Teachers on the Isle of Wight are set to strike for 4 days throughout February and March in a row over pay.
Members of the National Education Union will walk out in a bid to force through a fully-funded, above-inflation pay rise.
The union is declaring a total of 7 days of strike action in February and March, though any individual school will only be affected by 4 of them.
On the Isle of Wight, strike days will be held on Wednesday 1st February, Thursday 2nd March, Wednesday 15th March and Thursday 16th March.
Strike action will affect both primary and secondary schools, as well as Sixth Form colleges. However, it is unknown at this early stage whether any schools will be force to shut due to a lack of teaching staff.
Commenting on ballot results, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, has said:
“It’s with a heavy heart that members have chosen to act. They have chosen to do so, because the government doesn’t appear willing to act or genuinely consult.
“Government has known about staff shortages and its impact on workload for years. In recent months the IFS, NFER and even Ofsted’s annual report have highlighted the need for more teachers to fill vacancies and achieve their own targets.
Article continues below this advertisement “However, closing this gap will not be a quick fix, but it’s not too late for positive discussion. The NEU has made their views known for months, but the government only offered their first meeting on 9 January. Far too late. I understand the next meeting with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is planned for next Wednesday. We hope for genuine negotiation and progress.
“We are keen to have a resolution. One that moves towards a ‘minimum service’. For children, parents and education staff, this means not just the expectation, but the reality of a qualified teacher and subject specialist in every classroom. This is not possible when recruitment targets have been missed over so many years. We want qualified and experienced classroom assistants supporting, allowing teachers to teach too. Let government provide the means to fulfil this expectation of a ‘minimum service’, so that children and young people can start to make real educational progress in their life.”
Teachers strike so children won’t be in school. Take your child out of school to go on holiday and get a fine makes sense though education was important to children
the school should be fined the same amount per kid, payable to the parents for everyday the child is not in school – they are quick enough to fine a parent for the kid not being in school, so they can fine the school for not being open to accept children on school days.
No they cannot fine the school, same as you cannot invoice the rail network for petrol you used on the day of the strike, or claim rebate on your NI while nurses are on strikes. Dumbo.
bob – you are an idiot that needs to learn to read before posting – please note the use of the word “should” in the message.
and it is a valid point – the door swings both ways – the kids are not in school on a school day, that attracts a fine as the parents have kept them at home -why because the school is closed due to strikes – therefore the parents should be compensated in the form of a fine to the school
bone idle teachers need to be grateful they have a job
Grammar. Learn some.
We are keen to have a resolution. One that moves towards a ‘minimum service’. For children, parents and education staff
going on strike, refusing to work and having the kids dossing at home, really achieves that doesn’t it.
perhaps if these teachers simply focused on teaching reading/writing and maths to young kids instead of gender identity politics and fake outrage at race, then they wouldn’t be so burdened would they
then again, half the teachers now were kids that were brought up in the “everyone wins, no one loses and never say no” hand wringing do gooder generation and as such, it comes as no surprise that they are weak, whiny and incapable of dealing with stress.
Perhaps if the government focused on paying them a reasonable wage, then they in turn could focus on teaching reading/writing and maths. The strike is about pay, not the curriculum.
they are paid a reasonable wage – starting pay is nearly £30k a year. Of course you realise that we are in a tightening cycle in the financial system – which means money is being drained out of the system, to undo the effects of paying all those teachers and others furlough money during lockdowns. There is less money to go around now and who do you think pays for all the increases in public sector wages – cuts elsewhere and increases in taxes on everyone, including the very teachers dossing on strike.
So, you’re not a teacher then. Or educated. You haven’t the first clue how hard they work, the stress they’re under, the pressure put on them every single day, or the hours outside the school day they work every single day just to teach children. Anybody dedicated enough to still be a teacher despite the mountain of poop they have to put up with from no-necks like you, deserves a massive pay rise.
30k a year is a lot considering they only work 190ish days 9:00 till 15:00
Makes you wonder why it’s a near impossible to recruit. Maybe because they don’t work 190ish days 9:00 till 15:00.
Well the staff car park at the school opposite me is always empty on school holidays so unless they all walk to work I would say they do. Google it 190 days they work.
Have you heard of laptops? Planning and marking can be done from home and takes a long time.
Don’t forget there pension
You’re obviously not a teacher then. It’s “their” pension.
Please don’t go and teach given your grasp of grammar, or should I say lack of.
And get a huge employer paid pension contribution as well
Tool. You think they don’t do meetings, lesson planning, covering colleagues, evening activities, pre school stuff, marking, exam prep OUTSIDE the school day?! Clueless Dilbert.
And we would notice this how exactly?? They barely ‘work’ one full week a year anyway, half weeks off in summer, every weekend, every bank holiday, all winter holidays? Throughout the mass Covid hysteria did NOTHING. And now they want to go on strike?? LAUGHABLE!!
Well we know it won’t affect the kids education as they don’t seem to get any these days. At least they will have a few days off from having their heads filled with wokism and gender bashing and all the other pathetic things teachers brainwash them with.
Remember when I was a lad and the Headteacher (Master in those days!) took us for History. Every lesson he walked in and said ‘read Chapters X and Y’ and summarise in an essay. Never said another word. Had a few teachers like that.
Essentially on strike days they could do that for the whole school with one teacher. Read these chapters and write an essay. Simples.
Maybe the kids can have a few nights sleep as they wont have their heads filled with death cult greenwash misinformation, race hate poisoning,and being told they are useless because they are white? probably be better for their mental health if the teachers keep away from them.
Some of these comments seem to be reflecting people who did not receive a good education!
Most teachers I know work a 50+ hour week and through their holidays. They also have spent at least an extra 4 years in education, which the younger ones pay dearly for when paying their student loans. There are many trades and professions that earn a lot more than teachers and are also far less productive.
The government enforces some of the curriculum areas teachers have to teach, regardless of their own personal feelings. However, one of the worse insults to teachers is probably the emphasis on student voice – the pupil always knows best!
and of course they were forced against their will to train as teachers and rack up debts
Let’s hope they don’t send homework or on line work for the kids Todo,teachers on strike and so r my kids
I am not saying they don’t work hard , ….
but what if we all decided to strike , pharmacists, shop worker’s, care staff in nursing home’s etc etc…
Of course we all want higher wages, but that in turn pushes up prices for everyone , so what do we do then oh go on strike!!!
Vicious circle….
And of course those parents that work have to take time off or pay for childcare, or if lucky may have family to help …..
The unions won’t lose money but the striker’s will ….
I agree, unfortunately those that are striking are either too stupid to understand the financial impact on the country if they were given the rises they are looking for, or are too selfish to care. Give all these strikers what they want and by the end of the year inflation will be 25%. What then? Everyone goes on strike again?
Fire service will be striking next
It’s interesting to read that people seem to think that teacher’s only do a set number of days and hours during the academic year for a huge wage.
This is so far from the truth, many of us take our work home, which includes marking, lesson planning to name a few things.
We are expected to do CPD in our own time if we can’t fit it into our paid working hours. We start lesson planning for the new academic year during the summer holidays especially when the government decide to change the curriculum to meet yet another hoop they want children to jump through.
The trouble here is that parents don’t see all the hard graft that goes on behind the scenes and don’t understand the commitment – they only see the school day. Perhaps it’s time for these people who think it’s a doddle of a job, to spend some time experiencing the reality of being a teacher. I know this is fact as I work with teachers and I would have their job with the level of commitment for all the tea in china!
Good job too,because you can’t spell “wouldn’t”
Doesn’t seem like the teachers and the union see what hard graft the parents have outside of school either.
Seven days of striking. Subtract that from the average employed parent and they have now lost almost quarter of their annual holiday so that teachers can get better paid? Does that seem reasonable?
Moves like this, at times like this, will only help strengthen ideas like computer/automated education.
Yes but that’s your decision to go into this profession it’s disgusting that teachers will deprive students of education especially GCSE students this time is very valuable
ann – cry me a river – those of us in the private sector who run our own businesses don’t get days off, don’t get sick pay, don’t get to strike and then there are those that are on minimum wage, getting a top up from Universal credit because we cannot get more hours in the only s hitty job we can get.
you want to think yourself lucky you actually have a career and a wage
selfish, lefty teachers, thinking of no one but themselves.
Change in curriculum my foot. They are doing the same mathematics and the same English as they were when I was in school 50 years ago.Algebra,Geometry,number theory and arithmetic in Maths and Macbeth and An Inspector calls in English to name just 2 subjects.
Another strike. There’s definitely a pattern going on. Wasn’t long ago Royal Mail. Government have got a lot to answer for but will never tell us the truth.