Sinfin Community School academy plan prompts strike

Sinfin Community School has about 900 pupils

Teachers at a Derby school have voted to go on strike over a government proposal to turn it into an academy.

Sinfin Community School was taken over by the government last month following concerns it had not made sufficient progress since being placed in special measures by Ofsted in February.

An interim executive board is now due to start a consultation on turning the school into an academy.

The NASUWT union said it planned to go on strike before Christmas.

Academy turnaround

The union, which represents about a third of teaching staff at the school, feels a local solution involving Derby City Council would be better for pupils than the school being taken over by a government-appointed sponsor.

Dave Wilkinson, NASUWT branch secretary for Derbyshire, said: "We are looking at two days of action before Christmas on this issue. I have proposed joint strike action to the National Union of Teachers (NUT), given that they have an active ballot as well.

"The ballot results at Sinfin give the NUT the opportunity to join NASUWT in opposing plans for a takeover of Sinfin and I am awaiting their response."

A government spokesman said: "Academies have already turned around hundreds of struggling secondary schools across the country and are improving their results at twice the national average."