Headteacher who sent school lamb to slaughter resigns from post

Andrea Charman will step down as head of Lydd Primary School in Romney Marsh, Kent, for "personal reasons" at the end of the week, Kent County Council announced yesterday.

She attracted fierce criticism from parents and animal rights campaigners last year over the decision to cull Marcus the lamb.

Hundreds of people, including comedian Paul O'Grady, voiced opposition to selling off the lamb's meat as a raffle prize.

Animal lovers said it was "heartless" to allow children to hand-rear the lamb and then learn that it was to be sent to an abattoir.

But Mrs Charman defended the decision at the time, saying the aim was to educate children about the food cycle at the school, which is within a farming community.

In a statement, Kent County Council said: "The headteacher of Lydd Primary School will be stepping down at the end of the week.

"Andrea Charman has decided to leave the school for personal reasons. The governing body would like to thank Mrs Charman for all her hard work during her time at the school."

Mrs Charman refused to back down on the decision to cull Marcus and urged people at the height of the controversy to "move on from this issue" for the sake of the children's education.

She said the decision to slaughter Marcus had the support of the school council, staff, the governing body and most parents at the school.

It was also said that pupils voted in favour of selling his lamb meat to raise money to buy more animals for the 250-pupil village school.

Mother-of-one Trudy Dixon, 26, who campaigned to save Marcus, yesterday supported Mrs Charman's decision to step down. She said: "A lot of people are happy that she is going because it created a lot of bad press for the school."

O'Grady stepped into the row by offering to buy Marcus and give him sanctuary alongside sheep he owns.

Facebook groups in support of preserving Marcus's life also attracted hundreds of supporters, including some from people offering to care for him.

Mrs Charman was not available for immediate comment but colleagues declared their faith in her.

Chair of governors Geoff Marsh said: "Under Mrs Charman's leadership the school has improved dramatically and the whole school community is grateful to Mrs Charman for this."