A PRIMARY school has been plunged into chaos after every single teacher quit - blaming the new head for upping their workload to improve grades.

Some of the staff have worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School for 20 years but have taken time off for stress after claiming head Louisa Wilson put them under "unreasonable pressure".

2 Teachers quit a primary school after Louisa Wilson, new executive head teacher, joined last year Credit: Facebook

Union reps told the Bristol Post the new leadership has prompted the mass walk-out, with the school losing 16 teachers - seven long-term staff - over the course of the year including the Acting Head.

Parents were told by governors this week that an entirely new teaching staff would be in place from September.

Teachers have claimed they had to leave because it was "impossible" to carry on with the high workloads given to them by the school in South Gloucestershire.

Executive headteacher Ms Wilson joined the school in October 2016 when SATs results were below the standard set by the Department for Education.

Less than a quarter of pupils had achieved the required standard for reading, writing and maths in their Key Stage 2 SATs at the school.

South Gloucestershire Council, which runs the school, told its leaders it needed to improve.

And provisional grades this year showed 77 per cent of pupils would meet the required standard.

But a month after Ms Wilson took over, several teachers were signed off with stress saying they couldn't work with the new headteacher, according to the Bristol Post.

The resignations then started and supply teachers had to be drafted in to reassure parents worried about their children's education.

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One teacher, who did not want to be named, said: “All of the teachers are leaving. We’ve had enough.

“Many of them were signed off with stress, and the pressure was unreasonable.

“We were told if we did not follow the head’s methods, we would not be welcome at the school.

“There have been a number of teachers here who have spent their entire teaching career at Our Lady, it’s become home to them.

“Leaving will cause them great emotional stress, because they share such a tight bond with the school, the children, the parents and the community.”

The school, which was once failing, was rated Good by Ofsted two years ago.

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said: "Our Lady of Lourdes has experienced a lot of change over the past year, but we are pleased that thanks to a lot of hard work, the school and its pupils are in a strong position for the future.

"Outcomes at the end of 2016, at KS2, were below the Floor Standard set by the Department for Education; only 24% of pupils achieved the expected level in reading, writing and maths combined.

"The provisional 2017 KS2 results show a pleasing increase this year; 77% of the pupils have achieved the expected level in reading, writing and maths combined. The school is rightly proud of the pupils' achievements and the teachers and other staff have all worked extremely hard to make these improvements.

2 Every teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School in Bristol has quit Credit: Google

"At the same time, there has also been a significant transition of staff during the school year, with some staff choosing to leave mid-year. As vacancies have arisen, staff have been recruited to temporary contracts in order to provide continuity for the children.

"It is not appropriate to discuss individual members of staff, but we note that among those departing are teachers taking up substantive and senior roles in other schools and we wish them well.

"A new team has been put together including a new head teacher, Nick Bracey, and this week the pupils met their new teachers for next year. The existing governing body remains in place to ensure continuity and stability during this time of transition."

Karla Wheeler, divisional secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in South Gloucestershire, said she had been working with the school since November but to no avail.

She said: "We were forced to intervene. Five of our members were off with stress, and they said it was down to the new executive headteacher.

"It's an impossible situation. Headteachers have a duty of care to their staff. We did a work survey, and it came back really negative.

"We're worried for the children."

Are you a parent of a child at the school? Call 0207 782 4383 or email holly.christodoulou@the-sun.co.uk