Angry parents demanded answers last night as to why their children had been left to roam the Island all day after teachers at CedarBridge Academy refused to hold lessons due to increasing bad behaviour.

The 100 or so teachers took industrial action in the form of a sit-in at the Island's biggest public school in the hope that it would draw attention to their problems and give them time to work with the Education Ministry to find solutions.

They claim about 100 of the 900 students at the school are out of control, and that teachers are regularly subjected to verbal, mental and physical abuse.

It is believed that the decision to take action was made on Thursday, with students only been told when they arrived in school yesterday morning.

And, although it is believed that students were not directly sent home by staff, insiders said many pupils just got up and left the building of their own accord in the “chaos” that arose.

Yesterday morning, as staff sat in the library of the school working through solutions to the problems with members of the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT), the Parent Teacher Association, and the Ministry of Education, some parents arrived at the school to find out where their children were.

Annoyed Beth Abel, from Southampton, said she had been told by a friend about the sit-in and was concerned about the whereabouts of her twin 13-year-olds, Jeffrey and Liane.

She said: “I have come here looking for my children. They could be on their way home, but I simply don't know.

“I want the school to explain to me what is going on because they are supposed to be responsible for students today.

“If children are not in class when they should be, parents are requested to write a note explaining where they were. I would expect the same courtesy from the school.

“It's a very poor show and I want them to know I'm displeased. They should not have just released the children, they should have either forewarned us, or called parents before letting them go off.”

Debbie Chase, of Devonshire, said she was concerned about the whereabouts of her 14-year-old daughter. She said: “Right now, my entire concern is my daughter. I need to get her secured and make sure she is not on the streets.

“I know that trying to get 900 parents informed would be a monumental task, but I'm worried. I think teachers have been forced into a corner. This is one instance, though, where people will have to sit up and listen.”

And a mother from St. David's, who did not wish to be named, said: “I'm concerned about my 14-year-old son. I don't want him walking the streets. The school has an obligation to safeguard children during these hours, and if anything happens to any student it is on their shoulders.

“They should have kept the students here until parents could make arrangements for them.” One teacher at CedarBridge, who did not wish to be identified, said physical, verbal and racial abuse were commonplace against teachers.

The teacher said: “I dread going into school in the mornings. It's a very unpleasant place to work. The children say whatever they like - they are not afraid - they simply do as they please.

“There may be only a few students in a class who want to work, and they get ridiculed for joining the lesson. It is almost impossible to teach sometimes.

“Physical attacks have happened, verbal abuse is commonplace, and white teachers get a lot of racial abuse. It's no wonder there is such a high turnover of staff.”

Only last month a teacher at CedarBridge Academy was physically attacked by a pupil, and another teacher very recently was spat on by a pupil.

A number are said to leave their jobs at the school close to breaking point, choosing instead to work in the private sector.

Vice president of the union Joann Adams said there had been numerous incidents recently that have pushed teachers to the edge, but the final straw came on Thursday when a substitute teacher left her classroom in respect of discipline difficulties. She said teachers believed they needed to have more stringent recourse in place, and felt, to some extent, that they had few choices when it came to punishing or dealing with students.

A BUT statement said: “The specific issue that brought about this action is the rights of teachers to work in a safe environment. Teachers are being verbally and physically abused by students on a daily basis.

“Blatant disrespect toward teachers, cursing and hitting teachers are examples of some of the infringements that have occurred.

“These incidents are on the rise and are becoming more malicious. This causes a high level of stress among staff, as many are concerned about repercussions from students.”

The union said despite collaboration with the school administration and Ministry of Education, teachers felt their needs and requests had not been adequately handled.

The union added: “Today, the teachers are working arduously to develop plans/proposals that must be implemented to help eradicate the problems that they are facing.

“Teachers are the backbone of this or any society. Violent Behaviour and verbal abuse against teachers and students is unacceptable and is not to be tolerated.”

The ministry of education apologised to parents for any inconvenience caused by the release of students and said Government was taking the discipline issues very seriously.

The action yesterday comes after a demonstration in the summer over a lack of discipline in schools and a decision by the former education minister Senator Milton Scott to abandon both expulsions and out-of-school suspensions. As a result of the action, the ministry held off on the plans for no out-of-school suspensions and set up a stakeholders' committee, including all parties, to look at discipline issues and set up a code of conduct.

The Government is still awaiting recommendations from the committee, which will be presented in the next few weeks, before making any policy decisions.

Last night, teachers were talking with their union representatives and both chief education officer Dr. Joseph Christopher and education permanent secretary Michelle Khaldun.

The group later issued a press release which said school will resume as normal on Monday morning.

The joint statement from CedarBridge teachers, administration, the school board, the Parent Teacher Association and the Ministry of Education said: “Today the CedarBridge community came together to look at concerns raised by teachers with respect to discipline issues,” said the statement released last night.

The group apologised for releasing the students yesterday without guardianship but said some progress had been made toward addressing teachers' concerns.

“The school administration, teachers and the Ministry apologise again for any inconvenience caused by releasing the students without advance notice,” the statement said.

“Some issues have been resolved in discussion.

“The school community has made a commitment to working together to reach solutions to the remaining issues raised by teachers.

“Our priority is to ensure a productive learning environment for our students.”