At some point this Friday Afternoon Rev Iain Bendrey will close the door on his office and walk away from a career he loved. He has no idea what he wants to do on Monday morning.
Iain is the head of a good, well run school in possibly the nicest area of Thurrock with a strong supportive staff, a healthy board of governors and willing parents. Yet he feels let down. Not by the school, not by the staff or the parents but by the job itself and the local authority.
He wanted to run the school his way and spend time with the children but the system wouldn’t allow it. Targets, reports, paperwork , agendas and a whole host of other tasks that blighted his day has changed his opinion about teaching.
The problem is that he’s not alone. He’s the fifth head in as many years at the school as is the case with the post of Director of Education.
The authority seem to have the balance right when it comes to senior schools but something’s not quite right in the primary field
Iain Bendrey talked to yourthurrock in a frank and honest way. We’d expect nothing less after all he is a man of the cloth .
In the meantime another interim head will be ushered in and Orsett and Bulphan schoolchildren will have to wait for a Head who is prepared to behave how he’s paid to behave .
The schoolchildren of Orsett and Bulphan will miss him and wish him well wherever he goes.
This article appeared in a earlier version on yourthurrock.
What a shame that a quality head teacher has taken the decision to leave not only the school but the education system full stop.
This is a typical example of how the education authority is failing our children and we in Orsett can look forward to another period of instability.
I for one would like to thank Rev Bendrey for his hard work in the school and wish him all the best in his future, however, I feel this is a great loss to the future of the children.