ANGRY protestors gathered outside a council meeting last night in their continued battle over council intervention at their children’s school.

Parents, former parents and friends of Bisham School waved placards and sang specially adapted Christmas carols outside the meeting of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Around 50 people attended the vigil at the Guildhall, Windsor, with protestors calling for an investigation over the conduct of the authority following the school’s ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report last month.

A petition to look into the actions of Alison Alexander - RBWM’s director of children’s services - and her team, now has over 1200 signatures.

Rachel Shelmerdine, part of the Bisham Parents Action Group, said: “We were asking for our petition to be acted on.

“We protested for two hours seven to 9pm with candles and chants and some festive songs!

"We were very loud, and stood under the window with a megaphone. Where we were under the arches the acoustics were brilliant, it sounded like we at a football match!

“We have been told by someone in there that it was the noisiest protest in his experience of council meetings - and Alison Alexander and the councillors were very uncomfortable about it.

”The message is we're not going away. What started as a small protest over the Ofsted has grown into something much bigger."

Campaigners are angry over what they see as a campaign to oust long-standing head Jim Cooke and force the 115-pupil primary school into becoming an academy.

The school was found to be inadequate in all areas of an Ofsted inspection made in September and published last month.

Since then, RBWM teams have installed a new interim headteacher and are in the process of appointing a new governing board to oversee changes at the school.

A statement by the action group said: “We think that RBWM and Alison Alexander got the message that they have a big fight on their hands if they want to continue with their agenda against the school.

“We are gathering momentum and will not stop until Alison Alexander is out of Bisham School for good and Jim Cooke is reinstated.”

Ms Alexander, Director of Children Services, said: “We understand a small group of parents whose children attend Bisham CE Primary School have concerns about what is currently happening at the school.

"However, it has been judged as Inadequate, requiring special measures by Ofsted and we are using our power of intervention to oversee the school improvement. 

"An interim head is on site alongside local authority officers.  They are committed to working with the school staff, governors and parents to drive forward standards of education.

“We are all committed to ensuring all children have access to high quality education.”