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Staff walk out over restructuring plans for two schools caught on dash camera

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Staff at a state school are taking industrial action in protest at restructuring plans.

The Sherborne Area Schools' Trust (SAST) said Shaftesbury School and Sturminster Newton High in Dorset had been facing a budget deficit of £1m between them so it was "looking to share some leadership roles across the two schools to reduce overheads".

On 24th and 25th June, Shaftesbury School staff who are members of the National Education Union (NEU) walked out over the restructure, which the NEU said would "take teaching resource away from the front line."

SAST said it continued to engage "in constructive dialogue with union colleagues".

Jon Timbrell, who represents the NEU in the South West, said the restructure is "stripping half of the heads of curriculum out of the schools" and "prioritising retaining a large layer of executive management".

He said a lot of the changes the trust had proposed "have been really unpopular within the community" and the turnout on Tuesday "was huge", with sixth formers, parents and other residents coming to show support.

"In negotiations with the trust, we raised the fact that the financial picture has changed quite significantly," Mr Timbrell added, referring to the 4% pay rise for teachers announced by the government and the investment in education proposed in the spending review.

He said the union was calling on the trust "to look again at the figures in light of that as well."

More strikes are planned for July

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