'If this could happen to a strong leader like my sister it could happen to anyone'

Published on Saturday 7 February 2009 18:32

FOR 54 years, whether a pupil, student or teacher, Irene Hogg never missed a day's education. From primary school to university, and beyond as a teacher and headmistress, Miss Hogg battled bad weather and ill health to get to the classroom every day.

So when her elderly parents, Henry and Nancy, received a call from the police to say she had not arrived for work after the Easter weekend last year, they knew something was terribly wrong. In Melbourne, Australia, her brother, Roger, was getting up for work when his distraught mother called. Within minutes he was on his way to the airport.

But by the time he got to the departure lounge, his sister had been found dead near her Borders home. Miss Hogg had taken her own life, days after enduring a gruelling five-day inspection of the school where she had been head teacher for 19 years.

Colleagues said she had been upset by criticisms made about Glendinning Terrace Primary, Galashiels, and that her distress had deepened through the week. After going home for the weekend, she was last seen alive near her home on Sunday evening but never returned to school.

In the aftermath of her death, it emerged that Miss Hogg had felt under huge pressure in her role, and months before the inspection had appealed to Scottish Borders Council for support. But instead of relief, Miss Hogg found herself faced with one of the most stressful ordeals of a head teacher's career: a school inspection.

In his first full interview since his sister's death, just days after winning a campaign to get a fatal accident inquiry, Roger Hogg said his sister had been let down by the very people she had turned to for help.

He told Scotland on Sunday: "At around Christmas time she said to the local authority, 'I've got a problem here, I'm not coping very well'. There are times in people's lives when that is the case, even the strongest people like Irene."

Hogg says he has been told that his sister's request for help was passed direct to the highest levels of the council. He claims that while the request wasn't ignored, the council considered the wrong type of help.

He said: "They looked at trying to put somebody else into her class as a classroom assistant, but that wasn't really a solution. The problem was the absolute nature of the workload and how she was feeling at the time. I don't think she was very well."

On top of the stressful situation, Miss Hogg was then told she would face a week-long school inspection, which would examine every aspect of the primary. It was the final straw for her stress levels.

Hogg said: "Colleagues told me she was completely distraught throughout, and she went downhill all week. From day to day things were getting worse as far as she was concerned. She was being given feedback on a verbal basis as the week went by, and she was getting more and more depressed by it."

A few days after the inspection, Miss Hogg failed to turn up for work, and on March 26 she was found dead at a beauty spot near her home.

"Irene was always the one in charge, always being strong at the front and looking after everyone else, but just at the time when she needed help there was a problem," said Hogg.

"I have asked if the local authority could have said to the inspectors, 'No, this is an inappropriate time to have an inspection because of the situation in this particular school', but it's not been possible to explore that in any depth.

"I don't know whether the inspectors noticed Irene becoming more distressed during the week they were there. It's difficult to tell because I've had very limited access to any information at all about what happened."

Hogg added there was "no question whatsoever" in his mind that the stress of her job combined with the inspection led to the death of his sister.

"I think she had been in a really desperate situation and a really desperate place," he said.

"It's interesting that since this happened the local authority has taken action to make sure no head teachers are also teaching," he added. "It seems to me that's a reaction to what's happened."

However, he said he hoped the fatal accident inquiry would answer the question marks hanging over the causes of Miss Hogg's death, and was relieved the inquiry would take place.

He said: "The announcement of the inquiry is a vindication of the position we've taken since this thing arose, that there are things that need to come out into the open, and the only place we can really see that is a full inquiry.

"I want them to explore issues around what happened when she said she wasn't coping, what support she had, and why the whole inspection even took place.

"I would like to think that both Scottish Borders Council and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education would want to see the full extent of this come out in the open because they are interested in making sure these circumstances don't happen again."

Hogg said hundreds of teachers who had worked with his sister, and dozens who had never met her, contacted the family to offer their condolences. He said many had suffered similar levels of stress in the face of school inspections.

"I've spoken to a lot of teachers and head teachers who have said that the pressures around the time of an inspection are absolutely enormous," he said.

"If everybody knows the pressures around the time of the inspection are enormous, then it begs the question how do you cope with somebody who says in the first instance they are not coping well in their job, and for whom an inspection is upcoming? She didn't know about the inspection when she asked for help, but it still went ahead."

Those who knew Miss Hogg were shocked that such a talented teacher and a strong woman could have been so affected by the pressures she was under, said Hogg.

"I went to the school shortly after what happened to see Derek Reid, the acting head teacher. I walked in the door and he looked at me and said, 'This is a great little school, it has a great atmosphere about it, and that was very much down to Irene'.

"Irene was considered by everyone, including me, to be one of the most well-balanced, able and capable people it would ever be possible to meet.

"She had, only a few months before, been offered by the local authority the head teacher position at a much larger school in Galashiels, but she preferred to work through to her retirement date at Glendinning. It just shows how much they trusted her, and how dedicated she was to her school."

For the community she was a great teacher and a strong leader. She was all those things to Hogg, and more: she was a wonderful older sister.

Hogg said: "She was the kind of person with lots of friends and always something happening. She was always going away somewhere to play golf or watch the rugby internationals. Later on as head teacher and a classroom teacher she was always on the go, and education was her life.

"Irene and I were always very comfortable around each other and played golf together many times. I have many 'bad' memories of playing Irene at squash – she was a very good squash player and used to have me running all over the court with no positive outcome for me.

"There is nothing that we can do to turn back the clock, but everyone should be absolutely certain of one thing here – if this could happen to Irene Hogg then it could happen to anyone. Ignoring that fact risks repetition."

Suicide teacher 'asked for help'

THE brother of a Scots head teacher who took her own life after a critical school inspection has claimed top council officials failed to deal properly with a request for help just months before she died.

Roger Hogg, whose sister Irene died in March last year, claimed the highest level of management at Scottish Borders Council was informed that she was struggling to cope with her workload.

In his first full interview, he told Scotland on Sunday that the council only discussed providing a classroom assistant even though his sister needed help with administration.

He says an inspection was allowed to go ahead three months later, despite the concerns. Hogg says he has evidence that his sister was distraught by the daily verbal feedback given by the inspectors and questions why it was allowed to proceed.

Hogg believes the combined stress created a "desperate situation" and drove his otherwise mentally strong and hard-working sister to take her life.

Hogg was speaking after the Crown Office announced last week that there would be a fatal accident inquiry into his sister's death.

Her school, Glendinning Terrace Primary in Galashiels, was inspected in March last year by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE).

After a week-long assessment, during which colleagues said Miss Hogg became more distraught every day, the head teacher of 19 years failed to turn up for work. She was found dead on March 26 in the Cheviot Hills near Jedburgh.

Hogg has also revealed that:

&#149 His sister had been offered a job at a larger Galashiels school months before her death, but chose to stay at the 81-pupil Glendinning primary

&#149 Teachers who did not even know Miss Hogg contacted the family after her death to say they had suffered similar stress levels during inspections.

He said: "There is no question whatsoever that the stress of the job led to Irene's death. I want to see answers to our questions, about what happened when she told the council she wasn't coping, what support she had and why the inspection went ahead.

"I would like to think both Scottish Borders Council and HMIE would want to see the full extent of this whole thing come out in the open because they are interested in making sure these circumstances don't happen again."

Glenn Rodger, director of education at Scottish Borders Council, said: "We are confident that the level of support provided to Miss Hogg by the authority will become evident through the inquiry process."