Teachers to strike over bad behaviour in school

Staff at a secondary school are to strike over what unions called a "failure of management to act" to properly tackle "disruptive behaviour".

Union bosses announced teachers and support staff at Haydon Bridge High School in Northumberland would take two days of action - on 19 and 25 November - with members of the community invited to hear the teachers' concerns.

Headteacher David Nisbet said: "It is important that the education of the young people we serve is not disrupted by industrial action."

The National Education Union (NEU) and the NASUWT said they wanted to engage in meaningful discussions and that strike action was "always a last resort".

Mr Nisbet said: "The governors, leadership team and Northumberland County Council continue to work with the NASUWT and NEU to avoid strike action at Haydon Bridge High School."

The headteacher added: "Like any comprehensive school, behaviour is not perfect.

"Children can become upset or angry for a number of reasons and the school's behaviour and pastoral systems work well to meet the needs of those children, despite resources being very limited."

Mr Nisbet said the school had received multiple visits over the past two years from bodies like Ofsted and Northumberland County Council who "deemed behaviour to be as good as what is seen in most high schools throughout England".

The school's most recent Ofsted monitoring report, published in September, warned that the school needed "to address the persistent disruptive behaviour of a minority of pupils that is leading to high levels of suspension".

However, it also praised Haydon Bridge for prioritising "the improvement of teaching, behaviour and attendance" since its last full inspection which led to a "requires improvement" rating.

The unions said employees had repeatedly raised fears about pupil behaviour and the impact it was having on safety, teaching and learning.

An NEU spokesman said: "For more than a year, staff at the school have been pleading with the headteacher and governors to create, test out and implement an effective pupil behaviour management policy and procedures.

"Sadly, this still has yet to be done."

A spokesperson for the council said: "We are aware of this planned action and are working with all parties to try and find a resolution and minimise the impact on pupils' education."

Additional reporting by James Robinson, Local Democracy Reporting Service