STUDENTS at a school in Chipping Sodbury have been speaking out against a number of redundancies announced at the end of term.

Pupils at Chipping Sodbury School say a ‘negative atmosphere’ fell on the school during the last week of term and many teenagers are still angry at the job losses.

South Gloucestershire Council said there had been one compulsory and one voluntary redundancy within the teaching staff, one voluntary redundancy of a full-time member of the support staff and two compulsory redundancies of part-time support staff.

Fifteen-year-old Nathan Woolfrey set up a Facebook page in tribute to drama teacher Graham Hill, who left at the end of July.

Nathan told the Gazette: “On the final Wednesday of term, hundreds of people gathered around protesting to keep Mr Hill in school.

“He is a very friendly man and a bit of a joker too. He is always making people laugh and putting smiles on the faces of students. A teacher of his kind is a rarity because students look up to him and respect him, which is very difficult to get students to do.

"Everyone feels quite strongly about it.”

Rumours had been circulating in the town that drama would be taken off the curriculum but the council has confirmed that is not the case.

A spokesman said: "School budgets are largely driven by the number of pupils on the roll. Due to demographic changes, a number of schools in the Sodbury and Yate area have experienced a fall in pupil numbers.

“Chipping Sodbury School, in common with others in the area, has taken prudent steps to address a reduction in budget by making some savings in staff costs.

"There has been one compulsory and one voluntary redundancy within the teaching staff and one voluntary redundancy of a full-time member of the support staff and two compulsory redundancies of part-time support staff.

"The school has been careful to ensure that these necessary reductions have not in any way affected the curriculum and has worked closely with both the governing bodies and the unions when making these difficult decisions.”

The redundancies come at the same time as a £3.5million new sports hall was unveiled to the public.

In a post on the Facebook tribute page, Jess Butler said: “It’s so stupid that they have spent £3million on the new sport stuff and now we have to get rid of all the best teachers because they can't pay them! It makes me so angry.”

The council added: "It is quite wrong to associate the reductions with the construction of the school’s new sports centre.

"This excellent new facility was funded from a source of money that could not be spent on anything else."