Teachers strike over working conditions at Louth grammar school

Teaching union members at King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth will walk out six times, starting on Thursday

Teachers are set to take strike action at a school in Lincolnshire in protest over working conditions.

Teaching union members from King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth will walk out six times, starting on Thursday.

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the union NASUWT, said the expectations on teachers at the school were "simply not sustainable or fair".

The school's head teacher James Lascelles said they were working hard to address the concerns.

The strike action has been called due to concerns over the school's "enrichment programme" - described as an opportunity for students to gather at the end of the teaching day and take part in activities such as sport, debating, drama and music.

However, Dr Roach said: "The current structure of the school day is eroding time to teach the curriculum and undermining opportunities for pupils to learn.

"Exhausted and stressed teachers cannot deliver the best standard of learning to pupils," he said.

"We urge the employer to recognise the need for change and agree to work with us in the best interests of both staff and pupils at the school."

In response, Mr Lascelles said the school had listened "carefully and patiently" to the concerns raised and had proposed removing the enrichment activities from the timetable after the February half-term break and from the 2024/25 curriculum.

"We understood this met the concerns raised," he said.

"We were therefore very surprised, and disappointed, that teachers decided to reject the offer."

Hasna, a parent at the school, said the strike action would have an impact

Mr Lascelles said he would await with interest the reasons for the rejection in the hope that "we might identify other ways to meet the concerns that staff have".

"We are listening hard and wanting to urgently resolve these matters," he added.

Strike action is due to take place on 1, 6 and 8 February and on the 5, 6 and 7 March.

"The number of staff who will not be available to work on the proposed strike days means that we cannot safely open the school," a spokesperson said.

One parent, Hasna, told BBC Radio Lincolnshire she hoped it would result in a positive outcome for everyone involved.

However, she said the strike action would have an "impact on parents", and questioned why the matter had not already been resolved.