THE principal of trouble hit Ruthin School has been sacked with immediate effect.

The school has been at the centre of controversy about alleged inappropriate behaviour by its head and the safety of pupils.

Ruthin School was criticised by Welsh Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, who stated the school does not meet the required standards for pupils’ welfare, health and safety of pupils.

There has been extensive coverage in national and local press accusing the principal, Mr Toby Belfield, of sending inappropriate texts to pupils, and in particular one teenage girl who said the messages from him became so frequent that it had a serious impact on her mental health.

A spokesperson for Ruthin School’s Council of Management said: “As we have previously stated, while external investigations have been ongoing, the Principal has not been carrying out his role at the school. The school’s Council of Management received a verbal interim report on Friday 31st January 2020 from the external person we appointed to independently review Mr Belfield’s conduct, and on the basis of that report has decided to terminate Mr Belfield’s employment with immediate effect.

“The Vice Principal of the school, Mr Ian Welsby, has been appointed as Acting Principal until such time as a permanent appointee has been selected following a competitive process.

“This has been, and remains, a highly sensitive and challenging situation. A number of external investigations have been conducted over some months, and the school’s Council of Management has worked with relevant agencies throughout and continues to do so.

“When working with the relevant statutory and regulatory authorities, the best thing we can do is work closely with them until a resolution and way forward has been agreed. We are hopeful that we will have an agreed comprehensive action plan shortly, and believe that what we have submitted to the Welsh Government provides an effective strategy in response to the concerns raised.

“The school’s Council of Management will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the recommendations from both the CIW and Estyn reports are implemented as part of our comprehensive and thorough strategic review of the safeguarding governance and safeguarding arrangements at the school. We are determined to ensure that the children at Ruthin School, now and in the future, will be all the better cared for and safer as a result of the work which is being carried out between the school’s Council of Management and the local Welsh education authorities.”

The school has been the subject of unannounced inspections by Estyn, the Welsh schools’ watchdog and the Care Inspectorate Wales.

Llyr Gruffydd AM said: “The headteacher’s position was completely untenable after the revelations of his inappropriate behaviour with pupils in his care. This is the right decision to make and that resolves the immediate problem, but wider questions remain about the governance of this school and the overall supervision of the private school sector in Wales. It’s clear there are gaps in terms of oversight and accountability, which need addressing and I will be raising these concerns with the minister this week.”