Staff 'on antidepressants' over school uncertainty

Teaching support staff at a primary school which is facing an uncertain future say they are taking antidepressants because their mental health has been so badly affected.

Queensway Primary School in Yeadon was due to shut at the end of the school year but the plan was paused after parents launched a legal challenge over Leeds City Council's decision.

Because of the lack of clarity over the future, its head and teachers will leave at the end of term, while eight teaching and learning support assistants say they will return.

The teaching assistants have made a formal deputation to the council to "let the public know the mental and emotional burden" they say they have suffered.

The school, which had already fought off closure in 2023, was due to shut at the end of the summer term due to dwindling pupil numbers and financial pressures.

However, specialist education lawyers from Irwin Mitchell successfully challenged the authority's decision based on "significant flaws in the consultation process".

Since then, parents and staff said they had been left in limbo over its future while the authority was working on a report on options for its future.

Lisa Holmes, who has worked at Queensway for 23 years, said she and other assistants had suffered with stress, anxiety and insomnia as a result of years of uncertainty over whether the school would stay open.

The 51-year-old said: "We come into our jobs day in, day out because we love what we do and we love our children.

"But we're just about functioning under this constant cloud of uncertainty.

"We've got the highest need in our area and sometimes we risk our well-being and mental health as we absorb the emotional weight of what the children are going through."

She added: "We've got less than two weeks left at school and the council still hasn't told us what the future looks like.

"We have to be organised in our jobs and in our daily lives.

"We've all got bills to pay and being in limbo and not knowing has really taken its toll."

Last month, head teacher Mark Duce said he and other teachers had taken the "incredibly hard decision" to leave Queensway.

It is understood that interim staff, as well as a new head, will be recruited in time for the new term.

Meanwhile, Mrs Holmes said assistants were trying to build a structure for pupils' learning for September but it was difficult because of unknowns about how many children would be in school and what the school environment would be like.

She said she and other teaching assistants did not want to leave their jobs because "we are the safe space for our children".

"Never before have I had to go to the doctors and cry on them because I can't cope because of the daily toll it's putting on me," she said.

"We don't know if or when the council are going to come back and say 'right we're doing this all again and we want to close the school' and then we've got to nurture the children through it all again for a third time."

During the deputation, which was accepted by councillors, Mrs Holmes broke down in tears as she called on the authority to "acknowledge the stress and anxiety" they had faced.

The deputation also called for better support for staff including support staff "who were performing duties well beyond their current pay grades".

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "The council is not the employer of staff at Queensway School and therefore any requests for support from staff should correctly be addressed to the head teacher and the school's governing body.

"The council has been, and will continue to, work closely with the school to support any such requests whenever we are able to."

The school's governors have been contacted for comment.

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