Haydon Bridge High School in Northumberland has temporarily suspended its planned strike. This decision follows an all-night negotiation between union leaders and school district officials. This latest decision comes just a few weeks after a monitoring report by Ofsted was published in September. It identified weak areas that should be addressed in the school.
According to members of the National Education Union (NEU), who were scheduled to strike on Tuesday. They followed these successes by calling for even more walkouts on December 9 and 10. Following a meeting with Northumberland County Council and school representatives, NEU members voted. They rejected “by the narrowest of margins” the strike authorization, anticipating quick and impactful action on their issues.
Sean Kelly, the Northumberland NEU branch secretary, noted that despite the pause, industrial action remains a possibility if significant improvements are not observed soon.
“Industrial action was still very much on the cards if improvements were not seen in the coming days.” – Sean Kelly
School leaders estimated that suspensions have gone down by around 90 percent since these changes were implemented at Haydon Bridge High School. They’ve cut them by more than 30% over last year, no less! Headteacher David Nisbet looks forward to the continued positive development of the school. He mentioned that Ofsted and council inspectors have deemed student behavior to be on the same level as the best examples in any secondary school across England.
“Like any comprehensive school, behaviour is not perfect,” said Mr. Nisbet.
He argued that the school’s approach, including behaviour and pastoral systems, is all in place to help the youngsters in his care who will face emotional challenges. “Children can become upset or angry for a number of reasons, and the school’s behaviour and pastoral systems work well to meet the needs of those children, despite resources being very limited,” he added.
The Ofsted report focused on the need for demonstrable, continuous improvement, leading to the NEU’s first plans for industrial action. Haydon Bridge High School’s leadership team are currently looking closely at the school’s behaviour policy. They want to make it even more effective.
It’s likely why NEU members decided to suspend strike action. At the same time, the NASUWT union had previously committed last week to calling off its upcoming industrial action. Both unions are now eyeing the school’s responses with an eye towards further action.
