THE government is ‘closely monitoring’ the situation at Beaulieu, the Assistant Education Minister has said.
Constable Richard Vibert spoke in the wake of the controversial exit of former head of secondary Andrea Firby, who the school says took voluntary redundancy.
‘We are closely monitoring what is happening,’ Mr Vibert said, adding that he would not be commenting further as Beaulieu was ‘not a government school’.
A letter sent out to parents on Tuesday from the board of trustees’ chair Bernadette Cooper said that a new position would soon be advertised to replace both Mrs Firby and retiring head teacher and chief executive Chris Beirne.
Secondary deputy head Paul Robinson has been appointed acting head teacher in the interim ‘with immediate effect’.
Mrs Firby’s departure prompted a wave of criticism on social media from some parents, with several also warning that they intended to keep their children at home on the first day of term today in protest.
As of yesterday afternoon, more than 900 people had signed a petition calling for the resignation of the school’s head teacher, its chief operating officer – Pippa Davidson-Coleshill – ‘and the remaining trustees’. The petition also described Mrs Firby as a ‘stalwart’ of the Beaulieu community.
Tuesday’s letter also sought to reassure parents that ‘additional security measures’ would be in place today to provide support ‘should any physical protest take place’.
‘Members of our senior management team for both primary and secondary will be present at drop-off,’ it read.
