Unexpected Turn of Events

At the risk of sounding like Victor Meldrew, I don't believe it!
They've dismissed our Course Tutor, Mike.
On Friday, our last day in class before we disperse to start teaching practice, we were disappointed to find that Mike was ill and we were being taught by Pearl. Enquiries as to what Mike was suffering from went unanswered and we all went for a pub lunch. In the afternoon, Jay, somewhat merry from the meal out, became a little loud and started to complain about lack of differentiation for those at the top end of the class learning scale. Pearl was flustered by this - well, she only knows us from independently assessing some of our microteaches - and found it hard to take Big Jay in her stride. It made several of us realise how well and adeptly Mike knows and handles us - our diverse needs and personalities.
However, when I got home I found an email from Mike telling me, not that he was unwell, but that he had been dismissed by the college as he hadn't "completed his probation satisfactorily". It was a professional email, sent on the college system, telling us what had happened out of courtesy and in the hope that we would continue to enjoy the course in his absence. But beneath the professional surface, his distress was clear to me.
Obviously I sent it round the group and we were soon emailing and phoning our shock, upset, fury and disgust that the best part of the DTLLS experience had been summarily excised, leaving us with the poor admin, badly organised placements and mentor system, no academic or pastoral tutor, past assignments unmarked (such as the Presentations, some of which only Mike had seen), future assignments waiting for his input, and the loss of his valued teaching. Quite extraordinary to dismiss a  key member of staff mid-course and mid-term. How could they do this to us - students are supposed to be at the centre of learning? They certainly never asked for our feedback.
Jay and I, as class reps, went up to the Departmental office on Monday to speak to Mike's line manager and administrator of the course (including mis-managed placements etc). She was off sick and likely to remain so for the week. No one volunteered to tell us what was going on. We all waited, fulminating, for another day - in between our first teaching practice classes), to see if emails or phone calls explaining the situation with Mike would be forthcoming. They were not.
I had a brief conversation with Scott in which we both knew what was being discussed, but he couldn't break professional boundaries and I wasn't willing to tell him how I knew what had happened. He advised us to contact to the Vice Principal in charge of our department -- so late last night, a measured but very concerned letter from the whole DTLLS class (signed by us as class reps) was emailed to the college Principal and relevant Vice Principal.
On the stroke of midnight a brief but concerned reply (not an automated one!) was received from the Principal; by 8am this morning, a similar response came from the Vice Principal. The grapevine now tells us we have a stand in teacher for the rest of this term (only 3 days of teaching) and that the Vice Principal will be speaking to the class on Friday. He should be warned that the class is in fighting mood and only one response will do.
Realitically, we are hoping that Mike will take his case to arbitration and/or tribunal and that the college will reinstate him asap. It's simply not possible to replace the relationships built between a really good teacher and a group as diverse in learning styles, abilities and personalities as ours at this stage of the course. All of us relied on his support and one-to-one tuition as well as his excellent class style and management. At this moment we have many questions, no answers and no one to go to with them.
Given that the college and course are supposed to be modelling good teaching and learning practice - designing and delivering a high quality course for trainee teachers - it seems a questionable way to be going about it.