'Nearly all' of district's 60 schools to partly close as Lancaster & Morecambe teachers take part in national day of strike action

Almost a thousand striking teachers across Lancaster and Morecambe will be taking part in the strike.

The National Education Union (NEU) held a ballot for industrial action with more than 90% of members, of a turnout of 53.2%, voting to walk out.

The strikes are part of the union's campaign for a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise but many teachers have also voiced their concerns about under-funding at schools.

As part of the action, protests will be taking place in Lancaster on Wednesday - in Dalton Square from 10.30am and then marching to Market Square for a rally from noon.

NEU district secretary Sam Ud-din said the NEU expected "nearly all” of the 60-plus schools in the district to be closed to some extent, with just a handful of the smallest remaining open.

Many schools will be closed almost fully, except for cover of the most vulnerable children.

“Children are losing out because there aren’t enough teachers,” Mr Ud-din said. “Education staff are leaving the profession in droves because of a toxic mix of excessive workload and low pay.

“Not one of us wants to go on strike – we want to be in the classroom, we want to be teaching and we want to be supporting our amazing children and young people.

“But with one in four teachers leaving the profession within two years of qualifying the education system is collapsing – and failing many of our pupils.

“Even when there is a teacher in the classroom, increasingly they are not qualified in the subject they are teaching.

“Parents and grandparents hear their children and grandchildren talking about ‘new’ teachers in the middle of the school year, or of their favourite teachers leaving. A lack of qualified teachers harms the education children and young people receive. And the situation is getting worse by the day.

“During the worst cost of living crisis in memory hardworking teachers have been offered a pay increase of just 5 per cent – with inflation soaring, this adds up to a 7 per cent pay cut.

“On top of this, schools aren’t being given enough additional money to fund the 5 per cent on offer – meaning the Government expects your child’s school to pay for it out of its already overstretched budget.

“The Government missed its target for recruitment of new secondary school teachers by a simply staggering 41 per cent this year and by 11 per cent for primary school teachers. Negotiating a decent pay rise is a necessary step towards resolving the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.

“There’s been a fall of 23 per cent in trainee teacher recruitment in 2022 compared with the year before.

“One in eight maths lessons are taught by a teacher not qualified in the subject.

“Nearly one third of the teachers who qualified in the last decade have quit.

“13 per cent of teachers who qualified in 2019 have already gone.

“Managing with fewer staff means we can not provide enough personal support to all your children if they need extra help, or all the extra provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities they deserve."

One Lancaster school’s reasons for closure...

Bowerham Primary and Nursery School is among those which will close on Wednesday.

Its head Jo Banks has sent a letter to parents outlining the decision.

She said: "When a strike takes place, those taking strike action stop work and withdraw their labour. This means that those teachers involved in the action will not teach their class(es) or undertake any other duties on a strike day.

"It is therefore incumbent upon me to consider the impact that industrial action will have on theoperation of the school. One of the key issues is to assess whether there are sufficient staff available for the school to remain open, or partially open, during a strike.

"To determine whether this school can remain fully or partially open, a detailed risk assessment has been conducted. This considers the impact that the action will have on the health and safety of pupils, staff and visitors, and whether the school can run a full or amended curriculum, to determine whether it is possible to operate the school safely during the strike.

"As headteacher, the governors and I have decided school will be closed to all classes on Wednesday."

School will remain open for children who are classed as vulnerable or where both parents are registered as being critical workers.

The school governing body also released a statement, saying: "We understand that the strikes may provoke frustration, anger and disappointment for many families.

"As a governing body, we are committed to supporting our staff at Bowerham, who work so hard for our children.

"Our teachers love their jobs, but increasing numbers of teachers are leaving the profession because of falling wages, a challenging funding climate and endlessly increasing workload pressure.

"As a governing body, we want to provide a happy, healthy, well funded workplace for staff, but this is becoming increasingly difficult.

"Governors have not failed to notice the falling numbers of job applications when we have vacancies. Nationally, one in three teachers is leaving the profession within five years.

"We are being asked to make very difficult decisions around budgets, and we must be honest about the cuts that are likely to be made in the coming months and years due to a lack of sustainable funding from the government.

"Only last week we reluctantly agreed with staff that we will have to pause building plans, freeze recruitment, and look seriously at cutting the numbers of teaching assistants in school. Our fuel bill has doubled in the last year, from £36,000 to £74,000. We have not received any additional funding to cover this and it is expected to rise further.

"Staff pay rises due to an increase in the Living Wage are also unfunded. Within the next three years, our deficit will be over a million pounds if we do not take action now and make cuts.

"No one wants to have to make these difficult decisions, but the current situation requires it and it will inevitably have an impact on the quality of our provision in the years to come.

"What that means in real terms is fewer skilled and supportive adults, school trips, fun activities, and educational opportunities for our children. We also understand that teachers and support staff have endured 12 years of pay erosion due to inflation.

"None of us underestimate the disruption that strikes can cause, but in this case we feel strongly that parents must understand and be fully aware of the challenges facing our school."

The governors have asked families to write to their MP or join the picket line if they feel strongly about the issue.