Principal of prestigious school stood down

The principal of prestigious Queensland school, Somerville House, has been stood down and replaced with one of the school’s former heads.

The move follows a spate of allegations involving four of Brisbane’s top private schools, culminating in a major investigation by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA), which oversees the governance of the schools.

Somerville House principal, Flo Kearney, had resigned on October 10 following an investigation into the “abrupt termination” of Rick Hiley, a senior employee at the school.

In June, the PMSA launched an investigation into the circumstances around Hiley’s termination and, after interviewing nine people over several weeks, cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Also cleared was PMSA chairman, Rob McCall, who later decided to resign in order to provide a “clean start” for the PMSA.

However, while the two employees were cleared, the investigation raised issues about the processes that led to Hiley’s termination, and this was subsequently discussed with Somerville House’s school council.

In a statement earlier this month, the PMSA’s council said it had accepted the resignation of Kearney, who was to see out the rest of the school year.

However, this week, PMSA chairman, Greg Adsett, announced that the school’s former principal, Dr Ness Goodwin – who was head of the school from 2004-2010, would take over from Kearney, leading to her immediate departure.

The Educator has contacted the PMSA for further comment.