The Governing Board of CedarBridge Academy has been urged to write to parents to allay fears over discipline problems at the school.

Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith said he had received a number of calls from worried parents since teachers held a sit-in on Friday in protest of repeated bad behaviour at the school.

But he said, so far, there had been "a wall of silence" from the school board, principal Kalmar Richards, and the Ministry of Education and Development.

And he said even if they did not wish to make any detailed comments public, they should, at the very least, address the parents of their pupils.

He said: "The events at CedarBridge last week have caused a great deal of uneasiness for students, parents, teachers and employers.

"What concerns us is that the image of CedarBridge right now is that there is a discipline crisis. While a crisis might be an exaggeration, nobody in authority has countered this perception.

"Accordingly, the public's confidence in the school has suffered a major blow. It is crucial that the ministry take immediate steps to restore the public's faith in CedarBridge.

"Clearly, there are a wide range of discipline problems at CedarBridge. We should regard any incidents of physical aggression in schools, however infrequent, as a very serious matter.

"Our assessment of what is happening at CedarBridge is that teachers are more concerned about the cumulative effects of disruption to their lessons caused by misbehaviour."

And the Shadow Minister said that in order for effective teaching and learning to take place, an orderly atmosphere was necessary.

Mr. Smith added: "We recommend the following steps be implemented without any further delay.

"A clearly articulated and consistently handled set of sanctions - or code of conduct - be prepared and distributed to all students and their parents, and posted in all classrooms.

"Good and mutually beneficial links with parents be forged with renewed vigour.

"And classroom management be made a training priority during the coming months.

"Of course, these measures should not be seen as a panacea but as a first step. Those committed parents and students who are eager to learn need to know that someone is looking out for their interests."

Angry parents demanded answers on Friday after students at CedarBridge were sent home for the day because teachers were holding a sit-in over bad behaviour.

The action was the result of an incident the previous day when a substitute teacher walked out of a lesson because of unruly behaviour.

Teachers said they had reached the final straw and wanted to work with the Ministry and the board to find ways of restoring order to the classrooms and lessons.

As a result, they spent the day instead working with the board, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and the Ministry to draw up proposals for positive action, and agreed to return to the classrooms on Monday. The Royal Gazette understands they had at first threatened strike action.

And the Bermuda Union of Teachers said about 100 children were causing disruption and problems at the school, and the issue needed to be tackled.

However, it is understood that both the school and the Ministry of Education believe that number to be much less.

Marc Telemaque, chairman of the CedarBridge Academy board of governors, said yesterday that it would be premature to write to parents, and said no plans were in place for such letters at this stage.

Mr. Telemaque said: "What happened on Friday was the start of the process and we will be continuing as we always do, together, to get matters sorted out.

"There is nothing to be gained by thrashing out what ever we may be doing in the media. We are working together to solve these matters."

On the issue of the alleged 100 disruptive students, Mr. Telemaque said: "The matter which took place on Friday has nothing to do with the union", adding that nothing should have been said by anyone without it being substantiated.

He said he would not be drawn on how many pupils were believed to be the cause of the problems.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education would only say in a statement: "Specific incidents are a matter for the school administration. The Ministry is, however, supporting the school administration, the board, the PTA executive and the teachers, as they work together to tackle discipline issues at the school."

The school PTA was due to have a meeting about the recent concerns last night.