'Disruptive behaviour' school strike paused

Watchdog Ofsted recently said Haydon Bridge High School must address problems with a minority of youngsters

Strike action over the alleged failure of management to tackle disruptive pupil behaviour at a school has again been paused.

Teachers at Haydon Bridge High School in Northumberland had been due to walk out on Tuesday, but the National Education Union (NEU) confirmed the day's action has been called off following a meeting between its officials, Northumberland County Council and school leaders.

A strike due last week, also involving members of the NASUWT union, was also called off.

Headteacher David Nisbet said earlier this month that inspectors from Ofsted and the council had "deemed behaviour to be as good as what is seen in most high schools throughout England".

The NASUWT had already agreed last week to pause both planned days of industrial action, but the NEU had only done so for the first and was intending to press ahead with the second prior to Monday's talks.

Northumberland NEU branch secretary Sean Kelly told the Local Democracy Reporting Service industrial action was "still very much on the cards" if improvements were not seen in the coming days.

'Not perfect'

Further strike dates are now scheduled for 9 and 10 December, with both NEU and NASUWT members potentially walking out on those days.

Mr Kelly said NEU members had "very narrowly" decided in favour of calling off Tuesday's strike in the hope education chiefs would act to resolve their concerns.

Haydon Bridge High School's most-recent Ofsted monitoring report, published in September, warned it needed to address the "persistent disruptive behaviour of a minority of pupils that is leading to high levels of suspension".

School leaders have said that, since that report, changes have been brought in which have reduced suspensions by more than 30% compared to the same period last year.

A letter to parents also included a commitment to take "another look" at the school's behaviour policy "to make it better still".

Speaking earlier this month, Mr Nisbett said: "Like any comprehensive school, behaviour is not perfect.

"Children can become upset or angry for a number of reasons and the school's behaviour and pastoral systems work well to meet the needs of those children, despite resources being very limited."