Improvement plan for Beaulieu to be made public this month

Tuesday 17 January 2023

An improvement plan for Beaulieu Convent School is due to be issued at the end of this month following controversy over the decisions of senior management, the Education Minister has confirmed.

Deputy Inna Gardiner said that a Government report into the school, compiled after an inspection in November, will also be made public and presented to parents at a school meeting in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, a letter was sent to Beaulieu parents notifying them that headteacher Chris Beirne had stepped back and that secondary Deputy Head Paul Robinson would undertake the role of acting headteacher "with immediate effect".

The decision came after the departure of former head of school Andrea Firby, which sparked criticism from a number of parents.

A petition, which has been signed by almost 1,000 people, was started calling for the resignation of the school's Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer "and the remaining trustees" following Mrs Firby's departure.

Pictured: Mrs Firby has been "the face of Beaulieu" for over a decade.

A number of parents have also formed a committee calling for an independent review of the governance at Beaulieu School.

Deputy Gardiner said: "An evaluation report was conducted by my team in November and I am waiting to receive that final report. Once I have received it, we will be putting an improvement plan in place and making recommendation to the school towards the end of the month."

She added: "The report will also be made public and will be presented to parents at the upcoming meeting on 26 January."

Pictured: Mr Beirne recently stepped down as CEO and Headteacher, and as now taking on a "less visible role" as Executive Director.

Deputy Gardiner said she met with the school's board of trustees last week and that they are working together on the "best solutions" for the school.

"We have a good understanding and we are committed to making improvements. The trustees are also undertaking their own review which will be published in the near future," she said.

A group of parents also expressed concern about access to the school's financial statements. However, Deputy Gardiner confirmed that these are publicly available up to a particular date.