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The former headteacher of Beaulieu Convent School has retired after 17 years – just nine months after stepping down into the "less visible" role of Executive Director amid criticism of senior leadership at the school.
Announcing Chris Beirne's retirement today, the Trustees and Directors of Beaulieu Convent School and Mr Beirne issued a joint statement describing his "17 years of dedicated service" and his "unwavering focus" on learning and education.
However, Mr Beirne's leadership came into question at the end of last year after the shock departure of "much-loved" Head of School Andrea Firby who was described by parents as "a stalwart of the Beaulieu community".
The school's senior management stressed that the popular member of staff took voluntary redundancy as part of a process to streamline senior management, but were subject to widespread rumours and speculation, and fierce criticism on social media from parents – some of whom vowed to keep their children off school in protest.
A petition was also set up which called for a vote of no confidence in the trustees, CEO and COO of the school, and gained more than 1,000 signatures.
Pictured: Mrs Firby was "the face of Beaulieu" for over a decade.
An Independent Jersey Schools Review Framework report conducted in November 2022 was made public in January.
Among it's findings were observations that some staff had been "over-generous" in their self-assessment and that recent changes in senior leadership and poor communication had led to "a lack of accountability and a dip in educational standards".
This was shortly followed by a restructuring of the school’s senior management, and the stepping-back of the former Head Teacher Mr Beirne.
Pictured: An independent report into Beaulieu Convent School found that poor communication had led to "a lack of accountability and a dip in educational standards".
However Mr Beirne, who was due to retire at the end of 2024, was asked to continue helping with "less visible" elements of the school’s management before he leaves and teach a "limited number" of religious education lessons.
A follow-up report published in May this year found that the school is taking "effective action" to remedy its problems, including prioritising improving communication with parents, developing a new strategic vision for the school for the next 18 months, and transforming their record keeping systems in relation to the checks that are made on staff.
Beaulieu also confirmed that Deputy Headteacher Paul Robinson will be continuing as Acting Headteacher until September 2024, when Matthew Burke will take over as permanent Headteacher.
“Mr Chris Beirne, Chief Executive Officer of Beaulieu Convent School, retires after 17 years of dedicated service to the School and over 40 years of significant service to children and young people’s education within the UK and Jersey.
"He began teaching in Jersey at Victoria College in September 1996, moving to the Island from Hampshire. In September 2002, he was appointed Vice-Principal of Jersey College for Girls and was intrinsically involved in the project management and development of the new JCG school building on Mont Millais. He served as Acting Principal of JCG in 2004 and in 2005.
"In September 2006, he was appointed as the first male Headteacher of Beaulieu. Following the School’s management restructure in 2016, the roles of Head of School were introduced, responsible for the day to day management. As part of this restructure Mr Beirne was appointed as the Board of Directors’ Chief Executive Officer. This created the opportunity for the Board to draw upon Chris's experience to advance and develop the School facilities. He has been instrumental in developing the quality of the School campus, securing investment of over £10 million, which has provided for a special learning centre, modern classrooms, a school café, a new sixth form centre and a new bespoke sports centre with fitness rooms, dance studio and quality teaching spaces. Throughout his teaching career his unwavering focus has been on students’ learning and education.
"In addition to his work at Beaulieu, Chris Beirne has also held a number of Non-Executive roles in the island, serving as the Secretary of the Jersey Association of Headteachers, Chairman of REAC (the States Religious Education Advisory Council), a member of the Management Board of the Jersey Teachers Pension Scheme and Vice-Chairman of the States of Jersey Complaints Panel. The Board of Trustees thank him for all he has achieved over the past 17 years with Beaulieu and wish him a happy retirement."
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