Striking teachers at Little Ilford School in Manor Park are calling for fresh talks in an effort to break the deadlock in their dispute over plans to add 330 more pupils to a school roll that already numbers nearly 1500.

Sixty members of the National Education Union, who have been holding a series of strikes, are calling on school managers and Newham Council to rethink plans to expand the school.

They have prepared a list of detailed demands, including hiring at least 13 new teachers and support staff, but their counter proposals have failed to impress council leaders.

*Strikers outside the school on Wednesday morning*

Now strike leaders are calling for fresh talks to resolve the deadlock. The staff representative, Beth Hickling-Moore, said:

Our ideal scenario would be to stop the expansion entirely and rerun the consultation to involve all stakeholders, including parents and staff and the community.

“We need a sign of goodwill from the management and Council that they recognise our concerns about how the school can cope with more students,” added fellow strike leader Alice Andrea.

The teachers complain that local consultation over the current expansion plan was flawed – they say there were only 12 parental responses, seven of which were positive. “A large number of people are involved and the Council must go out of their way to ensure people have their say,” said Alice Andrea. “We would also like the Mayor [Rokhsana Fiaz] to meet with staff and with parents, many of whom are absolutely livid.”

So far, two sessions and nine hours of talks with the conciliation service ACAS have failed to find a solution and teachers hope that the pause in industrial action in the coming days will lead to fresh talks.

The latest three days of strike action in this phase were held from Tuesday to Thursday this week and led to partial closure of the school.

Despite the deadlock, the all-singing and all-dancing mood of the picket line has kept spirits high, but continuing fears over the future for the school, which has recorded outstanding marks for quality in the past, mean the action will continue.

If there is no progress in talks to end the dispute, the strike will continue with action planned for December 8th and 9th.

Newham Voices has asked the Council for its comments.

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