A formal review will be carried out at a village school where half the staff left their posts in a little over a year.

High turnover at Halling primary and complaints raised by former staff are to be investigated by a team appointed by the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC).

Trustees contacted the RSC asking for “independent support in dealing with complaints and helping staff and parents with concerns and worries”, a letter to parents this week confirmed.

Since January last year, out of a total of 45, there have been 15 staff leave their posts and a further seven are due to go after handing in their notices.

A letter from Antonia Nunns, chairman of trustees at the Cliffe Woods Academy Trust, questioned whether former staff were “willing and able to rise to the challenge” of implementing improvements the trust identified when it took charge in April 2019.

Since that letter was published and quoted in KentOnline's sister paper, the Medway Messenger, we have been in contact with numerous school sources about the situation, including a former member of staff representing 14 colleagues.

In a statement co-signed by the former employees, who we have agreed not to name, they said Mrs Nunns’ comments had left them “devastated, hurt and angered”.

It said: “We understood a new headteacher would bring change. No one working at the school was averse to change but we were used to working with a strong leadership team where change resulted from a clear rationale, careful planning, explanation, consultation and input, where appropriate, from a range of stakeholders.

“Halling was a good school with outstanding safeguarding, behaviour and Early Years Foundation Stage (Ofsted 2015).

“In December 2017, we were the first in Medway to be awarded the Achievement for All Quality Mark. Halling was exceeding national expectation in all statutory assessments.

“The school was not failing in any way and entered the Cliffe Woods Academy Trust with a view to real partnership that would enable both schools to continue to improve.

“Due to our experiences since January 2020, numerous formal complaints have now been made to the trust.

“Some of these are letters that have been re-submitted due to a complete lack of acknowledgement at the time of sending. The trust has now acknowledged receipt of these complaints.

“We would like this situation to be resolved quickly for the sake of the children, parents and remaining staff.”

A statement issued to the Messenger by the Board of Trustees at Halling said it was investigating issues behind the staff turnover.

“Over the last year, the school has seen a higher than usual turnover of staff, and we are looking into why this happened,” a spokesman said.

“Various reasons were given when people left, but it’s important to note that over the last 12 months, no formal complaints were received from any staff.

“Had any been received, we would have acted on them and supported staff through them.

“New teaching and support staff have come into the school to fill the vacant positions and all have settled in extremely well with their classes and colleagues.

“We have now been contacted by some previous employees and due to confidentiality we cannot say more, but we are indeed saddened to learn after they had left of issues they felt weren’t addressed during their employment.

“We are conducting an independent review to identify any areas that we need to focus on and improve.”

The village school has been at the centre of a war of words between trust bosses and former staff in recent weeks.

“We are conducting an independent review to identify any areas that we need to focus on and improve”

In early March, the Messenger was contacted by worried parents calling for answers from management about why such a high number of teachers and office staff had left.

On the same day, a story was published on KentOnline, Mrs Nunns’ letter went home to parents.

She said there were “several important areas” in which the school was “failing to deliver the standards and support pupils deserve” identified when the trust took control in April 2019.

The school has not been inspected by Ofsted since 2015 when it achieved a Good rating and Outstanding in categories for pupil behaviour and safety and early years provision.

Mrs Nunns told parents there was “a great deal of work” required to “address issues and strengthen the school going forward” when the trust took charge two years ago.

Her letter to parents said: “Sadly, this has resulted in some uncomfortable conversations and not all have felt themselves either willing or able, even with support, to rise to the challenge of improving standards.

“However, all staff were offered access to additional resources, training and in some cases a change of role if that was desired.

“No one was dismissed, exit interviews were properly conducted to understand why individuals wanted to leave and, where appropriate, alternatives to resignation were explored.

“Crucially, no criticism of the school was raised during these interviews but to ensure even greater clarity on this issue all future exit interviews will be held by an external specialist.”

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