John McIntosh (educator)

John McIntosh, OBE, MA, FRSA, HonFCP, HonFASC (born 6 February 1946) was Headmaster of the London Oratory School for 29 years until his retirement on 31 December 2006.

He was educated at Ebury School, Shoreditch College and Sussex University. He joined the London Oratory School as an Assistant Master for Mathematics at the age of 21 in 1967, was promoted to Deputy Headmaster in 1971 and was appointed Headmaster in 1977.

McIntosh was appointed to the Conservative think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies Education Group in 1982, ; he became a member of its Council in 2005. Between 1988 and 1991, he served on the Education Advisory Council of the Institute of Economic Affairs. He served on the Health Education Council between 1985 and 1988, and on the National Curriculum Council between 1990 and 1993. He has been a member of the Catholic Union of Great Britain since 1978.

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1996. He was also made an additional member of the Headmasters Conference.

He is currently the Dean and Education Advisor of Academy of St. Cecilia in London, ( [http://www.santacecilia.it] ). He is also a member of the Abbot's Advisory Committee at Ampleforth College, a governor of St Philip's Preparatory School in London, and a trustee of the English Schools Orchestra and Choir.

Controversies

In 1999, McIntosh, a former Tory education advisor, was accused of "deceitful meddling in politics" in an attempt to embarrass Labour leader Tony Blair. In a letter to 1000 boys at the school, he asked parents to contribute at least £30 a month to cover a £250,000 deficit in the school's budget that he blamed directly on government policy. McIntosh was accused of playing politics to on the eve of Labour's party conference.

"All of us are absolutely livid about the sheer duplicity of the man. He is complaining about cuts in funding when his school is getting £1m more this year than the average secondary school in my constituency," said one minister. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1999/sep/25/labourconference.labour3 Duplicity claim in PM boys' school row | Politics | The Guardian]

Graham Lane, education chairman of the Local Government Association, accused McIntosh of politically motivated blackmail. "Opted-out schools still receive extra funding at the expense of all other schools. If he cannot administer his budget, that is his problem... He is playing party politics on the eve of the Labour party conference," he said. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1999/sep/25/labourconference.labour3 Duplicity claim in PM boys' school row | Politics | The Guardian]

Sir Bob Salisbury, knighted for his services to education, said: "Grant-maintained schools have been feather-bedded and were funded very generously indeed. It's a luxury if your parents can stump up anything and we would never try anything like that in this place." [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990925/ai_n14244297 Oratory head is condemned over levy on parents]

Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said parental giving already ran into tens of millions of pounds each year and called on the Government to issue guidelines to head teachers to limit requests for donations. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990925/ai_n14244297 Oratory head is condemned over levy on parents]

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the London Oratory clearly suggested to parents that their money was needed to maintain staffing levels. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990927/ai_n14244788 National Association of Head Teachers]

Hammersmith and Fulham council offered McIntosh a £250,000 loan, but McIntosh still said he would ask parents for money. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991129/ai_n14270244&tag=rel.res2?tag=col1;fa_related_widget Oratory still asks parents for money despite loan offer]

References

External links

* [http://www.academyofsaintcecilia.com/members/index.htm Academy of St Cecilia home page]
* [http://www.london-oratory.org/Further.pdf London Oratory School detailed information]
* [http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Images/feature1_tcm21-75031.pdf Article and photograph on his retirement from London Oratory]