Sarah Gillett, former head of ACE Schools Multi Academy Trust in Plymouth, Devon, was described by staff as “mean” and “threatening”, a teaching behavior panel heard. The Trust, which has schools in Devon and Cornwall, specializes in teaching children aged four to 16 with special educational needs. Mrs Gillett, 48, was found guilty of bullying and “unacceptable professional behaviour” after it was revealed she had berated staff and lied about her qualifications. The commission also concluded that he “planned” to fire a member of staff in retaliation for a complaint he raised about her in the summer of 2016.
“I love you, but I’m coming for you”
The ‘trigger’ for the escalation of staff concerns was a staff meeting in March 2019 following an Ofsted inspection which had rated the Trust ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ in parts. The panel heard Ms Gillett, who took up her post in July 2016, told staff they had failed ACE and were wasting taxpayers’ money. He said there was no place in the school for under-performing staff and that people had to be got rid of if they weren’t good enough. Addressing all the staff, she said: “I love you, but I’m coming for you” or words to that effect, in what she claimed was a clip from a Turkish film. The panel heard he used a saying to tell a meeting of senior leaders they could quit if they didn’t like it. Ms Gillett had a tendency to send “nasty” or “smelly” emails berating staff, evidence heard.
Gillett ‘lacked integrity’
The conduct panel said her behavior towards staff amounted to bullying. He said: “Staff felt they were prevented from raising any concerns either informally or through the whistleblowing policy and/or civil complaints which in turn could create a serious risk that safeguarding issues would not be raised by staff.” The panel also said he “lacked integrity” by wrongly saying he had a master’s degree in education. It found that Ms Gillett was: “Knowing that she did not hold a Masters in Education, that she knew that her CV falsely stated that she held such a qualification and also knew that misleading information had been placed on the Trust’s website and shared with the Department for Education.” Ms Gillett was suspended as chief executive in May 2019 and left the Trust in July 2019 “by mutual agreement, prior to any disciplinary hearing”. The ban means Ms Gillett is “banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, related youth accommodation or children’s home in England”. The commission also heard allegations of favoritism and nepotism, but did not find those allegations substantiated.
