School strike families facing 'challenges and stress'

Parents have said it is "a stressful time for their children" after strikes at a school academy in Derbyshire.

Staff at nine schools in the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi‑Academy Trust voted to take industrial action over planned redundancies and pay cuts they have said will impact pupils' education.

The Derby-based trust has said it needs to make the cuts because of the financial situation it is in.

Dawn, 16, who is doing GCSEs at Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy in Ilkeston, said of the strikes: "You are thinking about these exams, you are thinking about the strike days and you are just so uncertain."

"It adds a bit of panic - it really does," added Dawn.

Teachers belonging to trade union Unison and the National Education Union (NEU) started the walkouts on 21 April, leading to changes in lessons in the run‑up to exams.

Dawn's mother, Sy, from Stapleford, in Nottinghamshire, said: "The preparations for the exams were going well until the strikes.

"You could see that shift in mood. Dawn needed more reassurance - we have needed to work more to reassure her."

The trust has schools in Derby, Derbyshire, East Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire.

The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy, a primary school in Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, has also been affected by the industrial action.

Danielle, who lives in Heanor, Derbyshire, and works full-time, has two children at the school - Jack, 10, who is in Year 5, and Nancy, five, who is in reception.

She said her in-laws have had to look after her children because the school closed for three days this week.

"As a full-time working parent, and my husband also works full time, it has put us in a very difficult position," she said.

"We have got holidays already booked, we have got school holidays to cover anyway, so I can't afford to take any more time off."

She said she needed to find childcare cover in June, when the unions were planning more strikes, as her in-laws would be on holiday.

But, like Sy, she said she understood why the teachers needed to go on strike and she supported what they were doing.

Nick Raine, NEU's senior industrial organiser, said action had been taken in response to "mass job cuts" and the downgrading of posts across the trust, which has 20 primary schools and five secondary schools.

Raine said progress has been made on support staff conditions and there were now fewer planned compulsory redundancies.

He said this would "destroy the livelihoods of loyal staff" and would reduce support for the most vulnerable pupils.

Raine added: "Our dedicated staff and the pupils they serve have suffered enough. This dispute needs to end for the sake of all.

"That can only happen if plans to sack and downgrade huge numbers of loyal staff are withdrawn and a proper sensible financial recovery is implemented."

Kevin Gritton, CEO of the trust, said staffing changes were needed to remain financially sustainable in the long term.

"This may include reducing staffing in areas where current levels are higher than our funding or organisational needs allow. Even so, we are doing everything we can to limit the impact of these changes," he added.

"We have reviewed all of the restructure proposals with head teachers, and we are confident that pupils will continue to receive high-quality education and support.

"Our priority is to ensure pupils' learning continues smoothly, and we are working hard to avoid any further disruption.

"In our recent meetings with trade unions, we have explored a number of updated options.

"These aim to lessen the financial impact on staff and give more clarity about future staffing arrangements."

Gritton added that talks with the trade unions are continuing.

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