AFTER lurid headlines such as “Love-triangle Sir beat wife to death”, Millais school has battened down the hatches.

The trial of IT teacher Mark Parnham for the murder of his wife Jillian, also a teacher at the `West Sussex comprehensive, brought back the trauma of events last March. In a fit of jealous rage he bludgeoned her to death after discovering her affair with another teacher.

Her lover Chris Worth, left the maths department immediately after her death, and several other teachers were called as witnesses in the trial at Lewes crown court. The instrument of her death, a metal bar, also came from the school.

Mark Parnham was aquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in jail.

Traumatised by the violent death of one of its staff at the hands of another, the school now has to cope with the publicity the scandal has inevitably attracted.

This week another school, Queens school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, is coming to terms with the violent death of one of its staff. Chemistry teacher Avril Brown died from stab wounds last Friday. Her husband has been charged with her murder.

Millais school has declared a news blackout, refusing requests for interviews, and warning staff, pupils and even former pupils not to speak to the press.

The policy at the school during the trial was to carry on as usual - there were no announcements to the pupils at assembly.

But an insider told The TES that in the staffroom there was a strong sense of sadness and a closing of ranks, as if there were an unspoken agreement among the teachers not to discuss the events with outsiders.

“They seem most upset about the prominence the trial got in the newspapers day after day.”

But while many parents and pupils are as anxious as head, Leon Nettley, to preserve the privacy and reputation of the girls’ school in Horsham, some are angered that the wall of silence shut them out, as well as the press. One parent said: “We weren’t given enough information, it was all rumour and conjecture.” However, another parent disagreed: “The school handled it the best they could. We received a note saying there had been a tragic incident and that Mrs Parnham had died and they hoped for our support. They probably couldn’t say much with the trial to come.”

Because the circumstances of Mrs Parnham’s death were unclear at first - Mr Parnham claimed intruders attacked his wife and the affair between his wife and Worth had been kept secret - the full story came in a series of shocks for the girls. One, who left the school last summer, said: “I had Mrs Parnham as my form tutor for the whole of my time at Millais, and all of us are deeply upset. She helped us grow up from 11 to 16.

“Our form got counselling for the next month or so, and it really did help, by talking about it with your friends and getting everything out. We were told what had happened in the drama hall, with Mr Netley telling us that Mrs Parnham had died and he couldn’t tell us any more information. We all went silent and then, when we left the hall, so many of us started crying and trying to comfort each other.

“We didn’t know anything about Mr Parnham, and it came as a complete shock when we did eventually start to hear rumours and then saw it on the news.”

The sudden loss of three of the 65 staff last March came as the school was reeling from the death of deputy head Sonia Bartlett in a car crash. She had been a teacher at the school for 28 years and her memorial service, packed with grieving pupils, came only three weeks before Mrs Parnham died.

The school was offered the services of West Sussex council’s educational pycholologists but has decided to rely on local clergy.