Female staff members have made further allegations of inappropriate behaviour against a convicted head teacher. Gregory Hill was incarcerated for 20 weeks in August for making romantic advances towards a 23-year-old trainee while working at Howard Junior School in King’s Lynn. Hill has not responded to the new allegations. Five women, including Hannah Gidman who worked at the school in 2019, have stated that Hill made sexualising and inappropriate comments towards them. All five said they feared raising concerns with Hill’s employer as it could lead to them losing their jobs.
When Gidman moved to the UK from Australia and began working at Howard Junior School aged 22, she reported her first interaction with Hill was positive but “intense”. However, a meal with colleagues would be Hill’s first red flag as he complained about not being invited. Hill later made comments to Gidman that he could imagine her on a beach in a bikini, making her feel “icky” and “uncomfortable”. She also said Hill would make “sexualising comments” towards her, putting her off making a formal complaint.
Four anonymous women told the BBC that Hill would typically mention their looks. One woman said it put her under great discomfort and forced her to resign from what she referred to as her beloved job. Hill’s trial earlier this year heard that he pursued a relationship with the trainee and messaged her to say he had “fallen in love” with her. Hill also controlled and isolated the trainee from other staff members.
Since December 2023, Hill’s former workplace has been part of the Eastern Multi-Academy Trust. While he was head teacher, it was a single academy school, and Hill was the CEO of the trust. Hill would have been privy to any concerns raised about him to the board. Scott Lyons, National Education Union’s Norfolk branch secretary, argued that any head teachers who doubled up as the CEO of a trust could dodge scrutiny from overseers. The Department for Education stated that employees should feel safe at work and that leadership uncertainties should be raised with the school’s internal staff grievance process, their trade unions or directly to the Education Department. Gidman, by now back in Australia, spoke up against Hill and called for changes in the complaints system, asserting that the protection offered by single academy schools was inadequate
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