Primary School Teachers Go On Strike

After students bit and kicked teachers and carried knives into the classroom, teachers at two elementary schools started going on strike.

Staff at Lily Lane Primary School and Ravensfield Primary School in Manchester say they have been physically attacked, and some pupils are too scared to attend class.

Teachers also say there have been instances of pupils being hit, kicked and even spat at.

Both schools are part of the Changing Lives in Collaboration Trust (CLiC), and following the announcement of strike action, the trust stated that the safety and well-being of pupils and staff were its ‘highest priority’.

The trust said teachers were ‘suffering high levels of stress and anxiety, which are affecting their entire lives.’

Rachel Knight and Jac Casson, National Executive Members for Greater Manchester, said: ‘Working conditions at these CLiC Trust schools are devastating the teachers. They are desperate for change. Alongside their physical injuries, teachers are suffering high levels of stress and anxiety, which are affecting their entire lives.

‘All they want is to go to work in a safe environment and to be able to keep their pupils safe.’

CLiC said it was ‘disappointed’ to see the walkout ‘so soon after the ballot without adequate opportunity to respond to members’ concerns’.

Picket lines at both schools are scheduled to take place at 8:45 am on January 7 and 8. Both schools will stay open during industrial action.

Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said: ‘This strike represents an unprecedented event for our union: two primary schools from the same academy trust taking action over worryingly similar concerns. It is fair to say that this strike constitutes a declaration of emergency from the teachers. The health and safety of everyone at these schools is at risk.’

Leaders at the trust say they are keen to work with NASUWT and respect the right of its members to take action. But added that the union chose not to accept a ‘collective conciliation’.

Strike action at Lily Lane Primary School and Ravensfield Primary School is scheduled for January 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. 

Jo Ashcroft, CEO of CLiC Trust, said: ‘The safety and well-being of pupils and staff in all our schools is of the very highest priority to us and we work closely with every one of our schools to ensure they maintain the very highest safeguarding standards at all times.

‘We also support our schools to ensure the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs, are fully met.

‘We completely respect the right of union members to take strike action where they believe it to be necessary, however it’s disappointing in this case that strike action is taking place so soon after the ballot without adequate opportunity to respond to members’ concerns, and despite the Trust having engaged ACAS to offer collective conciliation, which the union chose not to accept. We remain keen to work in partnership with the NASUWT to discuss their members’ concerns.

‘In the meantime, arrangements are in place for both schools to remain open to all pupils during any strike action that ensues.’

It appears that parents are to blame for the lack of discipline and boundaries at home, which clearly extends to the classroom. However, parents are not permitted to discipline their kids, and in the absence of discipline, our nation is full of thug kids who think it’s acceptable to act in this manner.

Smacking a child is not being violent, and that is the problem. Parents have now been led to believe that it is brutality, and now parents are rewarding bad behaviour with a new toy instead of a time-out or a quick smack.

There is a distinction between a quick smack and a punch; we all know that, and discipline should be brought back before it’s too late, although I fear that it’s already too late. Parents should know the boundaries of smacking, and children should also know their boundaries.

An American-style boot camp and the reinstatement of punishment in schools, where teachers are permitted to administer it, are currently the only viable solutions.

We have families out there where the father is never to be seen, and women have little authority at home, or it’s simply children having children, and then we have the scourge that is social media, influencers and wannabe gangsters and the dross that now passes for something bordering on intelligent humanity.

Bring back corporal punishment. The slipper, the cane, and the ruler, because pain focuses the senses and teaches right from wrong. A smack, some tears does stop the disruptiveness. Of course, some children don’t need it; not all children are bad, but some are, and they do need it because some children have become feral and need taming.

Children should not be permitted to access any form of electronic device such as a mobile phone, pc, or tablet, until they are 18 years of age unless it is for school work in school, not outside of it because now most parents just shove a tablet or phone in a child’s face for a quiet life, and just leave them to it.

So, how is gentle parenting and no physical punishment working out for you then?