Sixteen teachers from a primary school in Bristol have ALL quit their jobs in the last year due to the stressful atmosphere at the school. Seven of the teachers are long-term staff members.
Several teachers had already been signed off work due to stress while another seven left yesterday as Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School closed for summer.
Governors at the school said an entirely new teaching staff would be put in place by September. Parents are now concerned about the impact of the loss of so many teachers on their pupils.
Teachers say high workloads made it “impossible” to work at the school, according to The Sun. Union representatives blamed poor leadership for the teachers’ decisions to leave their jobs.
Several teachers claimed they could not work with the new executive head teacher Louisa Wilson who replaced the former head teacher Clare Murray.
Primary school's teachers quit en masse over 'impossibly high workload' https://t.co/mSqkmnmZ6i via @yahooNewsUK
— Margaret Tandy (@citta60) July 22, 2017
Ms Wilson, who is also head of nearby St Stephen’s Church of England Junior School took over at the end of October 2016. The former head teacher left the school shortly after the beginning of the 2016/2017 school year.
A teacher who did not wish to be named, said: “All of the teachers are leaving. We’ve had enough. Many of them were signed off with stress, and the pressure was unreasonable.
“We were told if we did not follow the head’s methods, we would not be welcome at the school.
“There have been a number of teachers here who have spent their entire teaching career at Our Lady, it’s become home to them.
“Leaving will cause them great emotional stress because they share such a tight bond with the school, the children, the parents and the community.”
The school in Kingswood, Bristol, had been rated as good by watchdog Ofsted in 2013 but standards have since slipped significantly.
SATs results from the end of 2016 were below the floor standards set by the Department of Education, with less than one-quarter of pupils achieving the required standard for reading, writing and maths.
The local council of South Gloucestershire which runs the school had called for improvement at the school.
A council spokesman said “Our Lady of Lourdes has experienced a lot of change over the past year, but we are pleased that thanks to a lot of hard work, the school and its pupils are in a strong position for the future.
“There has also been a significant transition of staff during the school year, with some staff choosing to leave mid-year. As vacancies have arisen, staff have been recruited to temporary contracts to provide continuity for the children.
“A new team has been put together including a new head teacher, Nick Bracey, and this week the pupils met their new teachers for next year. The existing governing body remains in place to ensure continuity and stability during this time of transition”.
