Seven members of staff will be let go from a Kent school amid “challenging financial conditions”.

Pupils and colleagues at Goodwin Academy in Deal were left “distressed” by the announcement earlier this month.

It is understood mostly support staff have been affected, with colleagues being alerted to the changes in a meeting last week.

A ballot held by National Education Union (NEU) members at the secondary revealed 100% were in favour of industrial action following the decision.

The school is run by Thinking Schools Academy Trust and has a total of 99 employees, 53 of whom are teachers.

A spokesman for the trust said: “We are committed to continuing to provide the highest quality education for our students and the best working environment for our staff.

“These are very difficult decisions and we value all our team, but it is no secret that schools across the country are facing exceptionally challenging financial conditions and the impact of falling birth rates.

“It is therefore vital we take proactive action now to remain financially sound, while not compromising on the excellent education and care our students receive.

“We are continuing to work closely with the small number of staff affected to provide support throughout this process.

“We appreciate the understanding of our community during this time.”

KentOnline understands that while some staff have been told they will not be kept on, formal redundancy notices have not been issued yet.

An anonymous 18-year-old student told KentOnline of the effect the cuts have had on teachers and staff.

She said: “Staff were asked to go to a five-minute meeting where they were told whether or not they would have a job to come back to in September.

“This led to employees finding out that they were redundant.

“A lot of these people are support staff, all of whom have very close connections to a lot of the children that they support.

“These children are so distressed by this, and a lot have increased anxiety.

“After all of the meetings, all staff were asked to go back to work, however, many walked out due to their strong feelings about the redundancies.”

But school bosses say with a “new staff structure planned from September, the school has ensured the right level of resources is in place to meet the needs of all pupils”.

The NEU ran a formal ballot on May 8 after a successful indicative ballot.

Jamie Pout, district secretary for South Kent, said: “We will continue to negotiate with the school and Thinking School Academy Trust, and if that's not successful, then we will have to move towards industrial action.

“Essentially, we want to prevent any forced redundancies, any compulsory redundancies at the school, and that's for both teaching staff and support staff.”

Goodwin Academy, in Hamilton Road, was last visited by Ofsted inspectors earlier this year, and was rated ‘good’ across all five categories.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that 11 members of staff faced losing their jobs. We are happy to correct this error.