Bristol woman 'forced out' by school

A woman has told a tribunal she felt forced out of her job when a Bristol secondary school became an academy last year.

Liz Rowbotham, who was head of extended services at Hengrove Community Arts College for seven years until it shut at the end of August 2008, took the academy sponsor, Oasis Community Learning, to an employment tribunal in Bristol.

She told the four-day hearing that losing the £47,000-a-year job would cost her nearly £300,000 in salary and pension entitlements.

The tribunal heard that Ms Rowbotham, aged 57, who resigned the day after the Christian charity Oasis reopened the school, considered that she had been dismissed and that her dismissal was unfair.

Her job at the old school involved running out-of-school services including clubs for children before and after school and in the holidays.

Hengrove was one of the first schools in the country to offer a full range of extended services and was praised by Government Ministers.

Ms Rowbotham, of Winscombe, was included in the senior leadership team and her job involved line managing up to 20 staff. The alternative role she was offered under Oasis was as part of an extended leadership team and did not have line-management responsibilities.

John Hughes, for Ms Rowbotham, said the change would have meant her status, authority and influence would have been reduced and her duties altered.

She was "consistently treated unfairly and unreasonably" and marginalised during the statutory process of transferring staff from the employment of the school and local authority to Oasis, he said.

"It is surprising that [Oasis], while apparently acknowledging the school's and [Ms Rowbotham's] impressive record and recognition in delivery of extended services over a number of years, did not specifically consult with her upon whether the basic changes they were proposing to leadership of extended services were appropriate," he said.

During the course of the hearing, Ms Rowbotham dropped claims that she was dismissed on the grounds of age, sex and disability.

Andrew Sugarman, for Oasis, said Ms Rowbotham should not have considered herself dismissed because there had not been a substantial change to her job that was to her detriment.

She had been offered an alternative role, with similar status between the levels of deputy and assistant principal.

Mr Sugarman said both sides agreed that there had been substantial restructuring of leadership and management roles with the creation of the Oasis academy, and responsibilities had been reorganised and redistributed.

But he said the extended services were still being delivered.

"All the work is still being done and is still regarded as valued," he said.

Oasis had created a role for Ms Rowbotham but she was unhappy with it because it did not quite match her old job, Mr Sugarman told the hearing yesterday.

The tribunal will rule on Ms Rowbotham's claim on October 13.