Pupils say ‘toxic environment’ at school

WESTLAND High School’s student council and senior pupils have declared a lack of confidence in senior leaders at the school in an explosive letter describing a ‘‘toxic environment’’ they say is affecting their education.

‘‘The current state that the school is in is causing us, and definitely our fellow teachers, a lot of stress and anxiety to the point that this should be tabled as an actual health and safety risk/hazard as it is having a detrimental effect on us,’’ the student council told the board of trustees on Monday.

Principal Trevor Jones did not respond to a Hokitika Guardian request for comment yesterday, but board chairman Latham Martin said the board was aware of ‘‘some concerns’’ in parts of the school community.

The board and its limited statutory manager were working very hard to address the issues and strengthen the school.

The Hokitika school came under limited statutory management in March following a vote of no confidence by teaching staff in Mr Jones as principal.

The statutory manager was appointed to take over most of the functions of the board of trustees, while Mr Jones remains principal.

The pupils said the school was ‘‘dramatically understaffed’’.

‘‘Many subjects are simply not available to do as we lack the staff to teach them. There has been more than one occasion where our Year 13’s have had to help relief teachers who are obviously distressed in the position they were put in, or even help classes without teachers.’’

The lack of a careers adviser had left senior students without advice or support, school operations daytoday seemed ‘‘so difficult’’ pupils were often left scrambling to get permission slips and often they were not informed about school events ‘‘until generally the day before’’.

The loss of the peer support programme for Year 7 pupils was another letdown, while the request for a home room teacher had been ‘‘completely disregarded’’ and had left a situation where at least one classroom was now ‘‘unsafe’’ for pupils.

‘‘There are so many fights and conflicts throughout this year group that it raises the question, is it actually safe for these younger members to attend school? This is something that should be directly addressed and not just swept under the carpet.’’ — The Hokitika Guardian