A BRACKNELL school is facing a “recruitment crisis” as it is set to lose two teachers from its staff.

Due to strict VISA rules which limit the number of non-EU teachers being allowed to teach in the UK, Brakenhale School has already lost one teacher and is set to lose another, history tutor Miss Loj, in August.

Speaking to the News, headteacher Jane Coley said: “This will have a significantly detrimental impact on the students.

“Many of them have been very emotional about the situation.

“(The teachers we are losing) are specialist teachers who have immersed themselves in the curriculum.”

Mrs Coley met with Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee last week to discuss what he can do for the school and having spent “over an hour” with him, the headteacher claimed “he was very supportive and fully agreed that the situation was ludicrous.”

Speaking to the News, Dr Lee said: “The situation in which Brakenhale school finds itself, and Miss Loj whose whole life is being turned upside down, is simply unacceptable.

“She is a good teacher, liked and respected by her colleagues and pupils, educating our next generation, in a post that the school has been unable to fill with a UK applicant.

“In the immediate future, I will be raising this case in person with the Immigration Minister to see if a sensible solution can be found so that Miss Loj can stay and do what she does best.

“In the future, I also intend to request a debate in Parliament to discuss the impact of current immigration policies on all of our public services.”

Currently, there is a need for maths, physics, computer science and Mandarin teachers on the government’s ‘shortage occupation list’, which means higher priority is given to these teachers every month when applying for VISAs.

Teachers can apply for a tier-2 VISA, but this would require them to have annual earnings of £60,000.

Therefore Mrs Coley has called for the shortage list to be “expanded to all teachers”, adding that the allowance for Mandarin is “ludicrous.”

Brakenhale School lost an English teacher from Australia in February and since then the headteacher has had to take extraordinary measures.

She said: “Because of her loss, we changed the curriculum and had less classes. We had to install a teaching assistant in some lessons.

“I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do, but our staff will have to go over and above for the next few months.”

Mrs Coley also said that due to the support the school’s petition has received on Change.org, the company has got in touch with her to offer their support and will work in conjunction with the school going forward.

The school has applied for an extension to Canadian Miss Loj’s stay four months in a row and all of Mrs Coley’s students have written to the prime minister Theresa May “to tell her her policy is bonkers”.

The school is expected to hear whether the latest application was successful just days before the end of the academic year in late July.