THE principal and entire board of governors of West Somerset College are facing renewed calls to resign in the wake of a damning report by Government inspectors which plunged the district's only secondary school into special measures.

As reported in last week's Free Press, a team from Ofsted branded the college inadequate on every every level.

It received the lowest possible rating for its leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching, achievement of pupils and sixth form provision.

Parents, who had fought a high profile campaign to bring in inspectors following this year's poor GCSE results, were invited to a meeting on Monday at which an action plan drawn up by the school before the Ofsted report was published was discussed.

But after claims that principal Gaynor Comber and chairman of governors Anne Looney failed to answer their questions, two petitions were launched this week.

One, calling for their resignation, had attracted 226 signatures by yesterday morning (Thursday), while the other, calling for support to keep them in their jobs, had been signed by five people.

The petitions have been set up by the campaign group West Somerset Raising Standards, which has also written to Ofsted, the Education Funding Agency, Education Minister David Laws and South West Regional Schools Commissioner Sir David Carter - who has already visited the college - voicing its lack of confidence in Mrs Comber and the governors and its dismay that they are still in place.

A spokesman for the group said parents had failed to receive an apology from Mrs Comber and Mrs Looney for taking the college to rock bottom in the past two years - Ofsted gave it a good rating in June 2012 under the leadership of previous principal Nick Swann.

The spokesman said the Ofsted report had entirely validated parents' efforts to bring their concerns to the attention of education and Government leaders:

"The report demonstrates that matters were far worse than we had imagined but there are a number of issues that continue to raise concern."

Parents are particularly keen to hear the details of a five-year plan for the college which Mrs Comber is said to have drawn up when she took over as principal.

The spokesman said the group was sure the college would be held on a tight rein but it has now called on the outside agencies already involved to:

l Ensure the principal, governors and senior management team demonstrate respect for teachers, parents and students.

l Undo the damage caused by suggesting this year's results were a direct consequence of students' unwillingness to learn and of their lack of respect toward teaching staff.

l Issue an unambiguous apology for failures at all levels, as demanded by so many parents at Monday's meeting.

l Discover what evidence the governors had for them to acknowledge that the college was moving towards achieving an outstanding Ofsted rating - as recorded in their minutes in July 2013.

l Publish Mrs Comber's five-year plan referred to at Monday's meeting - no mention of it appears in any minutes of governors' meetings.

l Accept full responsibility and apologise for leading the college downhill and for Mrs Comber and Mrs Looney to recognise they are jointly to blame.

l Mend the damage and mistrust in relationships with other schools in West Somerset.

The spokesman said: "We believe that the governors, who bear the ultimate responsibility for the appointment of the principal and have presided over the subsequent decline in standards, should be declared unfit to hold their posts.

"As unearthed by the Ofsted report, huge mistakes have been made by the principal and senior management team over the last two years - the governors have proved ineffective and we need to be assured of the long-term viability of our one and only secondary college."

A request by the Free Press to interview Mrs Comber and Mrs Looney to put the points raised by parents to them was declined.

But in a letter to parents, Mrs Comber said she was "personally devastated" by the Ofsted findings and staff and governors were "incredibly disappointed".

But she added: "We believe that working as a united team of staff, governors, parents and students we can significantly improve the teaching, learning and achievements of students to enable them to fulfil their potential."

In a press statement, the college that as a result of being put in special measures, it would be allocated a Government inspector who could make up to five visits over the next 24 months.

Letters would be published on the Ofsted website after each visit and there would be further meetings between senior leaders and governors and parents to share the findings and to learn about the key milestones that the college has set itself.

The statement added that it was usual for any school in special measures to be allocated a sponsor to help them improve.

"Sponsors are generally good or outstanding schools with similar backgrounds which have the skills and expertise to support the improvement process in the sponsored school."