Jean Else (born c. 1951) is an English former educator and head teacher, who garnered both acclaim and notoriety over the course of her long teaching career. Found guilty in 2006 of nepotism, financial mismanagement and making illegal payments to staff, she was dismissed and banned from working as a head teacher. In 2011 she had her Damehood revoked. She is the only woman created a Dame (of any order of British female knighthood) to date to have the honour revoked.

Career

Jean Else took over

Whalley Range High School Whalley Range 11–18 High School, also known as Whalley Range High School is a girls' school in Whalley Range, Manchester, England. History The school was founded in 1891 and was bought by the Education Committee of the Corporation in 1908 wh ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 1994 when the girls'

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is r ...

had the worst

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...

rate in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...

. During her headship, truancy was cut to below the national average, pupil numbers were almost doubled, and

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private s ...

results improved from 16% to 34% of pupils getting the top grades. School inspectors called it "a very good school with many strengths and few weaknesses ... exceptionally well led and very efficiently managed and administered". In addition to her activities at Whalley Range, she also undertook work for the local council and government, earning £140,000 per year.

Misconduct, dismissal and banned as head teacher

In November 2004, she and several other senior staff members were suspended from duty, pending an investigation by

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

after allegations were made by the Audit Commission following their own two-year investigation. The General Teaching Council charged Else with cronyism for promoting her twin sister from part-time clerical assistant to the post of the assistant head. The council's professional conduct committee said Else was guilty of failing to observe minimum standards in recruiting and promoting staff. In August 2006, Else was dismissed after auditors accused her of nepotism, financial mismanagement and making illegal payments to staff. Her sister, Maureen Rochford, and Stewart Scott, director of

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the ...

, were also dismissed. The disciplinary panel also banned Else from working as a head teacher, deputy or assistant head. It said Else lacked "openness" in the way in which she hired and promoted teachers.

Damehood revoked

On 8 February 2011, the decision of the

Honours Forfeiture Committee The Honours Forfeiture Committee is an ''ad hoc'' committee convened under the United Kingdom Cabinet Office, which considers cases referred to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom where an individual's actions subsequent to their being awar ...

was announced in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

'' that Else's DBE, which had been awarded in 2001, had been revoked. She is the only woman created a Dame (of any order of British female knighthood) to date to have the honour revoked.

Other affiliations

Else was a trustee of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

from 2003 to 2007.

Personal life

Else lives in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, with Mavis Pittilla.

References

External links

Audit Commission report October 2005; retrieved 13 September 2012 from archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Else, Jean Living people People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour Schoolteachers from Greater Manchester Heads of schools in England Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 1950s births English twins English educators People from Macclesfield