Schools across Bath and the local area are having to close or offer a limited teaching service during strike action on Thursday.
Twelve schools have already confirmed that their teaching will be affected by the strike, with some year groups being unable to attend their lessons.
These include: Ralph Allen School, Haysefield Girls’ School, Combe Down Primary, Saltford Primary, St Gregory’s Catholic College, Three Ways, Beechen Cliff, Southdown Infant and Junior schools, Wellsway and St Saviours Infant and Junior Schools.
Of these, Saltford Primary, St Gregory’s, Three Ways, Ralph Allen and Southdown’s Infant and Junior schools have all said they will be closing completely during the strike day.
This strike action is part of a continuing campaign of regional strikes involving members of the NUT and NASUWT.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said: “The strike rallies today have been a huge success. There can be no doubt left about the feeling of anger towards this Government’s treatment of the teaching profession.
“Strike action is never a step that teachers take lightly and we are very aware and concerned about the inconvenience it causes parents. Unfortunately we are faced with a Coalition Government that is refusing to listen to the reasonable demands of the profession. Changes to pay, pensions and workload will make teaching a far less attractive profession, which is not in the long-term interests of teachers and children.”
A Department for Education spokesman told the BBC: “It is disappointing that the NUT and NASUWT are striking over the government’s measures to allow heads to pay good teachers more.
“Industrial action will disrupt pupils’ education, hugely inconvenience parents and damage the profession’s reputation in the eyes of the public at a time when our reforms are driving up standards across the country.
“In a recent poll, 61% of respondents supported linking teachers’ pay to performance and 70% either opposed the strikes or believed that teachers should not be allowed to strike at all.”
