Teachers have paused strike action at a Catholic state school which banned a visit by a gay author after governors agreed to invite another author who writes about LGBT relationships to speak to pupils.
While the dispute at John Fisher School in Purley, south London, has not been resolved, there is “relief” on both sides that negotiations have made progress, amid concerns the situation at the school is becoming “toxic”.
In March, Southwark Archdiocese intervened to cancel a talk by Simon James Green, whose books for young adults feature gay characters.
The school’s leadership team and governing body had wanted the event to go ahead, which resulted in the diocese sacking a number of John Fisher’s “foundation governors” – the governors appointed by the Church – and imposing an interim executive board.
