THE GOVERNORS of a troubled Fairford school are to resign today as they ‘do not believe there is a meaningful role for them to perform’.

Coln House School’s board of governors has informed Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) all members are to resign with effect from 6pm today, according to chair Elizabeth Knox.

Every pupil from the school on Horcott Road were removed by the council on July 1 due to ‘safety concerns’, prior to the publication of the Ofsted report earlier this month which deemed the school to not be performing well enough in several areas.

Ms Knox said: “The governors remain very concerned for the welfare of the children and staff but do not consider that in the present circumstances they are able as governors to offer the support to the school and staff which they would wish to provide.

“The governors regret the stress caused to children, parents and carers by the sudden removal of the children from the school and are particularly concerned about the disruption to the education of the children who are in the middle of their GCSE courses.”

The school is a GCC-maintained establishment which offers day and residential provision for children from age nine to 16 who have social, emotional and mental health issues.

Ms Knox went on to say the governors “acknowledge the concerns raised by Ofsted in their recent report which resulted in the school going into special measures.”

Inspectors had raised concerns about the lack of training for staff and the number of incidents of physical restraint during their inspection in May.

The Ofsted report said: “The school has focused on reducing the very high number of incidents involving physical restraints, particularly in the school. Records show the number of incidents is reducing.”

Ms Knox said: “The governors had hoped it would be possible to work in partnership with the local authority [GCC] to effect the necessary improvements to the school but have concluded that now the local authority has removed the children this is not a realistic possibility.”

She said the governors cannot comment on the council’s reasons for the removal of the children from the school as they are not aware of the information on which the local authority acted.

“The school remains open but without pupils. The governors are concerned that the current uncertainty as to the future of the school is stressful for the school staff.

“The financial viability of the school has been questionable for some years and the governors hope that a decision on its future will be made soon.”

Cllr Paul McLain, GCC cabinet member for children and young people, said: “I would like to thank the Coln House governors for their efforts in supporting the school.

"When a school is placed into special measures by OFSTED, as Coln House was earlier this month, the normal process is to replace existing governors with an Interim Executive Board.

"I welcome the pragmatic decision of the governors to expedite this process by resigning.

"The county council took the decision to remove students from the school earlier in the month following serious safeguarding concerns.

"Whilst this is still subject to an ongoing investigation, we have discussed those concerns in detail with members of the governing body.

"The county council will always put the safety and wellbeing of students first – and take rapid action to protect them when we have concerns.”