SCHOOL HEAD AXED

Karen Moffat, the axed head of the British School of Bahrain (BSB), has spoken about the shock of losing her post at the school in the midst of a multi-million dinar expansion project and following an ‘outstanding’ independent assessment, writes May Al Mousawi.

Teachers, pupils and parents were stunned when she was given her marching orders last Thursday afternoon … but none more so than the woman herself.

She told members of staff in a letter that she had been met in her office by two representatives of the school’s owner and chairman, Esam Janahi, who informed her that he wished to appoint a new head whose strategic vision for the BSB was ‘more in keeping with his own’.

Mrs Moffat, 56, was promoted from the position of acting director to the ‘Head of the School’ in September 2011, replacing Bill Frost, who returned to the UK. She had enjoyed a long association with Mr Frost having worked with him at St Christopher’s School as deputy head for three years before moving to Hong Kong and later joining the BSB as deputy director.

She exclusively told GulfWeekly: “These past four-and-a-half years have been the happiest and most productive of my long career in education.

“What has made the BSB so special is something that everyone who is part of the community knows as ‘the BSB spirit’.

“A school is not the land or the set of buildings on it – it is all about the people who are in those buildings.

“I can tell you that my dismissal came as a bolt-out-of-the-blue.

“I was not aware of any such serious ‘differences’ previously – as far as I knew and, as I still believe, the owner of the school, the staff and parents of the BSB and I, have had a clear shared vision to maintain and further develop a high performing quality British-curriculum international school in Bahrain providing overall excellence of provision, in terms of its academic and extra-curricular programmes, to foster and support excellence in student learning and achievement.

“I have not had any previous discussions with the owner about a difference in opinion and strategy for the school.”

On Sunday, Mr Janahi announced that deputy head Dot Loveland had been appointed as its acting head. He also thanked Mrs Moffat for her ‘outstanding contribution’ to the school.

The BSB opened in 1995 in a small campus in Adliya with only 172 pupils. Mr Janahi, executive chairman of Gulf Finance House, took over its ownership and merged it with Al Ruwad School in 2007.

Its modern campus opened in September 2008 and the school was recently given the green light to go-ahead with an ambitious BD4.1 million expansion of its Hamala premises. The project will start in May and take 18 months to complete.

The school currently has 1,585 students, aged from three to 18, and the development was part of a four-year plan to increase the number of places to 2,300, making it the largest English-curriculum international school on the island.

BSB recently received a glowing report by The Schools Review Unit. It was labelled ‘outstanding’ in every category monitored including the effectiveness of teaching and learning, how well the students were guided and supported, as well as its leadership, management and governance.

Shortly after its release Mrs Moffat said: “These are exciting times at the school and you can feel the positive energy in the air.”

Today she could not help but feel deflated. Mrs Moffat lives close-by the school and hopes to stay in the country with her husband, Michael, 58, who works in the airline business. Although both her children Danielle, 31, a solicitor, and Tristan, 29, a restaurant manager, live in London, they are fully supporting their mother during this difficult time.

She said: “I am still coming to terms with this news and I will have to consider my options over the next couple of weeks. My home is here in Bahrain and I have no immediate plans to leave.

“It has been my life-long commitment, passion and joy to be involved in the education and development of young people and I can see no reason to change that now.

“It has been a great privilege to work with the great team of people at the BSB and I shall always be grateful for the richness they have brought into my life and into the lives of each other and the young people they work with.

“I have so many wonderful memories of the many special individuals who make up the BSB community. It is my sincere wish that the school will continue to thrive and grow in the future and I have only good feelings about the BSB and it has my very best wishes.

“I can see the school as soon as I drive out of the gates of my compound and I shall continue to drive past it several times every day, waving as I go by.”

As soon as news of Mrs Moffat’s departure became known an online petition calling for her reinstatement was launched. It is believed the axed head urged supporters, particularly members of staff, not to risk their livelihoods by signing it.

An anonymous supporter wrote: ‘Karen has had our students at the centre of every decision she has made. Reinstate her immediately’ and another stated: ‘Karen appears to have done a great job at BSB’.

Parents and children were equally supportive at the school gates. Bemused mum Rita Ibe, from Al Jasra, said: “I was very shocked and I am not pleased with the decision at all. It is very sad. She has done a great job with the school and was always very professional whilst being very warm and caring at the same time.”

Her daughter, nursery pupil, Renata, five, added: “She was always very nice to me and would smile all the time.”

Sarah Ali, 32, from Salmaniya, said: “My initial reaction was shock. As far as I was concerned Karen was the perfect head.”

Dr Janahi has pledged to work with the acting head and her team to further promote the development of the BSB as a ‘world class institution’.

Ms Loveland, who has held senior leadership positions in both Japan and for 20 years in Bahrain, is ‘committed to working with the senior leadership team – Julie Anne Gilbert, Lisa Atkins and Ian Gross – to continue to deliver the best learning experience for our students’, he added.