THE SAD CASE OF WBHS. The news today that the Ministry of Education is appointing a Commissioner at WBHS will evoke mixed reactions and emotions. There will be sadness among those who displayed the high standards of loyalty WBHS has always had and steadfastly supported the school in he face of mounting reports that something was dreadfully wrong. There will be relief from those who knew the scale of the issues and knew something had to be done and done quickly. There will be a sense of bewilderment and how did this happen from those countless WBHS old boys and staff members who have loved the school. Being a school where there are disciplines, square pegs in round holes and boys and masters with different agendas, there will be some who, remembering unhappy times at the school, will almost feel a sense of justice — but these issues facing WBHS are not those traditional ones that are found at just about any school — alleged bullying, perceived unfair treatment by teachers etc, these are deeper and more destructive to the school. Such is the standing of WBHS, the community has been awash with stories that have emanated from the school since the retirement of Doctor Paul Baker as Rector. And these stories have split the community to a degree — on one hand the die-hard supporters, some pupils and the Board, have resented the public airing of what they have seen as dirty-washing. In a way, these loyalists have been like Lord Nelson with his telescope to his blind eye looking at the enemy fleet and saying What ships, I see no ships. The cloak of secrecy thrown over the matter by the Board was not wise and the Board appear not to have handled this well. On one day earlier this year, the Otago Daily Times and the Oamaru Mail both carried wildly different stories — in the ODT story the Board accepted there were serious issues at the school, in the Oamaru Mail story, the Board denied there wads anything wrong and blamed speculation on a Facebook page. The tipping point certainly appear to have been the retirement of Paul Baker. Paul Baker was very much a traditionalist who ran the school in a way that some might regard as being old fashioned — as many of the best and highest-achieving schools in New Zealand are run. The new rector appears to have been a bit of a new broom and some of the quite serious reforms he introduced appear to have triggered off a series of reactions, including staff resignations and a general change in direction for the school. One is left to wonder what Paul Baker has thought of matters. As I have written before, I owe the school a massive debt of gratitude. The school accepted my grandson at a difficult time in his life because the school saw potential in the lad. We moved from Auckland to Oamaru so we could make maximum advantage of this chance for Dillon. There were some hiccups, but in the end there was a Scholarship, a prize and a real chance at life — thanks to the school. Without any doubt in my mind, a hero in this has been David Bruce at the Otago Daily Times. He had the courage to tackle this growing story in a sensitive and totally professional manner, even though his unveiling of the situation earned him enmity among those who thought the school was somehow sacrosanct from public scrutiny. WBHS now needs all the support it can. Let us, as a community, now work together to put this chapter behind us. — Allan Dick
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 19:26:29 +0000
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