The principal of an Orange primary school has apologised for calling his students "morons" and "village idiots" in a staff newsletter, admitting his attempt at humour was "misguided and inappropriate".
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In a letter sent home to parents and carers at Calare Public School on Thursday afternoon, Chris Cundy apologised "for any hurt or grief I have caused anybody in the school and wider Calare community".
"I have made a serious error of judgement," he said. "My heart is with every student at Calare. It always has been and always will be.
"This school is committed to supporting its students."
Mr Cundy's comments were made as he attempted to encourage teachers to identify students to take part in an upcoming mental health and social skills workshop.
In the letter, he appeared to have considered it humorous to speculate about students with "two heads" and "webbed feet" requiring special assistance.
Mr Cundy dubbed the program "Operation Nutcase" and asked teachers to "start identifying students at our school with the following characteristics:
- suffering from undue anxiety
- lacking any resilience
- poor socialising skills
- 2 heads
- webbed feet
- village idiots
On Thursday, Mr Cundy said the new initiative "was one the school had chosen to undertake as part of our efforts to assist all students", he said.
"I wish to assure you that Calare Public is a caring school that looks after the needs of every student in a respectful way.
"I am sorry that I have blurred that image through my inappropriate written comments."
Mr Cundy's apology comes at a time when many parents and community leaders in the area of disability care are calling for his dismissal.
