CONCERNS have been raised around a special needs school after the headteacher was signed off sick following a period of turbulence.

St Luke’s School, on Cricklade Road, has had an acting headteacher put in place on secondment from Nova Hreod after the former head, Jane Cordes, came down with an illness.

And a current member of staff, who does not wish to be named, has spoken of their fears for the future of the school, which serves young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

They said: “While St Luke’s is a behaviour school, restructuring year on year has resulted in total chaos within the school where teaching and learning are not taking place. This is due to the culture which has been allowed to develop which has led to class sizes doubling in many cases and pupils being in mixed year groups.

“It has become a dangerous place to work despite concerns being voiced for at least 18 months.

“The school is now very short of qualified teaching staff and classes are being taught by a significant number of unqualified staff.

“Some support staff have been given job titles they are not qualified to hold because it serves a purpose. There are a great number of supply staff but due to the nature of the pupil’s behaviour, supply staff are unable to intervene when there are fights as they are not trained to deal with these. This is placing an even greater burden on those of us who are still here.

“There is talk of the school being in voluntary special measures to avoid being closed down, and staff are worried for our jobs as well as our personal safety on a daily basis.”

The acting head teacher and governing body of St Luke’s declined to comment when approached by the Advertiser with the points made by the anonymous member of staff.

Fundamental changes to the school have taken place over the last two years.

The year after Mrs Cordes took up her role at St Luke’s in 2011, six teachers were made redundant as the school said funding was being cut for these roles.

On March 20 2013, Mrs Cordes wrote to parents detailing a change to the school day, with Years 7 and 8 put onto an earlier rota than the rest of the school.

She wrote: “Over the last two years the number of pupils in Key Stage 4 has doubled, and we have a significant number of in-year transfers. We also have issues with attendance which is currently at 74 per cent, well under the minimum national average of 92 per cent.”

In September 2013 the school office staff were restructured to “provide a bespoke service to pupils and parents.” The current attendance rate for the school stands at 77.6 per cent.

A spokesman for Swindon Council said: “The headteacher is unwell and has been signed off work by her doctor. In schools such as St Luke’s, where the behaviour of pupils can be challenging, it is routine for a member of staff to be drafted in from another school to assist the management team in the headteacher’s absence.”