Lodge Park Academy teachers seek answers from trust over absence of trailblazing headteacher Carly Waterman

Teachers at a Corby secondary have expressed anger and upset over the unexpected absence of a popular headteacher.

When Carly Waterman took over failing Lodge Park Academy in 2019 she said it was her ‘dream job’ and has since turned around the school.

But Mrs Waterman has not been at Lodge Park Academy for some weeks. Vice-principal Ruth Roberts has temporarily taken charge at the Shetland Way school.

Worried staff, who are supportive of Mrs Waterman and her ambitious vision for the school, contacted this newspaper to say they have don’t believe they’ve been given a satisfactory reason for her absence by trust bosses. They are concerned that they, along with parents, are being kept in the dark over whether Mrs Waterman will return to the school after the half-term break.

One said: “I remember the chaos at LPA a few years ago with new principals appearing and then disappearing after a few months. We feel we’ve finally found some stability with Carly.”

Another said: “In her three years at LPA, Carly has built a community based on respect, compassion, and constant cheeriness. Students, parents and staff have all bought into her vision.

“Things are unrecognisable compared with 2019.”

A parent who has two children at the school said: “It would be catastrophic for this school if Mrs Waterman were not in charge long-term. It’s quite simply a different place since she arrived.”

Mrs Waterman, who grew up in Corby and attended Kingswood School, took over at Lodge Park Academy in mid-2019 after the school had been plunged into special measures. A merciless Ofsted report in March of that year that said trustees had ‘let down successive cohorts of pupils’ who showed ‘little interest in learning.’

At that time, the school had had seven headteachers in seven years and had developed a terrible local reputation. The school’s sponsor, the David Ross Education Trust (DRET), was given a ‘pre-termination warning notice’ meaning funding would be withdrawn if the school didn’t make immediate improvements.

But when Mrs Waterman took charge she promised to transform the school.

By March 2021, when Ofsted inspectors carried out a virtual inspection during Covid, they praised the school and said the senior leadership team had ‘created a culture of aspiration for pupils and staff’.

In July last year the school moved out of special measures, from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’, with inspectors saying four out of five categories they examined were ‘good’.

Parents have been full of praise for the school on local social media platforms in recent weeks, ahead of the deadline for year 6 parents making secondary school decisions.

Mrs Waterman, who has more than two decades of experience and is considered to be a regional educational leader, has even been nominated in next month’s Spirit of Corby awards for her efforts to improve Lodge Park.

DRET – headed-up by Nevill Holt-based multi-millionaire and Tory donor David Ross – appoints its own governing body with no parent or community representatives. Meeting minutes are not published.

The trust runs 34 schools across the Midlands and London. Forty-one managers are employed by the trust, with five of them paid more than £100,000 annually.

On its website the school says it is in the process of implementing a ‘one trust’ way across its schools, and is developing a standardised school transformation model to ensure all schools are on the path to outstanding. The website adds that it is standardising its curriculum and training staff against an ‘agreed model of pedagogy’.

A DRET spokeswoman said: “Mrs Waterman is currently on sick leave, but in her absence the day to day running of the school is being led by Ruth Roberts who is an experienced senior leader and who has been at Lodge Park leading successfully for a good number of years, so knows and understands the school well.

"She is being supported by wider senior colleagues in DRET, and in the meantime we continue to support Mrs Waterman during her absence.”

Mrs Waterman was unavailable for comment.