Teachers continue strike action over claims of poor pupil behaviour at Northumberland high school

Union members at Haydon Bridge High School were on the picket line this morning amid claims management have failed to act on concerns.

It is the first of three days of strike action this week, with staff also expected to strike on Wednesday and Thursday. A further nine days of strike action are planned to follow on.

A spokeswoman for the NEU said: “Support Staff and Teachers at Haydon Bridge High School want to have a safe system of pupil behaviour in place and working. They put the safety of all pupils at the top of their list of priorities.

“For almost two years, staff at the school have been pleading with the Head Teacher and Governors to implement an effective pupil behaviour management policy and procedures. Despite the creation of a new pupil behaviour policy on paper, it has remained largely on paper.

“The leadership of the school have not shown a commitment to implementing the new behaviour policy. There have been sudden and unexpected changes to the behaviour policy without any consultation with the frontline staff.

“Our members want to see the school starting to succeed rather than fail.”

A recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in January and published last week, recommended that the school be placed in special measures. The report stated: “The persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

“Leaders and governors know there are many areas of the school that need to be improved. However, they have not acted swiftly or effectively enough to address these concerns.

“Governors do not ensure that all of their statutory duties are met. They do not challenge leaders sufficiently well. School leaders do not have the capacity to bring about the necessary improvements.

“Leaders and governors have not acted quickly enough to address weaknesses and improve pupils’ experiences at school.”

Despite the strike action, the school remains open to all pupils expect those in Year 9. School leaders have expressed disappointment at the walkout.

A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: “School leaders and governors are extremely disappointed to see this industrial action taking place. We have been working with staff and their Unions to identify issues and have engaged in a number of actions.

“Improvement plans are underway with further co-produced plans for improvement recently introduced. We had hoped that unions may pause their action to allow this improvement to become embedded.

“We are committed to build on this base to rapidly address the remaining issues. School leaders and governors would want to express thanks to the school staff, students and parents continuing to support the school and their combined work in making it improve.”

Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, cabinet member for Children and Young People at Northumberland County Council, added: “I share the disappointment of school leaders and governors that industrial action is going ahead.

“The unions shared a multi-point list where they wanted improvements. I believe each point has been actioned and yet they are still striking- despite improvements being made as noted by Ofsted in their recent report.

“Ofsted did state that the school was calm and that bullying was not a concern. This is a time to pull together to support the school and the community, and I implore and welcome all parties committed to doing so.”