A special school in North London was closed to pupils today (May 22) as members of the National Education Union (NEU) took strike action over disputes about paid leave.
The union claims staff and teachers are “angry they have lost pay protections”, including for pregnant and disabled workers.
The Village School, a mixed school in Brent with over 300 pupils aged 3 to 19, provides education to pupils with a wide range of complex needs, including those with physical disabilities and autism.
The school, which is part of the Compass Learning Partnership academy trust, was forced to close today as more than 100 members of the NEU walked out.
The NEU has claimed that teachers and support staff at the school have tried reaching out to the trustees since last year in an attempt to resolve the issue and prevent the need for strike action. However, this appears to have failed after it announced the plan to strike.
The NEU claims school policy was changed without consultation and resulted in “pay cuts for staff needing hospital appointments, ante-natal appointments and carers’ leave”.
The trustees of the school have “acted against their own processes” by not negotiating with unions and staff have been “left out of pocket”, according to an NEU statement. Compass Learning Partnership were approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication.
NEU National Executive and a teacher at The Village School, Jenny Cooper, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We have reached out to the trust multiple times to try to resolve this issue. The last thing we wanted was to strike, but they are not engaging with us. […] The school cannot operate without us; they will need to negotiate sooner or later.”
There are a further five dates planned for strike action if a resolution cannot be found. They are are scheduled for June 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12, however, Ms Cooper would like to sit down for further discussions with the trust with the aim of reaching an agreement. She said: “There’s nothing in the diary but we have that hope.”
She added: “The majority of us are frontline classroom staff and we feel bad doing this because with the nature of our children in the school, with complex needs and autism, it is very difficult for the parents if their routine is disrupted.
“We didn’t want that to happen but we honestly tried everything to prevent getting to this point.”
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