'Unless we get some extra money the children of tomorrow will really suffer’: Teachers strike in Eastbourne

The group met in Hyde Gardens at 11am before marching to town hall in Grove Road.

A National Education Union (NEU) spokesperson said there is a ‘crisis of recruitment and retention’ within the school system with a ‘decade of falling pay’ being a key reason.

When asked why she decided to strike, Ratton School teacher Jane Upton said: "We have lost so many extra support services, it is just not like it used to be years ago. So unless we get some extra money the children of tomorrow will really suffer.”

She added: “Parents realise the cuts that we have had to cope with over the last few years and actually the time is right because if you don’t get the money in the next few years then you’re going to have a massive impact on education and that’s a real worry for everybody. We are going to lose staff and we are going to lose resources.”

Joint branch secretary for the NEU in East Sussex and Ratton School teacher Dave Brinson said: “Every efficiency saving that a school is asked to make means fewer teachers, fewer TAs and fewer support staff in front of the children. This is about quality of education, this is about retaining teachers and it is about funding schools properly.

“We need to retain people in the profession. We have about a fifth of teachers leaving the profession within five years of starting. We need to keep the best people in teaching, in front of our children"

He explained: "When teachers go on strike it means there is no other way.”

Willingdon Community School teacher and former Labour parliamentary candidate for Eastbourne Jake Lambert also attended the rally.

He said: "This isn't just about teachers and the pay issues that teachers are facing, it is actually a bigger issue about funding for schools.

"Teachers are people who want the best for their students and we want to help make a difference to people's lives and we are increasingly not able to make the difference that we want to make because of the funding we have got."

Mr Lambert added: "We need properly funded pay rises for staff so that we can keep teachers in the classroom, so that we can make sure that students have the best experience that they possibly can."

South Downs School teacher Michelle Morrison spoke about supporting her three children as a single parent on a teacher salary.

She said: "For years I have worked in a mainstream school and the provisions and the resources weren't available and the pay and the amount of work that I had to do didn't equate to the pay that we actually got. I spent weekends doing planning, doing marking, everything, and you don't get paid for your weekends.

"I have raised three kids whilst working. There have been days where I have taken them to football practice and sat and did marking, did planning, and the life-work balance was not the same."

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