Teachers hold rally in Hastings town centre

The National Education Union (NEU) organised the event, which it said concerns a dispute over workload and job cuts at a number of schools in the town.

Teachers went on strike yesterday (Monday, July 1) and today.

Picket lines also formed outside The Hastings Academy, St Leonards Academy, Baird Primary Academy and Robsack Primary Academy as part of the two-day industrial action.

The NEU said members took strike action in a dispute over workload and job cuts linked to school funding across the University of Brighton Academies Trust.

Jenny Sutton, secretary of the Hastings District of the NEU, who was at the picket line outside Baird Primary Academy on Monday, said: “We are not happy that not enough money is reaching the school from the trust.

“There are not enough TAs at this school (Baird) and there have been cuts in staff. This means the education of the kids is really badly affected.”

At today’s rally, parents of children who attend the academies, joined in support.

People chanted ‘Where’s the money gone?’ to the tune of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, the 1971 hit by Middle of the Road.

James Ellis, NEU rep for The Hastings Academy, said: “I remember getting a message from my co-rep in the middle of April, as the NEU had just been made aware that we were going to be facing some pretty severe cuts to services at The Hastings Academy.

“We were going to have all external cover sent home, all support staff on leave not being replaced, existing smaller classes being at risk, vital counselling services for some of our most vulnerable students were going to be cut in September and successful behaviour and attendance programs were going to be stopped.

“I feel like The Hastings Academy has been moving in the right direction and these kind of cuts would have pushed us right back to where we started.

“I thought ‘how is it possible that our school cannot afford the basics anymore?’ We found out why because our academy trust has been keeping an extraordinary amount of money, taxpayers’ money, that should have been coming to this community and our young people in Hastings.”

The NEU said since the dispute started, negotiations have resulted in the trust agreeing to radically change its funding model for its schools, but it added that teachers and support staff in schools have not got the assurances they need that only the central trust, not the schools themselves will pay for the changes.

Further assurances over support staff numbers have also not been obtained, the NEU said.

A spokesperson for the University of Brighton Academies Trust said: “We remain committed to ongoing negotiations with the NEU to prevent future industrial action from taking place. We will continue to keep our community informed about any developments.

“We appreciate the understanding and patience of our parents and carers.”