Christingle and nativity services have been cancelled, say parents, and there are claims that Peasmarsh vicar Father Christopher Hopkins was no longer welcome in the school to take assemblies.

Father Hopkins was among those who resigned as school governors.
Thirty nine parents have signed a petition and 13 have written personally to the LEA asking for the situation to be sorted out.

The school hit the headlines when the Observr rported that 13 teachers and support staff at the school had filed grievance complaints.

A 14 page report into the school revealed serious issues, including teachers ending up in tears and having to seek counselling.

Many parents have said they have lost confidence in the school.

Despite giving assurances to parents a month ago that the situation was a high priority the local education authority is now saying it could be months before the situation is resolved.

A county council spokesperson said this week: "We cannot discuss this matter in detail other than to say that over the next few months, East Sussex County Council will be providing additional support to Peasmarsh School, in particular assuming responsibility for some of the duties normally undertaken by the governing body, including managing the school budget and all staffing matters.

"This is a move by the authority to assist and support the school following concerns about the effectiveness of the governance of the school."

Earlier they had said: ""East Sussex County Council is working closely with staff and the governing body at Peasmarsh School to resolve an internal matter at the school. This is an on-going situation and as it includes personnel issues it has not been appropriate to share detailed information with parents, in order that confidentiality is preserved.

"However, we would like to reassure parents we are dealing with it as a matter of urgency and are putting together an action plan to resolve the issue as quickly as possible to ensure it does not affect the effectiveness of the school and the education of their children. We understand the concerns of parents and will share as much information with them as possible when it is appropriate to do so."

One parent, who had a meeting with the LEA this week said: "They were talking about introducing team building exercises but they have no long term plan to sort things out. They didn't even know how many children were in the school.

Former vice chair of governors David Noble said: "Last month, and with much regret, five of us resigned from the governing body of Peasmarsh School.

"During the last two years there have been six other resignations from the governing body.

"Losing so many governors so quickly is unprecedented at Peasmarsh.
As readers may know, a report commissioned by governors from an independent investigator acknowledged the gravity of staff concerns and as a result the staff took these to the next level of the grievance process.

"The staff, governors, many parents, members of the Church and of the local community have been very unhappy about the state of the school.

"Morale has plummeted, and members of staff have resigned or have been seeking work elsewhere. "The school has been subject to complicated problems, the grievance hearing raised by the staff failed to resolve them, and I do not believe that they were ever fully grasped by the Local Education Authority or the Diocesan Board of Education.

"Our prime consideration as governors and committed volunteers has been the education of our local children in a school which we want to see succeeding and growing.

"Staff morale and harmonious conditions are an absolute prerequisite to this. We continue to have a high regard for the staff. We have given much time (about fifty governor years between us) and energy to the school and our resigning chairman has made an incomparable contribution over many years.

"We did not feel that we could work within the current circumstances and therefore had no option but to resign."