Derek Blackham

The Parents' Association of IST have been inundated with letters of support and our thanks to all who have offered constructive advice and information. We will be presenting this info to all the Parents at the school over the next few days so that there is clear visibility of the issues

Parents action The Parents are discussing this issue urgently and are trying to get a useful dialogue with the new board of Governors. (However this has been hampered by the schools quick jump to litigation) We will endeavour to communicate with all Parents, gathering further support to reinstate Richard. We will be lobbying the board and the school owners (Airbus) until we succeed. The fantastic character references within the thread are testament to Richard’s commitment to the school. It will help to show all the new IST Parents what a valuable asset Richard is. I don’t want to outline our thoughts publicly, but there is a tremendous feeling of injustice.We all want a quick resolution to this issue. Watch this space……. If anybody wants to write to the school directly here is the address The International School of Toulouse 2 allée de l'Herbaudière Route de Pibrac 31770 Colomiers FRANCE Tel: +33 (0)5.62.74.26.74 E-mail: ist@intst.net For contacting the Parents please address letters to Parents association or email me at :- drblckhm@aol.com

Richard has been an inspirational teacher for many years at the International School and he is much loved by his current and former pupils and respected by the Parents. * There a few points that I would like to bring into this forum. The timing of events and reasoning behind the sackings are awful. The student’s interests were obviously not a priority, the school has been deprived of a great asset and the students penalised right in the middle of their exam preparations. Following events at the school five years ago, the Parents were given an opportunity to become more involved with the school (there are now two Parents associations that support the school) but if there is no prior dialogue with Parents about concerns within the school it is unlikely that there can be any parental support for such apparently extreme and costly action. The introduction of unjustified litigation with staff is unpleasant for everybody involved and creates a terrible working atmosphere for existing staff and students within the school. (See the student forum) This is undermining all the good work done at this school. Over 40 Parents attended the meeting at the school on Tuesday pm, many more could not attend due to the very short notice given. This dissatisfaction will only grow the longer the situation remains. I urge the board of the school and other Parents to try and resolve the situation urgently. Stop all litigation, reinstate the staff and get the students back focussed on their academic studies, not as unfortunate spectators in an appalling exhibition of staff management.

Derek Blackham Tarn et Garonne France I was one of the many parents who lobbied BAe to build a specific English school for the Airbus UK families coming to Toulouse in 1993-1996 We returned to France in 1999 and our children started at the newly opened IST.