Parents and teachers have revealed the shocking scale of chaos at a troubled secondary school, which they say is plagued with abuse and violence.

The Oasis Academy on the Isle of Sheppey has been forced to close today as around 80 members of staff take to picket lines over fears for their safety.

One teacher, called Lisa, told KentOnline staff face daily abuse including racial slurs and threats of violence, sexual assault and death.

“We’ve had enough,” she said. “We are collectively striking because there have been too many incidents of violence against staff and threats of violence against staff and the school has had about 18 months to sort this out.

“Members of staff are off with stress because they've been physically assaulted. We have the n-word used on a regular basis to our black teachers. We have chairs thrown. I myself have been threatened with death on numerous occasions.

“A particular student told me he was going to cut my throat. Teachers have been pushed and shoved.”

She said staff have been chased by up to 60 students at a time and locked in classrooms.

“We're talking about 11, 12, 13-year-old children,” she added.

But it is not just the teachers who are at risk of violence.

“It's important that staff are safe but it's also important students are safe,” Lisa continued.

“We have situations where hordes of children are running after one child to beat them up. We've had kids who have had eye sockets falling out of their head because there's been a mass brawl on one particular student.

“Those are the big things. The little things – constantly being called the c-word, constantly being told to f-off, constantly being told no. The kids are out in the corridors, they're refusing to come into classrooms.

“They're kicking the doors in so they come off their hinges in order to either run around like maniacs in classrooms they're not supposed to be in or beat up a student or threaten a teacher.

“It happens on a daily basis. On an hourly basis. There's a combination of a small group of students, probably about 50, in each of the year groups who are constantly doing this.

“The sad thing is that there are some beautiful, gorgeous children on these sites and they're learning and their safety's being affected by this.

“I refuse to teach on this site because of death threats. You ask someone to stand in a line, you get threatened with death.

‘We have the n-word used on a regular basis to our black teachers. We have chairs thrown. I myself have been threatened with death on numerous occasions...’

“We're desperately in need of somebody to get a grip of this place and allow our students to learn, which is what we're here for.”

One father of a Year 7 pupil admitted he and his wife are afraid to let their son go to school.

He said: “We don’t know how to keep him safe at school. He started in September and has been the victim of at least 10 different attacks by pupils.

“Most of these attacks have happened in class. Most of the attacks have been witnessed. Only a small number have been acted upon.

“Children wander around the school when they should be in lessons, swearing, climbing in open windows, kicking open doors all while the teachers that I have witnessed have ignored the behaviour as it’s easier than dealing with it.”

The anonymous parent says on one occasion a child came into his son’s class, which they were not meant to be in, and head-butted him.

“They then left class and came back in five minutes later and punched my son,” he added.

Louise, a 40-year-old mother from Eastchurch, has been told by her children about the chaos at the school.

She said: “My youngest refused to go to his classes because the children from Year 8 kept coming into his lesson. He told me the older children were told to leave on multiple occasions but they’re loud and don’t listen.

“It hasn’t happened in my son’s lesson but I've heard that some kids throw chairs at teachers.

“A few weeks ago I was told there was a fight and the kids actually made a sort of blockade and wouldn't let the teachers get through to break it up.

“It is quite frightening to see what the children do to each other, it's almost savage.”

Louise thinks more can be done by parents to stop this behaviour, adding: “I don't want to be the one to blame the parents but they just let their kids do it. It's not cool.

“I honestly have no idea what the striking will do but if there is actually action taken then maybe something will change.”

NEU representative Claire Oosthuizen said: “The teachers and support staff are no longer willing to put up with the poor behaviour from some our students and the lack of robust policies in place to support teachers and school leaders.

“We are standing up against the unsafe and abusive antisocial behaviour we as staff, too often experienced every day.

“We are no longer willing to stand by and put up with disrespectful and disruptive behaviour within our classrooms.

“Teachers and students alike deserve to come into school and be able to conduct teaching and learning without having their classroom doors kicked in, being verbally or physically abused, seeing staff abused and basic instructions and expectations ignored.

“We want all students and staff to safely walk the corridors with confidence. We have not taken this strike action lightly.”

“The majority of our students are amazing, and they deserve so much more.”

Speaking from the picket line this morning, Tim Dams, regional development officer at the southeast regional office of the NEU, said: "The workplace isn't safe. Our members are at risk. Employers have a duty of care to their employees so that the workplace is a safe environment. Unfortunately, behaviour levels have got so poor in this school, that the real issue is the employer doesn't have a grip of the situation.

"We've had no other option than to strike. Oasis have known about this problem for months. It's been an ongoing issue. We've negotiated with them but the situation is not improving.

"Obviously we want children to get an education. We want this issue resolved so our members can be safe in the working environment and so other pupils can be safe, because it's not all pupils who are engaged in these behavioural issues."

An Oasis Academy spokesman said: “Providing a high-quality education for every student is always our top priority, and during this industrial action we will be offering online study materials to all students to minimise the disruption.

“We will also be offering on campus support to students with specific needs.

“Whilst this is a scenario that nobody wants, we have had positive discussions with the union, and we are confident that we have made significant progress.

“We remain committed to working positively with staff representatives to try and avoid any future disruption, and to ensure that Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey is a school where everybody can thrive."

Sheppey and Sittingbourne MP Gordon Henderson believes for too long indiscipline at schools has started to “fester”.

He said: “I am sorry that the staff at Oasis Academy have been forced to take this action by a minority of the pupils at the school.

“Violence and threats should have no place in any school and such actions have an impact not only on staff, but the vast majority of pupils who are well behaved.

“The situation at the academy highlights again that we need a radical change to the system of education on Sheppey, which is why I support the proposal to scrap the current single split-site school and replace it with two brand new schools.”