Teachers at two Greater Manchester primaries are striking over concerns that pupil violence has grown to “untenable levels”, with some children “fearful” of attending school.
Staff at Lily Lane Primary School in Manchester and Ravensfield Primary School in Tameside began strike action on Tuesday, after their concerns about the “culture of violence” were allegedly ignored by leadership.
Pupils at Ravensfield Primary School have brought knives to school and thrown furniture, teachers said, and have also been known to “bite, kick, hit and spit at staff”, according to NASUWT, the Teachers’ Union.
Child aggression had seen the school go into lockdown, and fire doors locked when pupils climbed balconies and roamed the site unsupervised, it added.
The union also said assaults by pupils on staff and other pupils have become an “almost daily” occurrence at the Lily Lane Primary School.
Teachers will continue strike action on Thursday and next week on 13, 14 and 15 January, as well as the following week on 20, 21 and 22 January.
The primary schools are both managed by the Changing Lives in Collaboration (CLiC) Trust.
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Jo Ashcroft, the trust’s chief executive, said arrangements were in place for the schools to remain open during the industrial action.
“The safety and wellbeing 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,” she said.
“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.”
Ms Ashcroft said the trust had engaged the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service 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,” she said.
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The union said leaders at Lily Lane Primary School had ignored concerns raised by teachers that pupils with “highly complex special needs” were not receiving adequate support.
The school had also failed to respond with an effective behaviour policy or support staff faced with “high levels of aggression” by pupils, the union said.
Teachers who raised concerns about the situation have even been met with suspension or their contracts had not been renewed, said the NASUWT.
The union said the trust had also not undertaken risk assessments or imposed any policies to protect staff and pupils at Ravensfield Primary School.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of NASUWT, accused the CLiC of not only failing to provide a safe environment but seeking to “intimidate and punish staff who report concerns”.
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“This strike represents an unprecedented event for our union: two primary schools from the same academy trust taking action over worryingly similar concerns,” he said.
“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.”
NASUWT national executive members for Greater Manchester, Rachel Knight and Jac Casson, said the situation was “devastating” teachers.
“Alongside their physical injuries, teachers are suffering high levels of stress and anxiety which are affecting their entire lives,” they said.
