Former Chester King’s School teacher suspended from work

May 19 2011 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

A FORMER teacher at Chester’s King’s School has been suspended from his new position as principal of a private girls’ school along with another teacher.

Howell’s School in Denbigh confirmed that Bernie Routledge – former head of studies at King’s – and head of pastoral care Helen Price will not be in school while an internal inquiry takes place.

Trustees wrote to parents to say they were looking into ‘reports received regarding management of the school’.

They said the issues related ‘primarily to social networking and conduct’.

The school would not be drawn on exact details, but said the investigation was nothing to do with individual Facebook accounts, and was not connected to the school’s IT network.

It is understood a page on Facebook, the Bernard Routledge Appreciation page, is at the centre of the investigation.

The page was created as a forum for Mr Routledge’s past and present pupils when he was at King’s and many posted comments in support of him when he left ‘for personal reasons’.

Ex-King’s pupils Michael Lumb and Charles Barry, on behalf of the Facebook group, said: “We have both today reviewed the content on the page and remain perplexed as to what could possibly connect Mr Routledge’s suspension with the Facebook page.”

Mr Routledge’s departure proved a focal point for critics of King’s headteacher Chris Ramsey, who suspected the former English teacher was a casualty of the new regime.

Chairman of governors Dr David Hempsall said at the time: “None of us around this table is at liberty to discuss it. But I can understand that for the pupils, to lose a popular teacher, they felt the way they did.”