Wigan teachers back on the picket line

And picketing staff said they were prepared for more walk-outs at Outwood Academy in Hindley if the issue couldn’t be resolved before then.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) and National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) at the academy, which is operated by Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), had already taken action on June 3 and 10 before today’s (June 11) downing of tools. And three more days are planned for June 17, 18 and 19.

The action follows OGAT’s proposal to extend the school day by 30 minutes, increasing weekly teaching time.

The trust says this is needed as it currently falls short of the minimum school week of 32.5 hours and pupils will have more time to learn.

But the NEU claims the proposed changes would lead to increased stress, reduced planning time and a deterioration in work-life balance for teachers and support staff.

Peter Middleman, NEU North West secretary, said previously: “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 Academies are putting more strain on teachers, on their work-life balance and affecting the families of teaching staff.”

A trust spokesman 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.”