Radford College principal under fire

Some parents have flagged their intention to raise issues directly with the board at the open meeting after unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Anglican Bishop Stuart Robinson to intervene.

Asked why he hadn't met with parents, Bishop Robinson said, "The process for having questions answered is to raise them directly with the leaders of the parochial unit or school and then if needs be the bishop can be invited to participate in the conversation."

Parents say more than 30 staff have left the school in two years since principal Fiona Godfrey arrived.

She is Radford's first female principal, having moved across from Canberra Girls Grammar where she was deputy principal.

She is described by some parents as having a far more "corporate" style than her predecessor Phillip Heath, who now heads Barker College in Sydney.

One of the main concerns appears to centre on a lack of heating and air-conditioning in some primary school classrooms. Tensions have been exacerbated by the recent completion of a $2 million new entrance to the school.

Ms Godfrey said the decision to revamp the school entry had been set in train years ago – well before she arrived at Radford and at no stage did she prioritise funding for the entry over addressing the heating and cooling issue.

In a letter copied to the school board in March, a group of unnamed parents said they had "reached the limit of their patience" with the school's unwillingness to provide effective heating and air-conditioning. They suggested that money raised by a parent levy should be used for heating and air-conditioning, and questioned the decision to spend "a very large amount" to make "a grand main entrance" to the college.

Ms Godfrey said at no stage had parents ever brought their concerns to her directly and her "door was always open". Meanwhile the school had undertaken a series of "passive measures" to try to cool Years 5 and 6 classrooms over particularly hot summer days this year, including shading windows and using fans, while it commissioned further advice on longer term solutions.

"Certainly our position is to have the most optimal learning conditions at all times for our students and sometimes the climate is not kind to us. We also have to work within the capital budget we have," Ms Godfrey said.

She said on Wednesday she had just been informed that the school would install new heating and cooling systems in affected classrooms, hopefully by July.

In a recent newsletter to parents, Ms Godfrey said she had been asked by Bishop Robinson at a regular "catch up" how things were going at Radford. "I explained to Bishop Stuart that in my view the school year has started remarkably well," she wrote. "We have recruited a number of outstanding new teachers, the majority of our new students have settled into the school exceptionally well, and we have already conducted a number of highly successful events."

Ms Godfrey addressed the concern about staff turnover directly in her newsletter.

"Many principals hold the view that an annual staff turnover of around 10 per cent is healthy and a necessary part of the renewal process," she told parents. "This allows schools to maintain experience but also allows new thoughts and ideas to emerge through incoming staff. Over the course of 2015, the permanent staff turnover at Radford was 6 per cent. Of those teachers who resigned from their positions last year, three retired ... one left teaching to take up a role in the public service, two went overseas and five moved interstate, predominantly for promotional opportunities. Other teachers who left the college during the year were in contract positions, covering for staff on leave."

President of the Parents and Friends Association John Shevlin said he had organised Thursday's meeting as an opportunity for people to raise any issues, which to date had not been raised formally.

He was aware of "gossip" and "chatter", but only two parents had raised concerns with him – one in May last year and one in January this year. He rejected the suggestion that the association had made recommendations about spending on heating and air-conditioning and said the school was currently considering improvements.

"It is an opportunity for people to present any concerns if they have them," he said. "This is a chance to try to put things to rest."