Teachers at private school to strike for six days

Teachers will go on strike "following the ongoing failure of school management" to act on their concerns regarding the way they are managed, a union has said.

Wendy Exton, from the NASUWT, said teachers would walk out of Westonbirt School, a co-educational independent school, over changes to working conditions, a "lack of safe management in pupil number increases" and "unsustainable" workloads.

The dates of action have been listed as 14 October and 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 November.

Westonbirt School said it would "continue to engage meaningfully with all staff to ensure that we create the best possible environment for our children, who remain at the centre of everything we do".

The school, which is near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, said a meeting was planned with union representation to discuss the concerns of teachers this week and only a small number of staff would be striking.

"We do not anticipate any significant impact of this strike action on the day-to-day running of the school," a school spokesperson said.

"Our term has started with an enormous amount of positivity for students and staff, with exciting new opportunities for our pupils, and measures such as the creation of a Common Room Leadership Representative for our staff.

"This key role underlines Westonbirt's commitment to creating a workplace environment that is underpinned by kindness, a collective sense of purpose, opportunities for fun and connection and strong communication."

Exton, national executive member for Gloucestershire at the NASUWT, said teachers planned to take strike action because the concerns raised were "adversely affecting not just teachers but also pupils' learning environment".

She said: "We have repeatedly tried to negotiate with management over these issues but they have failed to engage constructively with us.

"As a result we have no choice but to declare a programme of strike action.

"School management have an opportunity to avert this action if they can show they are serious about working with us to meaningfully address these issues."

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