Our children are being failed as school strikes go on, say parents

THEY NOW PLAN THEIR OWN PROTEST

- By ABBIE WIGHTWICK

Teachers on strike at Flint High School last week.

FRUSTRATED parents have claimed that their children’s education is being negatively impacted due to ongoing strikes at Flint High School.

They have pointed the finger at the school's governors and the local education authority, accusing them of ‘failing’ their children, and are now staging a protest of their own.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) have staged walkouts on eight days this term, citing poor pupil behaviour and alleged ‘bullying’ by management as the reasons for their action.

Further strikes are planned for the first week back after half-term on 3rd and 4th November, with both sides blaming each other for failing to negotiate a resolution.

Union representatives stated in September, when the walkouts began, that staff had been injured while intervening in pupil fights and regularly faced verbal harassment, with students wandering corridors during lessons.

Now, a group of over 100 parents have united to voice their concerns. They plan to hold a protest at the school on November 4, coinciding with a teacher strike.

One parent involved said: “Our children have now lost weeks of lessons with no clear plan for what to do. As parents, we feel it is now our turn to speak.

“Our children are being failed - not by the teachers striking, but by those in positions of responsibility who are supposed to safeguard their education.

“Flintshire County Council and the school’s governing body have shown a complete lack of leadership, transparency, and urgency while pupils’ learning has been torn apart.

“Children have now lost weeks of lessons, with no structured plan to keep their education on track.

“Parents have repeatedly asked how learning continuity will be maintained, but the council continues to hide behind the excuse that it cannot comment on industrial action. That is not good enough”