Time for school's striking teachers to move on, says education chief

BUT UNION STANDS ITS GROUND IN DISPUTE

- By ALEC DOYLE

STRIKING teachers at Flint High School need to 'move on' to 'prevent further disruption' to pupils' learning, according to Flintshire County Council's Chief Officer for Education and Youth.

That robust message from Flintshire's education boss Claire Homard came as members of the National Education Union Cymru (NEU) continue their industrial action over allegations of mangement 'bullying behaviour' and the 'inability of the school's leadership to tackle high levels of behavioural issues.

Mrs Homard said governors at the school had dealt with the issues at the heart of the industrial action and union members were 'unwilling' to give their solutions time to prove their effectiveness.

But the NEU countered that staff had 'no confidence' that the governing body had been given the full picture of the dispute, making teachers and teaching assistants' refusal to end industrial action until they were allowed to present their evidence to all governors was 'not an unreasonable request.

Following a number of meetings that have failed to resolve the situation and with an Estyn inspection looming on November 6, Mrs Homard challenged union members over what she believes is a lack of engagement to resolve matters.

"Senior officers of the council have spent many hours in negotiations with national NEU officials to seek a resolution to the ongoing industrial action at Flint High School," she said.