every right to scream if she feels she was let down during her young life by the school and teachers.
Yes every situation and its shock effect may be completely different; but there is thread of common denominators. We as society collectively tend to put too much faith in certain professions and institutions, and do not listen to many on their receiving end especially when they happen to be vulnerable or children.
These may be extreme examples but Church Priests having abused kids, Dr. Shipman having killed his patients and Police cover up after Hillsborough, abuse of vulnerable elderly in care homes, and latest being Jimmy Savile’s obnoxious actions, occurred only because the priests doctors nurses and people involved in charities etc are always respected and their actions not questioned. Teachers and schools are also part of the same scenario.
Facts must be faced, while our schooling system keeps on ticking reasonably well, it can’t be denied that bad or failed schools also exist and there are also SOME teachers who are disgrace to their profession.
If Millbrook School was really that good then why have they shut it down? Is this at long last admission by the Oasis that they were wrong to argue for closure of Millbrook School?
Although in my own opinion Oasis which is dominated by ‘god brigade’ should not have been touched even with a barge pole, their hypocrisy (well what else can be expected from those who believe in unscientific myth?) is enormous even when measured by religion’s own not exactly very high standards.
They probably expected Fiona, to have become part of the establishment, sing praises. But she obviously has not forgotten her own bad experience at her old school.
Rather than getting niggled, people in education system should stop closing ranks like freemason and start asking themselves questions regarding where and why in SOME CASES they failed to do their jobs properly and seriously think about how to avoid those mistakes in the future.
userds5050
says...
11:22am Sun 28 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Is that why you used two full stops after living?
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
electrolux
says...
12:34pm Sun 28 Oct 12
jonnyx wrote:Don't you mean message 'board' - never heard of a 'borad', is that how they teach you to spell 'board' at Millbrook?? ;-)
electrolux wrote:Grammatical pedantry on an internet message borad is the last refuge of the t**t. Oooh you're a proofreader woo-hoo. This must be like shooting fish in a barrel for you then. Does it make you feel superior to upbraid contributors in such an unnecessary manner? Just because Southy doesn't (or can't) spell, punctuate or otherwise write in a particularly clear way, doesn't de facto invalidate the contribution that he/ she wants to make. Also, double exclamation marks are redundant; the whole point of an exclamation mark is to add emphasis, the same with double question marks, the inclusion of a question mark indicates a question, you cannot have 'more' of a question by adding two marks.
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
jonnyx
says...
12:55pm Sun 28 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:A-ha-ha-ha. Classic. Well done electrolux. There are several points of fact or opinion in the rest of my post, which could be argued with, but rather than address them you decide instead to pick up on a typo; which may have been laid there deliberately as a baited hook to see if you would bite - in fact it wasn't deliberate, but you bit all the same, showing you up to be nothing more than a tedious pedant, unwilling or unable to engage with the matter at hand you, it would seem, would rather think yourself oh-so clever by pointing out contributor's typos and spelling errors. You are, in the argot of this board, a muppet.
jonnyx wrote:Don't you mean message 'board' - never heard of a 'borad', is that how they teach you to spell 'board' at Millbrook?? ;-)
electrolux wrote:Grammatical pedantry on an internet message borad is the last refuge of the t**t. Oooh you're a proofreader woo-hoo. This must be like shooting fish in a barrel for you then. Does it make you feel superior to upbraid contributors in such an unnecessary manner? Just because Southy doesn't (or can't) spell, punctuate or otherwise write in a particularly clear way, doesn't de facto invalidate the contribution that he/ she wants to make. Also, double exclamation marks are redundant; the whole point of an exclamation mark is to add emphasis, the same with double question marks, the inclusion of a question mark indicates a question, you cannot have 'more' of a question by adding two marks.
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
userds5050
says...
2:03pm Sun 28 Oct 12
electrolux wrote:Wasn't he the guy from Kazakhstan? ;-)
jonnyx wrote:Don't you mean message 'board' - never heard of a 'borad', is that how they teach you to spell 'board' at Millbrook?? ;-)
electrolux wrote:Grammatical pedantry on an internet message borad is the last refuge of the t**t. Oooh you're a proofreader woo-hoo. This must be like shooting fish in a barrel for you then. Does it make you feel superior to upbraid contributors in such an unnecessary manner? Just because Southy doesn't (or can't) spell, punctuate or otherwise write in a particularly clear way, doesn't de facto invalidate the contribution that he/ she wants to make. Also, double exclamation marks are redundant; the whole point of an exclamation mark is to add emphasis, the same with double question marks, the inclusion of a question mark indicates a question, you cannot have 'more' of a question by adding two marks.
I am better actually, I proofread for a living.. Double question marks are just to emphasise a point, people also use more than one exclamation mark for the same reason!!
Writers Cramp
says...
4:10pm Mon 29 Oct 12
hulla baloo says...
8:33am Sat 27 Oct 12