College teaching assistants, support staff and administrative staff issued with 'at risk' letters

Teaching assistants, support staff and administrative staff at Winton Arts and Media College have all been issued with “at risk” letters.

But they will have to wait until at least September to find out if their jobs are safe.

Head teacher Roger Allen confirmed costs at the school must be cut but refused to say how many jobs will go or how much money the school needs to save.

A 30-day consultation process has now started but it will not conclude until September 9 because it will be interrupted by the six-week summer break.

“We are having a restructure of all staff, apart from teaching staff, and we are in consultation at the moment” said Mr Allen, who is also head of neighbouring Glenmoor School. Staff at both schools are affected.

“We are asking staff to come up with ways of saving money and are being supported by the local authority, in line with their procedures.

“No decisions have been made yet but there is a need to reduce our expenditure.”

Mr Allen said he hopes affected staff will know the outcome of the process by half term in October.

Winton Arts and Media College was placed in special measures after a visit from Ofsted inspectors in November last year.

Inspectors criticised the slow progress made at the 850-pupil boys’ school and said results are below average.

Students at the school also complained about disruptive behaviour in the classroom. Two monitoring inspections carried out since have concluded that satisfactory progress is being made to improve the education offered by the school.

One parent, who does not wish to be named, said she is furious about costs being cut at the school and added: “The loss of teaching assistants and support staff is not exactly going to help the school to move forward.

“The behaviour in the school is not brilliant and the pupils need as much support as they can get.”

Concerns voiced over jobs

THE HEADTEACHER of St. Aldhelm's Academy, in Poole, has refused to comment on meetings with staff to discuss possible redundancies.

A source told the Daily Echo about previous and planned staff cuts, and National Union of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) representatives have been involved.

Headteacher Cheryl Heron, has declined to discuss the issue with the Echo.

Around 950 pupils attend the school, in Herbert Avenue. Formerly known as Rossmore Community College, it is sponsored by Bournemouth University and the Diocese of Salisbury.