FORMER teachers of Chepstow School are calling for an independent inquiry into the school.

But the school head teacher says pupils achieved their best results last year and are likely to do the same again this year.

In a letter addressed to Cllr Peter Fox, leader of Monmouthshire council, the 13 teachers including two former assistant head teachers, have called upon the council to sanction an independent investigation into the management of the school.

They have asked the council to investigate several aspects of the running of the school and have asked why many senior experienced staff have left in recent years.

The letter is signed by Andy D Clarke, who was head of PE and a governor, L Clarke, history teacher, A Orr , head of year, J Lewis, faculty head and assistant head of year, D Wilson, geography and learning support, D E Jones, modern languages, G Johns, assistant head of sixth form and geography, Mike Rees, assistant headteacher, R Toon, deputy headteacher, J Long, assistant headteacher and governor, I Long, head of careers, J Burrows, head of psychology and PSHE and P Stevens , faculty head.

They are also concerned with the behaviour of pupils and ask whether there is a behaviour management policy at the school. They ask why two heads of department and long serving members of staff are being made redundant as part of 11 staff redundancies.

They said: “We believe we are not alone in expressing our concerns about Chepstow School. We urge you to carry out an independent enquiry.

Chepstow School estimate the school will be in a deficit of £314,793 at the end of 2015-16. The school from April of this year are no longer using the council’s human resources department.

The former teachers have raised concerns over the deficit to the council and asked whether they were paying a private company for human resources work.

Claire Price, head teacher of Chepstow School, said: “Chepstow School is a happy, vibrant place to be. In 2014 we achieved the school’s best ever results at GCSE when over 70 per cent of our Year 11 students achieved at least five good GCSEs including English and maths.

“This is a 19 per cent increase over the past four years. We are expecting even better results this year. Student numbers are increasing rapidly, and students, staff and parents enjoy being part of the successful Chepstow School community.’

Craig Bridgeman, chair of governors at Chepstow School, said: "The Governing body realised a few years back that the school was static and had far too many historic issues and challenges preventing progress. A new head was appointed to deliver a radical  strategic change programme supported by the local authority and governing body.

"The Key objective being to increase the efficiency of the school and drive the change to excellence. The first stages have been executed and results are showing tangible improvement in all aspects."

He said the school is now enacting phase two of the programme to deliver further improvements for pupils.

A Monmouthshire council spokesman said: "We can confirm a letter has been received by the Leader of the Council from a range of former members of staff at Chepstow Comprehensive expressing their concerns regarding current management procedures. This is being looked into and will be responded to fully and formally in the near future."