A local trust has defended its decision to appoint a previous headmaster’s wife as a school counsellor despite claims being raised that she was underqualified for the role.

Chiltern Edge, which is owned by the Maiden Erlegh Trust, is reportedly facing terrible staffing issues including four out of five classes allegedly being taught by supply teachers.

Furthermore, a concerned parent disclosed that the former headteacher Andy Hartley’s wife Charlotte Hartley was appointed as the school counsellor during his employment despite not being credited with BACP or UKCP.

A BACP or UKCP are the two main professional bodies for general counselling and psychotherapy in the UK

A spokesperson for Maiden Erlegh Trust has responded to this disputing the claim entirely. They said that all appropriate policies were followed when hiring Mrs Hartley.

“The Trust engages with a number of organisations to provide additional wellbeing and mental health support to its pupils across all its schools,” they said.

“In this instance all appropriate declarations were made, and Trust policies followed when engaging the organisation referenced above.”

They also responded to the rumour that pupils are allegedly being taught four out of five classes by supply teachers after a large number of staff quit teaching at the school.

Chiltern Edge has also allegedly failed to hire more teaching staff. “They’re not taking the children’s education seriously,” the parent said. “You can't play with children's lives like that!”

Maiden Erlegh responded regarding classes being taught by supply teachers saying that during acute staff absence (for example due to illness), this may have been the experience of a small minority of pupils for a short period of time.

They also said It is certainly not the experience of the majority of pupils.

Staff allegedly started leaving the school after a letter was sent out on April 26 2023 stating that due to budget cuts, Maiden Erlegh was planning on hiring less experienced teachers to save money.

The spokesperson for Maiden Erlegh Trust said “This letter was sent to all Trust staff and informed them of the various strategies needing to be considered in order to maintain long-term financial stability in the face of chronic underfunding of the education sector. 

“Since the Ofsted inspection in May 2022, the school has recruited 15 teachers to replace 13 that have left, for various reasons. 

“The school currently employs 29 teachers which equates to 16.2 students per teacher and is very much in line with national pupil to teacher ratios.”