Teachers to go on strike at schools near Stourbridge and Wolverhampton - here are the details so far

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Strikes are also planned at Wombourne High School after teachers complained about having to work beyond their contracted hours.

The schools are run by Invictus Academy Trust, which also runs five other schools in the Dudley area.

The first one-day strike will take place at both schools on Thursday this week (December 4), followed by further walk-outs on Wednesday and Thursday (December 10-11) the following week, and on December 16, 17 and 18.

The union claims that a meeting to address the matter was cut short after five minutes, and that teachers were being asked to work an extra 80-100 unpaid hours a year.

Branch secretary Rebecca Cann said: "No teacher ever wants to take this step, and we are disappointed that the Trust have has refused to make concessions over the serious breach of contract in these two schools. 

"In fact, at the most recent meeting where we sought to resolve these issues, the employer called an end to the discussion less than five minutes in, showing a lack of serious engagement with their staff and a lack of willingness to resolve these issues."

Mrs Cann said staff at both schools were being directed to work above their contracted hours, which not only had a negative impact on their own wellbeing, but also on the quality of provision they were able to offer pupils. 

She said union representatives and officers had tried to engage with the employer to address these issues since April, but our colleagues are being told that they will simply have to give up their contractual entitlements and agree to work beyond their paid hours."

Mrs Cann said studies had shown that teachers already did more unpaid overtime than almost any other job. 

"It is insulting and disappointing that Invictus feel it is acceptable to actually direct their staff to carry out between 80 to 100 hours of unpaid additional work each year, beyond the work teachers all do in their own time for the sake of their students," she added.

Edward Vitalis, chief executive of Invictus Education Trust, said the organisation deeply valued its staff, and wanted them to feel supported, developed and respected.

He said the trust had recently set up a wellbeing and workforce strategy which was making a real and tangible difference, coupled with substantial investment to reduce workload. 

"When we met with NEU representatives last week we wanted to build on this positive work and find solutions that balanced their concerns with the needs of our students," said Mr Vitalis.

"In fact, we put eight concessions or compromises on the table to avoid us reaching this point. Sadly, this approach was not reciprocated.

“We remain fully open to further meaningful dialogue with the NEU, and we have now contacted Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to support us with this."

Mr Vitalis said while the trust respected teachers' right to strike, it was taking all reasonable steps to minimise disruption to learning for the proposed dates of industrial action. 

"Protecting children's education will always be our prime concern," he said.

“We have written to parents outlining that our intention will be to keep both schools open. However, we will not safely be able to do this for all students and we recognise that there will be disruption for some of our families. 

“We will, of course, keep our community updated throughout.”

Invictus also runs Crestwood School in Kingswinford, Pedmore High School and Rufford Primary School in Stourbridge, Ellowes Hall School in Lower Gornal, and Leasowes High School in Halesowen. None of these schools are affected by the strike action.