Northampton High School: More strike action over pensions

Teachers at Northampton High School are taking industrial action in a dispute over pensions

Three further days of industrial action are due to take place at a Northampton private girls' school over pensions.

The strike at Northampton High School follows an initial day of action on 10 February.

The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), which runs the school, said it cared "deeply about its teachers".

Mary Bousted, from the National Education Union, said efforts from the trust to find a solution had come too late.

The strike is part of industrial action at 23 schools across the country run by the GDST.

It will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

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Teachers have previously taken to picket lines on 23 and 24 February, as well as the initial date of 10 February.

The dispute is over a plan to remove teaching staff from the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

A new proposal has now been put forward which would see teachers remain on the scheme, but with a number of conditions attached.

These include extending the scheme until September 2023 and awarding all staff in independent schools a pay rise.

Dr Bousted, the NEU's joint general secretary, said it welcomed the trust's move "to find a solution to the current dispute, but successive proposals have been inadequate or incomplete".

"We do not yet know the full detail of their latest plan, which appears to have unknown strings attached and was delivered too late for proper consideration," she said.

"Finding a quicker resolution is very much in the gift of the employer, whereas the NEU will continue with the overwhelming mandate of its members to keep up the pressure."

The schools trust said it had "carefully considered" feedback to its consultation around pensions changes before amending its proposal.

In a statement on its website, it said: "We care deeply about our teachers and would not have put forward these proposals unless we felt they were absolutely necessary to support the long-term sustainability of the GDST family of schools."