The Devon and Cornwall districts of the National Education Union have said teachers and support staff working in Devon and Cornwall schools run by the Athena Learning Trust felt "frightened and intimidated”.
The trust was the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary which accused it of over-strict treatment and unnecessarily harsh punishments for its pupils, particularly at Camborne Science & International Academy, Launceston College and the Ilfracombe Academy.
Both teachers and support staff reported frequently being made to feel frightened and intimidated by the trust's leadership and management practices. Staff reported being checked on by members of leadership dozens of times during a single working day creating an oppressive working environment.
The NEU said this has led to increased stress, deteriorating staff wellbeing and increassed sickness absence. A spokesperson said: “A school cannot provide a healthy or secure environment for children when the adults working within it are themselves being managed through fear.”
Mike Gurney, of Devon NEU, said: "Our members have told us about children being refused permission to use the toilet, pupils with special educational needs being subjected to rules that failed to take proper account of those needs and disadvantaged children being poorly served by an excessively punitive system.
"They have also described a culture in which teachers and support staff were made to feel scared. Some staff were checked on by leadership dozens of times in a single day. That is not professional support – it is oppressive management and it has contributed directly to stress and sickness absence."
Athena is to dissolve and its nine schools are expected to be transferred to other organisations