November 22, 2007
A popular teacher killed himself after complaining of being victimised and bullied at the school where he worked, an inquest heard yesterday.
Keith Waller, 35, was an experienced teacher at a primary school who was highly regarded by colleagues, pupils and parents.
But he felt "singled out" after the school received a poor Ofsted report in 2006 and his work was closely scrutinised by the headteacher, Ruth Slater.
In a bid to reduce the pressure, the ICT co-ordinator and Year 4 teacher resigned from the senior management team at St Lawrence Church of England Primary School in Rowledge, near Colchester in Essex, and started looking for a new job.
But he failed to turn up to work after an unsuccessful interview earlier this year.
When police went to his home in Sudbury, Suffolk, they found he had hanged himself.
The inquest in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, heard from Mrs Slater, who first observed one of Mr Waller's lessons shortly after she took up her post in January 2006.
"At that time I judged his lessons to be between satisfactory and inadequate," she said in a statement.
"In June 2006 there was an Ofsted inspection and again the same judgement was made that improvement was needed."
Mrs Slater promoted him to a post on the senior leadership team in September 2006.
But further checks suggested he was "not making the children work" and was not "marking work in line with school policy".
A "target setting" meeting was set up at the end of November and early the following January, Mr Waller - who had joined the school in 2004 - quit as head of Key Stage 2 learning.
He attended an interview at a school in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on April 30, but failed to turn up for work the following day.
Officers found him dead at his home on May 2. His last will and testament was near his body.
The day before his body was discovered he had been due to meet the headteacher and a NASUWT teachers' union representative to discuss his 'capability' as a teacher, the inquest was told.
A close friend of Mr Waller's said the teacher felt he was being unfairly "pressured" after the Ofsted inspection.
"He resigned from a very senior post at the school in an attempt to reduce this but to no avail," Peter Thornton said in a statement.
"He felt he was being bullied and victimised. It seemed nothing was ever good enough."
Mr Thornton added his friend, who was unmarried and lived alone, had been "appalled" at an "ambiguous" reference given for his interview.
After Mr Waller's death, dozens of people posted glowing tributes on the internet.
One parent said: "As a teacher myself I applaud his excellent teaching, hard work and fun nature. He was a complete asset to the school."
But in a letter that he wrote to the NASUWT - which was handed to the coroner but not read in the inquest - Mr Waller complained his competence was being questioned and said he was suffering from depression and losing sleep.
"I feel I have been unfairly treated and victimised by my headteacher," he added.
"What started as an issue about marking somehow became manipulated to become issues concerning every single aspect of my performance."
Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean recorded a verdict of suicide.
He told Mr Waller's family: "We have heard of Keith's own perceptions he felt victimised and bullied.
"It is not for this court to make any judgements on that."
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Waller's mother Jean, 70, said her son had been "let down by the school".
Mr Waller's half-brother, Terry Brittain, 48, said the family still needed answers and he would be contacting the school governors.
"We don't want a witch hunt. We want to know what happened," he said.
Chairman of the governors Bob Coote, who attended the inquest, refused to comment afterwards.
(Reproduced in full from dailymail.co.uk)
