Schools in Horncastle badly hit as teachers strike again over job-losses and cuts

The teachers walked out on Wednesday last week (June 17) and were also due to strike on Monday and Tuesday this week (June 22 and 23).

As a result, schools operated by the Horncastle Education Trust were affected, with Banovallum School on Boston Road, which has a capacity for more than 600 pupils, closed to all students on all three days.

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School on West Street, which has a capacity for more than 800 youngsters, was scheduled to open only to students taking exams and students in year 12.

Huttoft Primary School, near Alford, announced plans to close for all pupils in nursery, reception and year-six classes, but to remain open for those in years one to five.

A fourth school run by the trust, Frithville Primary in Boston, has not been affected and was due to stay open

Sandra James, the trust’s chief executive officer, sent a letter to parents, carers and staff ahead of the action.

She said: “It is with real sadness we have to report that these strikes will be proceeding.

"There are so many positive things across our schools that we all want to build upon, and we will continue to work tirelessly to find a way forward."

However, Mrs James also revealed that helpful talks had taken place with Acas, the mediation body that aims to help resolve employment disputes.

She added in her letter: “We felt this was the most productive and collaborative of our meetings so far.

"We all left with a clear set of actions, and ways forward were agreed. However, the unions have decided to continue to strike while these actions are undertaken.”

The unions involved in the dispute are the National Education Union and the NASUWT, the Teachers’ Union. They first went on strike for four continuous days in May in what they described as “the last resort” against the trust’s cost-cutting measures.

The dispute revolves around a staffing restructure imposed by the trust after it said its “financial challenges” had become “extremely high”.

At the time, Mrs James said: “Our small local trust is like one big family, and this is a heartbreaking situation to be in.

"The potential impact of a restructure of this nature cannot be under-estimated.”

She thanked “dedicated staff” for “helping us to reach an outcome through voluntary redundancies", rather than compulsory job-losses.

And she felt the restructure would “secure the quality of teaching, support and student safety, in addition to achieving financial savings”.

However, the unions were furious that seven teachers had lost their jobs, leading to an increased workload for others, and that cuts were proposed in the amount of time staff had for essential lesson-planning, preparation, marking and assessment.

They described the measures as “catastrophic” and claimed they would “decimate schools, raise class-sizes and adversely affect the most vulnerable pupils”.

The welfare of teachers and the standard of education provided to pupils were under threat, said Matt Wrack, the NASUWT’s general secretary.

Established in 2018, Horncastle Education Trust employs about 300 staff and teaches about 1,600 pupils across its four schools.

The unions claim the trust faced a deficit of £820,000 and “has been subject to intervention by the Department for Education due to a chronic lack of oversight and an inability to manage its finances appropriately”.

Teachers say they accept the “difficult financial landscape” but feel the cuts “have been disproportionately felt by the staff when they could have been spread elsewhere”.