TEACHERS and support staff at the area’s two secondary schools held four days of strikes in a dispute with management.
Members of the National Education Union at Downend School and Mangotsfield School walked out on July 6 and 7, and on July 13 and 14, saying concerns over “excessive workload”, “inappropriate direction of staff” and “lack of consultation on important working arrangements” had not been addressed by Castle School Education Trust, which runs both schools.
They held a demonstration outside the trust’s headquarters at Marlwood School in Alveston which, along with Castle School in Thornbury, is also affected by the dispute.
The NEU is calling for an increase in staffing capacity.
It has raised concerns over a move away from South Gloucestershire term dates from September, and the introduction of an “off the shelf, standardised curriculum developed by another multi-academy trust”.
The union says CSET is providing the “minimum planning, preparation and assessment time alongside maximum teaching loads,” prompting some teachers to leave for other jobs, and others to go off sick with work-related stress.
South Gloucestershire NEU branch spokesperson Elly Owen said staff are facing a “crisis”, adding: “Our members care deeply about the children and young people they work with. They do not take the decision to strike lightly.
“This dispute is about ensuring schools are properly staffed and that staff have the time and capacity to do their work, so that every child in their schools can get the high-quality education they deserve and pushing back against a culture of trust executives unilaterally making significant decisions which affect the core fundamentals of members’ working lives, and children’s education.”
The union is calling for the trust to use its “significant financial reserves” to increase staffing levels and says it has made significant pay increases to senior leaders, which could be used instead to.
Responding to the claims, CSET said: “We are disappointed that strike action by members of the NEU is causing unnecessary disruption to pupils’ education.
“This strike has come about primarily because NEU officials are demanding a 10% reduction in the number of lessons taught by teachers in CSET secondary schools.
“The current arrangements are determined by nationally agreed teacher contracts, and changing this would require a substantial and sustained increase in the funding provided to schools by the Department for Education.
“We have engaged with NEU officials and representatives over recent months. All of the other issues that they have raised have been addressed, and they have rejected alternative proposals to ease workload pressures.”
