Primary school staff strike over post-evacuation working conditions

Summarised from NW Evening Mail's report · Updated 12 Oct, 19:31 · Archive

Staff at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Barrow are striking over working arrangements following the school's 2023 evacuation.

Staff at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Barrow will picket on October 13, 14, November 9 and 10, the National Education Union has confirmed. The strike follows the school's emergency evacuation in January 2023, when the original building was found unsafe and subsequently demolished. Since then, pupils and staff have operated across temporary arrangements: younger children in temporary accommodation and older pupils based at St Bernard's Catholic High School.

Union members say they have endured exceptional working arrangements and increased workloads for over three years with insufficient curriculum resources. Staff have managed logistical challenges including travelling between sites and adapting to altered school-day arrangements. The new school building is expected to be completed by September 2027, with external works continuing into 2028.

The NEU states that the Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust has acknowledged the additional workload but that there has not been sufficient progress on measures to address staff workload and protect their terms and conditions. Union members say they have repeatedly prioritised pupils' education but believe their goodwill has been taken for granted.

Read the report

• Picket lines to be formed as primary school staff prepare to strikePicket lines will be staged outside Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Barrow as staff take industrial action in a long-running dispute linked to the aftermath of the school's emergency evacuation.NW Evening Mail · 12 Oct, 11:00

In this story: Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School · Barrow · National Education Union · St Bernard's Catholic High School · Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust · Beth Farhat

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