Mums' shock as staff made redundant at Tunbridge Wells primary school

A decision to axe key staff at a Tunbridge Wells school has sent shockwaves among parents.

Catering staff and the family liaison officer have been axed at St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School in Wilman Road.

Kent Live understands the dinner ladies are first aid trained and in addition to serving food and supervising breaks, they can also be called to support teachers during classes.

And the family liaison officer is also highly valued by parents at the academy, which has a high number of pupils with special needs or English as a second language.

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'We’re all worried our children will get lost in the system'

Mum-of-three Emma Porter, 39, has one child at the school, who is a young carer because she is disabled.

Speaking about the family liaison officer, she said: “It’s important he gets support.

“I feel comfortable leaving my son at the school knowing someone cares for my son as I do. He has the training and expertise and does safeguarding as well. We’re all worried our children will get lost in the system.”

Of the dinner ladies, she said: “The children adore them. There are about nine or ten of them. They’re an extra pair of eyes in the playground if anything happens and children need that extra feeling safe and secure and they won’t get that now.”

The teaching assistants are understood to have been told to cover the dinner ladies’ shifts.

Mrs Porter said she was told by the school’s head the redundancies were about budget pressure.

The school is run by Kent Catholic Schools Partnership, which runs 24 primary and secondary academies in Kent. Last year it was one of 92 academy trusts with multiple staff earning £100,000 to £150,000 in 2015-16 which was told by the Government to justify the pay.

Published accounts for the partnership in 2018 show executive principal Annemarie Whittle’s pay as being £75,000 to £80,000.

In a statement she told us: “In common with schools and academies across the country, St Augustine’s faces financial pressures as national funding fails to keep pace with inflation.

“As a result it is necessary to proactively review the staffing compliment to ensure ongoing high quality and sustainable provision for the children.

“In carrying out this review all due process has been followed with those staff affected by this proposal, and parents/carers will be kept appropriately informed.”

Last Friday, campaigners marched on Downing Street warning 250 schools planned to introduce four-and-a-half-day weeks from September in an effort to balance the books.