Coventry academy staff to strike over excessive workloads, union says

Staff at the comprehensive school will strike on six dates starting on Tuesday

Up to 50 members of staff at a Coventry academy are to go on strike in a dispute about excessive workloads and pressure on teachers.

Concerns have been raised over a number of issues at West Coventry Academy and more concessions were needed, the National Education Union (NEU) said.

Teaching hours had recently been increased with plans to increase them further in subsequent years, it added.

The school said it was "wholly disappointed" at the decision.

All union members voted to take six days of strike action beginning on 11 October, the NEU said.

"Since the beginning of the ballot, the school have already further increased teaching hours to the highest for any secondary school in Coventry, and plan to further increase hours in subsequent years," said a union spokesperson.

"This would be significantly out of line with norms not just in Coventry but with schools right across the country, and the NEU and its members are clear that this will have a detrimental impact on not only the staff in the school but the educational provision for children in the school."

Nicky Downes, joint district and branch secretary at the union in Coventry, added: "The NEU has sought to resolve these issues with the school at every stage and are open to talks at any time to avoid such action."

The school said remote learning would be in place during the strike action

Ana Neofitou, headteacher at West Coventry Academy, said an increase in the number of lessons, which was in line with the national teachers' pay and conditions document, had been paused until September 2024 and the school would continue to engage with staff around workload and wellbeing.

A joint statement with Richard Gill, the chief executive of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, a multi academy trust of which the school is a member, explained the school would be unable to fully open to all students on the strike days. But, the statement continued, students would have access to remote learning, and all year groups would have at least one day in school.

"Every effort has been made to avoid the planned strike action and reach an agreement with the regional representatives of NEU," the statement said.

"Despite those negotiations and the concessions," it added, "the NEU has refused to stand down strikes.

"The trust feels strongly that it has listened and acknowledged the feedback from union colleagues about how staff feel about increasing allocations at West Coventry Academy."