Further industrial action to close school next week

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Further strike action by teachers will force a high school to close for two days next week.

Darland High School in Rossett, Wrecsam is expected to be closed on Tuesday, June 30 and Wednesday, July 1 as teachers once more walk out over the schools large financial deficit, staff cuts and issues around pupil behaviour.

Members of teachers unions the NEU and NASUWT picketed outside the school last Tuesday – leaving the school without enough teaching staff to open and forcing pupils to stay at home.

Reports from the NEU indicate not enough progress has been made in talks with Wrexham County Borough Council and the school to resolve the issues.

As a result further industrial action planned for next week will go ahead, with the school closing for two full days.

The dispute centres around a few key points. The first is the growing financial deficit the school is facing, which currently stands at £1.02 million and is the largest school deficit in the County Borough.

That financial position has led to the potential redundancy of five full-time members of teaching staff. Finally falling standards due to years of staff cuts have led to what has been described as falling standards of behaviour, with teachers feeling unsupported when dealing with serious issues of behaviour and aggression from some students and truancy considered ‘rife’.

Teachers have indicated they need assurances about class sizes, timetables, genuine, visible senior leadership team support for pupil behaviour and action on workload before they will call off action.

Political leaders have called for a swift resolution.

Marc Jones MS, who represents Fflint Wrecsam for Plaid Cymru in the Senedd, said teachers only take strike action as a last resort.

“Carrie Harper MS and myself met with teachers at Ysgol Darland some months ago as they were concerned about teacher redundancies and the growing management structure,” he said.

“Losing specialist teachers on this scale is unacceptable and we raised those concerns with Wrexham Council.

“Teachers go on strike as a last resort and it looks like this has reached that stage – we urged the council at the time to intervene to resolve the situation and I repeat that plea now.

“Darland has had an excellent reputation and I’m happy to work with all parties to ensure that reputation is regained and pupils get the best opportunities possible.”

Fellow Fflint Wrecsam Senedd representative Cristiana Emsley MS of Reform UK urged all parties to find a solution to the issue to prevent further harm to pupils’ education.

“When experienced staff raise concerns about behaviour, workload, redundancies and support from leadership, those concerns must be taken seriously,” she said.

“Our teachers deserve safe classrooms, strong leadership and the backing they need to maintain high standards. Equally, parents deserve confidence that their children are receiving the best possible education.

“The priority now must be to bring all parties together, restore confidence and ensure that pupils are not left paying the price for management or financial problems.”

Wrexham MP Andrew Ranger said he had written to Wrexham Council to see what action was being taken to bring the situation under control.

“I know from speaking to staff at the school that this is the culmination of a prolonged period where concerns have been expressed and meetings held.

“Unfortunately this has not resulted in the reassurances and answers that the staff are seeking. They are understandably worried by the fact that staff are facing redundancy. I fully support those staff who have taken the decision to strike.

“The financial situation in Wrexham’s schools is a matter of public record ,including the size of the deficit at Darland High School. Local headteachers and governing bodies are facing extremely challenging budgetary circumstances. It is the school staff who are working on the front line having to do more with less.

“I urge all sides to engage in dialogue so that progress can be made to resolve this.”

Wrexham County Borough Council were approached for comment.