A primary school in the UK has been thrown into chaos, after losing every single member of its teaching staff in a mass resignation on the last day of term.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School in Bristol has ended the academic year in a tumultuous manner, by managing to lose every member of its permanent teaching staff.
None of the seven classes at the school will return to their former teachers in September, the Daily Mail reports. The unusual mass resignation follows a year of turmoil which left more than 16 different staff members covering classes after their colleagues resigned.
It is reported that former head teacher, Clare Murray, left the school early last year, with Louisa Wilson taking over as executive headteacher at the end of October 2016. A UK department of education Ofsted report rated the school as ‘good’ in November 2013 but more recent findings showed that less than one quarter of the school’s students achieved the required standard for reading, writing and maths.
One anonymous teacher at the beleaguered primary school told the paper that staff had reached their limit:
“All of the teachers are leaving. We’ve had enough. Many of them were signed off with stress, and the pressure was unreasonable. 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.”
Karla Wheeler, a representative of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said the situation is worrying:
“It’s an impossible situation. Headteachers have a duty of care to their staff. We did a work survey, and it came back really negative. We’re worried for the children.”
