A Spalding headteacher has said it will be students who will be the losers if teachers go through with the threat of strike action.
The National Union of Teachers announced on Friday that an indicative ballot showed an overwhelming majority of teachers at Spalding Grammar School were in favour of strike action after the school refused to introduce a nationally-recommended one per cent pay increase.
A full ballot will now be held and teachers could walk out for several days in February if the action is not averted through “meaningful” talks between the union and school management.
Headteacher Steven Wilkinson has since released a statement outlining the school’s position.
He said: “The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) 2015, and the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) 2015 report upon which its recommendations are based, does not place upon schools any requirement to increase the pay of all teachers by one per cent. Neither does it recommend it. The document does set out ranges within which teachers should be paid, and this school’s pay structure has been uplifted accordingly such that it matches with those new ranges.
“The STRB report states that ‘it is for schools to determine individual pay awards, taking account of performance and in line with school pay policies’. This school’s pay policy allows for all teachers to receive an increase in salary where this is warranted by performance; that principle I am committed to and many teachers have benefited from it this year.
“I would be delighted to be able to award the increase that the unions are requesting; however, in circumstances where per-pupil income is decreasing, due to cuts at a number of levels, it would be negligent of me, in the long-term interests of the school, to do so.
“It is unfortunate that the school is being put in this position of choice. If the award is given, cuts would have to be made in our provision in order to finance it; if the award is not given, a number of teaching days will be lost to industrial action. Either way, it is the students who will be the losers, and for that I am deeply regretful.
“I do hope that a solution can be found, and that negotiations, held calmly, privately, and in full possession of the facts, can begin; for the moment, however, it remains the case that neither Mr Rustidge nor Mr Raine have contacted me on this matter.”
