“MERCILESS bullying” of school staff has got so out of hand that one teacher has appealed to the Pope to intervene.

At the National Union of Teachers conference on Saturday, Liverpool NUT rep Pete Glover said he had seen four teachers at a Catholic school in his city “reduced to tears” by managers disciplining them for their pupils’ failure to meet attainment targets.

He said a culture of bullying had been created by the “managerial structures of the schools” and heavy-handed “surveillance” of teachers.