Redcar school teachers to strike for six days during exams

Teachers at a Redcar secondary are set for walk out for six days over plans to extend the school day. The trust that runs Outwood Academy Redcar, in Kirkleatham Lane, Redcar and Cleveland,

says the current school day falls short of the government’s 32.5-hour-a-week minimum. And now bosses from Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) hope to extend the day by an extra 30 minutes

across its 28 secondary schools, meaning it would end at 3pm rather than the current 2.30pm. National Education Union (NEU) members at the school has organised strikes across 14 OGAT schools

in the North East, East Midlands, Yorkshire, and North West in protest over the issue. Outwood Academy Redcar is the only school on Teesside with planned protests. Action is planned for

June 3, 10 and 11 and for three consecutive days from June 17 - days when the trust says pupils have "important" exams. There will be pickets at the schools from 7.30am until 9am

on each of these days. The union though, says the proposed change to the school day will lead to a "substantial increase in workload and a struggle to retain teachers" and is being

implemented without proper consultation. They claim it will lead to increased workload, stress, reduced planning time, a deterioration in work-life balance for teachers and support staff

and issues over the retention and recruitment of teachers. Beth Farhat, NEU regional secretary, said: “Staff at Outwood Academy in Redcar and Cleveland are strongly committed to the pupils

and community they serve. They do not take strike action lightly and have been forced into this position by an employer that simply will not listen. "They join colleagues across 14

schools across the country who will stand together against an employer unwilling to listen and determined to push through changes that will increase workload against the wishes of their

staff. Our members believe that these proposed changes are detrimental to both staff and pupils and are unwise and unwarranted. They also come at a time when our schools face cuts to their

budgets and increased pressure on resources. "The NEU believes that Outwood Grange Academy Trust management need to consult with staff and listen to their genuine concerns. Teachers

already have a huge workload which is having significant impact on the retention of staff in schools across the Trust. "We believe that by pushing ahead with these changes and ignoring

their staff, OGAT will make matters even worse, and teachers may well look elsewhere or move to other local schools because of these changes. The Trust must realise that these changes are

deeply unpopular, and hundreds of teachers will strike against them across the country." The union said it there was still time to avoid industrial action and called on OGAT to

"listen to their staff and sit down and negotiate with the union". A spokesperson for OGAT, however, expressed disappointment that the action will take place on exam days and

believes the change is "small". They said: "We have constructively engaged with our trade union partners and our colleagues since October regarding our proposal to re-shape

our secondary school day, which currently ends at 2.30pm – meaning we fall short of the Government's 32.5-hour-a-week minimum expectation. “The small change we have proposed will mean

students can learn more and achieve even stronger outcomes, and will still mean the school day is within the time as set out in the Government’s school teachers’ pay and conditions document

(STPCD). “We have approached this as a genuine consultation and have taken on board feedback to make changes to our original proposal. We have also made a commitment to meet regularly with

the trade unions to identify any unnecessary workload across our team so that the new school week is overall ‘workload neutral’. “Given this, and the benefits to their education that

students will get from the proposal, we are exceptionally disappointed that our union partners have decided to take industrial action, especially as they have chosen days when students are

due to take important exams they have worked so hard for. "We remain open to constructive dialogue and collaborative working but we also want to make sure our students are prioritised

and provided with the best possible education. Our pupils have told us they want to develop life skills such as financial literacy, more careers education and more time to debate issues they

experience in their lives, and our re-modelled week will mean we can deliver this and more for them.” LETTER TO STAFF A letter to staff from headteacher Lee Johnson said the changes were

planned to come into effect from September. It said it would "refine the curriculum to better serve our students' needs" and also "reinforce the school environment as a

safe haven for vulnerable students, addressing ongoing safeguarding and safety concerns highlighted by local authorities and policing". It added: "We understand that workload has

been a significant concern, this has been raised by your trade unions on your behalf. As part of the introduction of this school week, the Trust has given a public commitment to making its

introduction ‘workload neutral’. By this we mean that we will remove unnecessary workload, or make some requirements of the role more efficient, in order to balance out the extended

day." The trust told the TES it had “constructively engaged” with trade unions since October on the plan, and it was "exceptionally disappointed" union members had decided to

take industrial action. It said feedback had been taken on board to make changes to the original proposal and it would meet regularly with the trade unions to identify "any unnecessary

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