A review that criticized the headmaster’s leadership at one of Australia’s most prestigious institutions resulted in his dismissal.
Tim Petterson, the headmaster of Shore School, assumed his position at the North Sydney campus in 2020, and has overseen the departure of more than 90 staff employees.
Parents and staff at the 133-year-old Anglican school, where annual tuition may reach $37,350, criticized Mr. Petterson’s management style.
He submitted a groveling letter of apology to the staff earlier this year, acknowledging he had been unintentionally “disrespectful, insensitive, and irresponsible.”
Consultant Rhonda Brighton-Hall was hired by the school council to review the leadership culture of the school, identify reasons behind divisions, and look into concerns about Mr Petterson’s leadership.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, teachers had expressed their worries and low staff morale in letters to the school’s governing body.
Before presenting the findings to the board, Brighton-Hall conducted interviews, evaluated written responses, and performed an anonymous survey.
This week, as the school was getting ready to welcome the boys back for term three, Mr. Petterson was notified of the council’s decision.
On Friday, the school community will be informed.
The previous head of the prestigious St. Andrew’s Cathedral School, John Collier, has taken over as Mr. Petterson’s interim replacement.
The chair of the council Bay Warburton said the decision had been made after ‘deep deliberation’.
‘This decision is not based on any suggestion of improper conduct on [Petterson’s] part,’ he said, in a letter sent to parents. ‘However, Council has concluded that in the interests of unity within the school, leadership renewal is required.
‘While the council appreciates the significance of a change in leadership, we believe that it is in the best interests of the school and its students.’
Mr. Petterson was just the eighth principal at Shore, also known as Sydney Church of England Grammar School.
Its past students include Hollywood actor Errol Flynn, media mogul Frank Packer and former prime minister John Gorton.
The school is known as one of the ‘jewels in the crown’ of the Sydney Anglican church. A quarter of the students are sons or grandsons of old boys.
The school previously made headlines in April when students were forbidden from bringing laptops to class.
Under the terms of the Bring Your Own Device policy, Shore School first permitted students to attend class with their own devices.
However, the famous, single-sex Anglican college reversed course and imposed a ban after discovering that many boys were progressively losing focus on their teachers in favor of gambling, pornography, social media, and streaming websites.
According to reports, a former student who graduated from Shore School last year wrote a piece about how frequently his peers mistreated laptops for the school newspaper.
‘Students are gambling, gaming, scrolling through social media, watching Netflix, purchasing things on eBay, video conferencing with their friends and viewing pornography all while their teacher is addressing them,’ he said.
‘I am five weeks out from the trial HSC in one of the top classes and this is still happening every single day.’
The author wrote that ‘fewer than half of the students in most of my classes are paying full attention to teachers, with most staring blankly at their laptops’.
He recalled how one teacher had to stop his class ‘every 10 minutes’ to tell students to look up and pay attention.