Winchester School Dubai

[shawarma]

January 2007 - not a great month for The Winchester School.

Beginning of January, they were one of the schools in line for a big increase in fees. That died away after a bit but then on 10 Jan 2007 there was a report in 7 Days newspaper that they'd suspended a teacher for tying 'pupils' to chairs and gagging them. It turns out it was only one student and he apparently claims it was all just a bit of fun. Depending, of course, on the reports you read.

Who knows. It stirred up plenty of controversy anyway.

[shawarma]

Here's the best of all the published information - interesting to see the 7 Days editor was prodded into a response more than once with letters to the editor. Not often you see newspaper editors succumb to that temptation. Then again, in Dubai the newspaper editors seem to feel the urge to have the last word often enough...

Original 7 Days story 10 Jan 2007...

Too cruel for school

A Dubai school has suspended a teacher following allegations she disciplined pupils by tying them to chairs and gagging them.

Parents at the GEMS Winchester School in Jebel Ali say they are furious after their seven-year-old child became scared to go to school after witnessing one incident, alleging he was told not to repeat what had happened in class. The dad said: “My child came home, scared to go to class the next day because of what had happened to another pupil. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We don’t have any proof, but I believe my son.”

He added: “We are entrusting the teachers with the wellbeing and safety - physically and mentally - of our children, unconditionally. “How dare they abuse that trust and how dare they abuse the mantle of the profession of teacher.”

The grade three teacher is alleged to have tied a child to a chair with rope, and gagged them across their face and mouth, as punishment for misbehaving. The incident is not believed to be isolated and similar punishments are alleged to have had occurred on other occasions.

Raminder Veg, principal of the Winchester School, said while neither GEMS nor the school received a formal complaint from the parent of the child allegedly involved, the head of primary at the school was told of the incident by another parent and, as a result, the teacher has been suspended pending the outcome of a full investigation.

He said: “Physical engagement of teachers with students and/or any action that degrades or ridicules students in any manner, is not tolerated in our schools.”
Confirming a music teacher was recently dismissed from the school for rapping the knuckles of pupils, he said if the allegations are proven to be true, it would be dealt with appropriately.

He said: “Should an investigation result in the finding a teacher, or any member of school staff, has violated policy and used inappropriate force or physical interaction, they will have their school contract terminated.”

2 days later the teacher quit (7 Days 12 Jan 2007)...

Dubai:A teacher who is alleged to have disciplined pupils by tying them to chairs and gagging them resigned yesterday, hours before her employers say she was due to be fired. The grade three teacher submitted her resignation from GEMS’ Winchester School in Jebel Ali, with immediate effect, after an investigation was launched into an alleged incident involving a seven-year-old boy. The teacher, whose identity is not being revealed, was suspended after the school received a complaint from furious parents.

A spokesperson for GEMS said last night: “The investigation, concluded today, resulted in a recommendation to terminate the contract of the teacher involved. “Before the recommendation could be conveyed to the teacher concerned and implemented, the teacher submitted her resignation with immediate effect on January 11, 2007.” The investigation was led by a senior member of staff with no prior knowledge of the incident. In her written report she concluded: “The alleged incident did take place, but it was done in fun. The children interviewed during the investigation have said they enjoy school and did not give me any cause to think there was a problem in the class, certainly no atmosphere of fear.” Although the report indicated no child was harmed in this incident, the school management has a no tolerance policy for inappropriate physical interaction, or any action that degrades or ridicules students in any way, GEMS said.

A parent of one of the class pupils said he was impressed with the speed GEMS had dealt with the issue. He said: “The teacher obviously felt she had violated the zero tolerance policy at the school. The school has always made this policy known to us, hence my outrage when I heard about the incident. “I can’t imagine how it could have been done in fun, but if this is true I hope they haven’t got rid of a good teacher.”

But while he could not condone the incident, one British teacher in Dubai admitted teaching expat children could be very frustrating.

He said: “There are a shower of little spoiled brats who live in a bubble. The society in which they live has made them racist, arrogant and rude. The majority of these kids have no social problems to deal with, unlike their peers at home. “Needless to say however, doing this to a child is wrong, and teachers are trained to deal with difficult students.” A new teacher has been recruited to teach the class and is currently undergoing training, including appropriate behaviour management procedures. They will begin teaching on Monday.

A letter to 7 days on 13 Jan 2007...

School incident was just one big joke

I know that your paper is free, that’s does not mean you publish anything and everything to create hot headlines.I am referring to yesterday’s allegation on one of the teachers in Year-3 of Winchester School. My son studies in the same class where this alleged incident took place and this is what he told me…Yes, his friend was troubling everyone in class by talking loudly & they complained to the teacher who playfully said if you dont stop disturbing others we will all tie you up, so he smiled and said he would continue to it, (I know this boy who is a sweet and harmless kid who loves to talk a lot and play) so he was made to sit in his chair and his sweater was loosely put on his lips around his neck and still he kept laughing along with the rest of them… Of course this was a playful gimmick they did in class, which they often do and some parent has reacted so badly to the press turning the whole incident into a hell for the weak-minded crowd in Dubai who didn’t even think for a minute that no teacher of 7-8 aged kids in a class can even think of doing something unbelievably gruesome like how you have printed without them complaining to their parents!

Here’s what the parent of the boy - alleged ‘victim’ had to say - My son did not complain about any incident like this, infact his teacher really loves him!. Personally I have had no complaints about his teacher who seems really mature in her role as one. Infact all other parents in his class also agree with me. My son even said we were all having fun and playing mom and his friend was still laughing!!
To you people out there who fell for this story blindly - take a minute to think what’s going thruough the teacher who is being framed in an unfair way….and here’s what I want to tell the parent who ran to 7DAYS with his complaint - …I can see your son may just be a kid - but you grow up man!! You could have waiting for the school to verify this before thrashing it out to the crowd thru the media who sells these papers free! - or were u upset with the recent fee-hike issue that u felt this was an easy way of getting it out at the school?? Can’t you just own up…apparently the school would like you to!
Thanks.
Asha
Dubai

The editor responds: The incident was not ‘alleged’ as you claim in your letter. Everything 7DAYS printed was confirmed by GEMS. Whether or not it was meant to be fun, the school deemed the incident serious enough to recommend the teacher be dismissed.

A letter on 14 Jan 2007..

Teachers need more support from parents

In response to the ‘Teacher accused of tying up and gagging student’; as a teacher of another GEMS school may I ask the management why they suspended the teacher without the inquiry being completed? This shows that the teachers have no support from the management and the parents can dictate and run the school the way they want to. The inquiry reveals that it was done in a fun way and the parents’ response in the paper dated 12.01.07 says that they have the highest of regard for this teacher. She has been very good in dealing with the children and the children are very fond of her.
Teachers are there to educate the children but I feel such parents should be educated first. A school cannot afford to lose good teachers. School is not a business where the motto is “the customer is always right”; it is a place of education and should be treated like one. Being a teacher myself I can understand the trauma that the teacher must be going through. All the parents of that class should raise their voice in support of the teacher and the apparently concerned and serious parent who wrote that utterly insulting and humiliating letter should be asked to apologise to the teacher.

7 Days reports on expat brats 16 Jan 2007...

Dubai: Little angels

Teachers speak out on pressures of dealing with over-privileged kids. Leah Oatway reports

When a Dubai teacher accused of tying a child to a chair and gagging him resigned last week, a storm erupted among parents and teachers across the emirate. While many voiced disgust at the physical force used to discipline the seven-year-old pupil, there was also an outpouring of sympathy for teachers here - seen to be in the unfortunate position of trying to discipline over-privileged children used to getting their own way. Several teachers said while educating children here in Dubai can be a hugely rewarding task, the attitude of a few can make it very frustrating.

One primary school teacher said: “There are a shower of little spoiled brats who live in a bubble. The society in which they live has made them racist, arrogant and rude. The majority of these kids have no social problems to deal with, unlike their peers at home.

“I don’t condone any kind of physical disciplining of pupils and we are trained to deal with the few difficult students, but it can be very frustrating.”
Another recalled: “I’ve had a child dancing on tables at the start of class and when I’ve asked them to get down they’ve refused. This happened to another colleague, who later had to apologise to the child, and then the class, for touching the child’s collar to bring them down. As he walked away he could hear the children in uproar. How do you command their respect after that?”

Another said: “I have had pupils tell me I can’t do anything because they can get me fired. They are so aware of what they can get away with that it can make disciplining virtually impossible. You can’t raise your voice, threaten them, or even send them out of the classroom. You can, at best, threaten to call home and speak to their parents – but then they’ll turn around and say their father is away in another country and the only person you’ll get through to is the maid.
“The only other option is to make a note of what they have done in class and then it’s up to senior staff to discipline them. This is fine but makes trying to control the class and maintain respect virtually impossible.”
And asking them to clean up after an art class is pointless.

“A lot of these children come from very privileged backgrounds, they have drivers who carry their bags and maids who clean up after them. While most are lovely kids, to the difficult few a teacher is just another servant.”

A European teacher, based at one of Dubai’s many international schools, said pushy parents can be another problem.
He said: “Parents have a much larger influence on the education of their children here which, in theory, is a good thing. But very often the wealthier parents seem to feel their children deserve more time than the others. And if they don’t agree with what is going on in class they go straight to your superiors and things are changed, regardless of whether they should be or not. There is little loyalty to teachers from schools.”
Even expat parents here in Dubai admit they have concerns about the effect such a privileged lifestyle has on their children.

British father-of-two Tim said: “Even if I raise them to be respectful to everybody, and I hope I am doing that, they are living in a hierarchal society where they have maids and everyone serves you.
“My daughter has lived here since she was nine months old. Children here have no real worries - there is little crime, no drugs, there are no council estates. Their concerns consist of fitting swimming lessons around horse riding and visiting the mall. I worry about what will happen if we ever leave.”

But Sylvia, whose six-year-old son attends school here, disagrees, saying the attitude of children is 100 per cent down to parenting.
She said: “I’m delighted to be bringing my children up here in Dubai. Yes, they are privileged, and there are some children in school with them who are too much so, but the responsibility lies with parents to ensure they are well-mannered and disciplined.”

And psychologist Dr Raymond Hamden, of Knowledge Village’s Human Relations Institute, agrees with her.
He said: “Anywhere in the world there are spoilt kids who think, from observing their parents’ behaviour, they can do anything they want. They try to expand on their behaviour in a way that can be harmful to others.
“A child needs to understand respect, responsibility for themselves and others, be flexible, and know how to adapt. Responsibility lies with parents not schools. A lot of times, parents send their children to school for 30 hours a week - they spend the other 170 hours a week at home.”

Letter on 18 Jan 2007...

Expat kids are worst brats of any of them

Re: Expat Brats (7DAYS January 16): You only have to stand in line at any Spinney’s supermarket, hang out at any predominantly western school at drop off and pick up time, or take a flight around school holidays time to see why a lot of expat-kids behave as they do. They are simply following the ‘fine’ example set by those whose job it is to guide them in life – their parents! Pushing in lines, making derogatory comments about others in a loud voice in public, road rage, not following rules in general etc seems to be acceptable to a number of Western ex-pats here in Dubai. In the majority of cases that I have experienced, it is truly a case of – show me a rude and naughty child and you will find that they have parents who exhibit the same types of behaviours. The privileges that we ex-pats enjoy here in Dubai are exactly that – a privilege, not a right. Children should be taught to appreciate the wonderful opportunities that they are provided by being here.
Catherine
Dubai

Another letter on 18 Jan 2007...

Teacher was forced out for no good reason

I applaud AV’s letter of Tuesday 16th January and sincerely hope that the teacher in question does get her job back, it was with real distaste to read the "Too Cruel For School" article on the front page of your newspaper and it was with even more distaste to learn the truth which sadly didn’t find any print space in your newspaper. I have had the pleasure of watching my son develop, learn and learn well at the Winchester School and the teaching team have always and in every way excelled in all that they do, my son has been a pupil at the school for the last three years and I have never once had cause for complaint or concern; quite the opposite in fact. 7DAYS would be doing us all a favour by clarifying the truth, its not only an excellent teacher that has been brought into question but also an excellent school.
Stuart
Dubai
Editor: Where to begin? Our story was based on a statement from the school. That many parents supported the teacher was reflected in follow up letters printed in 7DAYS. That the incident was said to be ‘in fun’ was reported. That many people think tying up and gagging a child can never be ‘fun’ was also reported. That it was the school and not 7DAYS who launched an inquiry was reported, as was that it was the teacher’s decision to resign before the inquiry ended.