Further strikes are planned at Outwood Grange Academies in Wakefield, starting today, in protest against extended school days and workload pressures.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) working in schools operated by Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) will take two days of strike action this week – today, Tuesday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 11 and a further three days of strike action next week on June 17, 18, and 19.

This follows strike action that took place last week on Tuesday, June 3.

Strike action will take place in the following OGAT schools in Wakefield – Outwood Academy Freeston, Outwood Academy Grange and Outwood Academy Hemsworth.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) working in schools operated by Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) will take two days of strike action this week followed by a futher three days next week.

placeholder image — Members of the National Education Union (NEU) working in schools operated by Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) will take two days of strike action this week followed by a futher three days next week.

Other schools in Yorkshire also taking part are Outwood Academy City, Sheffield, Outwood Academy Danum, Doncaster, Outwood Academy Easingwold, North Yorkshire, Outwood Academy Foxhills, North Lincolnshire and Outwood Academy Shafton, Barnsley.

NEU members at the above schools will join colleagues in six additional schools across the East Midlands, North East and North West to strike over the Trust’s plans to extend the school day which will lead to a substantial increase in workload and a potential struggle to retain teachers.

The industrial action follows OGAT’s proposal to extend the school day by 30 minutes, across its 28 secondary schools, which the NEU says would increase weekly teaching time significantly impacting planning, workload and staff wellbeing.

The union says the proposed changes are being implemented without proper consultation of the workforce and the NEU believes this will lead to reduced planning time, a deterioration in work-life balance for teachers and support staff and issues over the retention and recruitment of teachers.

Debbie Kahler for the NEU said: “Our committed and hard-working members of the National Education Union have voted for strike action on the grounds of workload and changes to the current school day.

"This is not a decision they have taken lightly, as they have the best interest of the children at heart. They need a realistic working day.

"Teachers already have a huge workload which is having significant impact on the retention of teachers in schools.

"Teachers are working harder and longer. The Trust can no longer ignore the pressures teachers are under.

"It’s time to invest in what truly matters, support the staff and pupils. Squeezing more teaching into an already jam-packed working day is not the solution. Outwood Grange Academy are putting more strain on teachers, on their work life balance, and affecting the teaching staff of families.

In a statement last week, Outwood Grange Academy 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.”