Angry teachers have declared a vote of no confidence in the trust that runs troubled Whitehaven Academy as it is plunged into special measures.

About 60 disgruntled staff members, on behalf of all staff, have signed a letter to government officials claiming Bright Tribe Trust’s failing leadership.

It comes as a damning report by the education watchdog Ofsted, not yet formally published, will reveal the school is failing.

In the letter, staff agree with the Ofsted report and other reports, which they claim highlight “a lack of leadership support and school improvement, accompanied by significant under-investment in both the buildings and the facilities”.

However, in an angry response, Bright Tribe said staff shouldn’t be wasting their time speaking out against the trust.

Academy staff said: “By signing the letter, we have taken a vote of no confidence in the trust’s ability not only to get the school out of special measures, but also to lead and manage our school going forwards.”

They are calling for Bright Tribe to be removed from the school’s leadership.

And they would like talks to take place about the academy joining an academy trust or acting as a stand-alone academy with the “highly effective headteacher” Warren Turner.

They said the Ofsted report, along with other recent reports, are “a damning indictment on the actions, or lack of them” that Bright Tribe Trust has taken since it took over the school two years ago.

In that time the academy has been led by six headteachers, the latest being Warren Turner who has been praised by Ofsted inspectors.

Staff say visits from the Trust to the academy are “still without focus, sporadic, and are both judgemental and extremely stressful”.

Major concerns were raised about the academy’s facilities and lack of resources.

“We believe there may be some financial mismanagement occurring, as prior to the trust’s involvement, the school seemed much better resourced,” the letter stated.

In response, Kathy Kirkham, Bright Tribe’s chief operating officer, said the trust was not able to comment on the inspection’s outcome until the report is published. But it could respond to concerns raised.

She said Ofsted recognised the “many improvements recently made”.

However, areas of improvement still need to be made and “rigorous rapid school improvement plans” are in place.

Mrs Kirkham said £400,000 of investment has been put into the school, with further investment to be made in the next 12 months.

She said: “We urge our staff body at The Whitehaven Academy to take stock of the facts and direct their concerns to the principal rather than waste time and resources which could be focused in supporting the school improvement activities, which are clearly starting to already make an impact.”