ELT World Discussion

[SandyM]

The training outfit known as Windsor Tefl, or Windsor Schools, recently lost the right to run Trinity Tefl certificate courses - but they're still advertising for gullible punters!

Be warned, as the proprietor of this school, Paul Lowe, has several CCJs outstanding against him, as he has a nasty habit of failing to pay his bills too. Unpaid rents, defaulted salaries, and unrefunded course fees are how he makes most of his cash.

Avoid this school - avoid this man!

You can read more about him here:

http://windsortefl.blogspot.com/

There are plenty of other places to do your Tefl certificate - but certainly not Windsor Tefl!
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Sandy McManus

http://tefltradesman.blogspot.com

[scot47]

Who in their right mind would have anything to do with a commodity trademarked "Windsor" ? Do these people have ANY fans left ?
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www.skavivascot.com

[leprofdanglais]

Whichever Windsor you get involved with, expect to be buggered (allegedly).
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Monsieur le Prof d'Anglais

[David]

Sandy emailed me (fairly) recently and it seems he's no longer permitted to comment on Paul Lowe or Windsor TEFL on the TEFL Trade blog.

[alexcase]

Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools has recently threatened both me and the owner of TEFL.net with legal action, despite the fact that neither his name or the name of his school had been mentioned on TEFLtastic up to that point:

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/efl/letter-from-a-reader-windsor-schools/#comment-2277

In the all of 4 pages he read of my blog, the "proof" he managed to come up with before making threats was a Google search that included the name "Wally Windsor" and "EL Gazette". The fact that those search terms were for two seperate posts, both unconnected with him and his school, has not stopped a series of increasingly bizarre and unpleasant threats.

Probably not coincidentally, the anti- Paul Lowe blog of Wally Windsor has suddenly become readable only by members:

http://windsortefl.blogspot.com

And Sandy's blog has also hit the dust:

http://tefltrade.blog-city.com/

I still have no evidence about the business dealings of this character, which is why I have never mentioned them on any blog or forum, but it seems clear from his actions that he has something to hide and clear from the words he uses that he is a very unpleasant character.

TEFLtastic blog- "All the truth that's fit to teach"- www.tefl.net/alexcase

[David]

I was hoping that Sandy would relent on his self-imposed hiatus but after a month and a half, it looks like it really is the end of TEFL Trade.

[Emma]

If that guy's a dodgy operator in the UK then report him to trading standards. Advise other people to do the same and then they'll investigate.

Or am I being particularly naive there?

[David]

As the fine and upstanding Mr. Case (TEFL president elect?) notes, you don't go around threatening to sue people left, right and sundry unless you have something to hide.

Sandy went after this person in a big way and very amusing it was to read. You can learn a lot from getting in touch with Sandy - sadly all mention of Paul Lowe was removed from his blog for obvious reasons.

[alexcase]

I would be grateful if you could help me and TEFLers everywhere by sparing ten minutes to read this and do one of the actions suggested below

Some background: 2 weeks ago a certain Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL came out of nowhere and into my life by threatening to sue me and the owner of the site my blog,TEFLtastic, is on. Obviously boosted by the success this effortless method had in shutting down Sandy McManus's TEFLtrade blog and Wally Windsor's site, he didn't even think it was worth spending a few minutes checking what TEFLtastic had to say about him before firing off a threatening email. I can say that with full confidence because before I reprinted his email mentioning legal action there was not one reference to Paul Lowe or Windsor Schools on my blog.

So, why should you care? Apart from the specific loss of a couple of blogs, I would argue that there is a major principle at stake here, one that could affect all of us and one that we are approaching a critical period with.

The TEFL world on the internet is rapidly changing from one where a quick Google search can bring up a full and colourful range of views from teachers, students, trainees and the occasional crank, to one where any TEFL related searches will find you yet again on Cactus TEFL or i-to-i TEFL. My accidental brush with Mr Lowe has helped me come up with a plan to tackle that loss of our influence. Whether it will be a successful last stand or not I can't say, but here's how to go out with our guns blazing:

My proposal is to make a lesson of Mr Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL that other school owners and TEFL training organisations can learn from by making sure that everyone who searches for him on the internet hears what we have to say, and making sure there are enough of us saying it that he has to give up the use of unjustified threatening emails to silence us. As diversity of voices is the whole point, I won't even suggest what you could say about him, but here are some simple and time efficient ways of using this opportunity to show the TEFL big boys we won't be gagged:
- Paste this and/or your own comments into an email and send it to everyone you know, especially people in TEFL
- Leave a brief message of support here or anywhere else he or his school get a mention
- Google him or his school and only click on the pages that give an independant viewpoint
- Give links to such pages in your blog, MSN page, Facebook page, email signature etc.
- Paste this post and/or make a comment in your blog with suitable tags, or in any of those other places mentioned above
- Start a new thread on this topic in TEFL and other forums
- Start a suitably titled new blog with info and links on Paul Lowe and Windsor TEFL-it takes literally 5 minutes to set up a free blog on Blogger or Wordpress,and if I can anyone can!
- Write to Paul himself at paul@windsorschools.eclipse.co.uk and let him know what you think



I hope I have convinced you that by making our voices heard in this way we can all benefit in the longer term, or at least that I am genuine in my attempts and worth 5 minutes of your time to help.Any help at all would be much appreciated

Thanks

Alex Case, TEFL teacher and blogger.
TEFLtastic blog- 'All the truth that's fit to teach'- www.tefl.net/alexcase

[SandyM]

Ach, there's no need to worry about me, fellas. I shall be, ... erm, ... 'revealing' myself on ... April 1st - April Fools' Day!

Keep an eye on these two blogs on that day...
[url]
http://tefltrade.blog-city.com[/url]

http://windsortefl.blogspot.com

Don't forget now, will yas!!
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Sandy McManus

http://tefltradesman.blogspot.com

[Henry_Cowell]

Is this "SandyM" the same person who wrote the following about Dave Sperling?

"Yes, it's that annoying little yiddo again"

http://tefltrade.blog-city.com/dave_sperling_is_a_wnker.htm#comment

Just wondering...

[SandyM]

The latest I've heard on Paul Lowe and Windsor Schools is this:

It is Easter and Lowe and behold, the lowest of the Lowe as he is known (sources will NOT be named so don’t push me) has apparently been carted off to the local hospital for trying to TOP HIMSELF!!

Let us all hope for the sake of what’s left of the TEFL Industry there is NO resurrection!

And this it seems is not all, as sources close to the old viper say that he has been on antidepressants for YEARS and his "I’m right about everything" stance and pomposity is really just a front for the coward and a liar that he is!

The Lowe-Life is in RIGHT STATE according to the inside sources and the Lowe clan are a’ weeping and a’ wailing at his bedside - HAHA!!

Credit where credit is due, as the SOURCE says the NOBLE LAIRD OF LARD [TEFL Blacklist] is his top enemy and the one that really gets him foaming at the mouth!! Only a close SECOND is Lord ALEX of CASE- BLESS HIS GOLDEN TEFL LOYAL HEART!!

So let's strike while the iron is hotter than a tart's phone on a Stag Night and stick the boot in lads!

I know it sounds a bit harsh but the old f**er deserves everything he gets!

THE TEFL-Lad

I've idea who this 'Tefl-lad' is, but he appears to be close to the source. Can anyone else corroborate his assertions?

If PL is ineed in hospital after attempting to commit suicide, I feel very sorry for him. Clearly he needs help, and I hope he is able to recognise that now, and that he gets it.

Either way, it's certainly a case of 'Game Over', I feel...
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Sandy McManus

http://tefltradesman.blogspot.com