Teachers strike over trust's funding decisions

Teachers at two schools in York have gone on strike in protest at the funding decisions made by the academy trust which runs them.

The National Education Union (NEU) said money was being spent centrally at the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (NPCAT) on certain services, such as safeguarding, for all its 38 schools in York, North Yorkshire and Teesside.

However, All Saints Catholic School and St George's Catholic Primary had previously received equivalent services free of charge from the city council before becoming part of the trust in 2023 and 2019 respectively, the union said.

NPCAT said it was engaging "positively with trade union colleagues" and had already made internal changes.

One teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, said funding being "creamed off by NPCAT at the top" had resulted in a shortage of resources in the classroom.

"We're not seeing the repairs that we need to our school, we're not seeing the teaching assistants in the classroom and our students are not benefitting," they said.

They added that a recruitment freeze was currently in place due to a funding shortage.

Students were "very supportive" of the industrial action, they said, despite it falling during mock exams for year 10 and year 12 pupils.

A letter to parents at All Saints, seen by the BBC, said the school was closed to all key stage three students during the strike.

Private study time was scheduled to take place for those in year 10 and 12 if teachers were not available.

One school under the trust in York paid £28,000 per year for a safeguarding service which was previously provided free of charge by the local authority, according to NEU organiser Gemma Cobby.

"At the same time, we've seen increases in CEO pay [at the trust] for the last few years," she said.

She added that members were "wanting to see that funding coming into schools" to provide better services and more teaching assistants.

She said funding cuts had led to fewer teaching assistants being able to support teachers and children since the school came under control of the academy trust.

The trust had "resolved some matters" and made internal changes which were welcome, she said, but said funding "is still an issue".

A spokesperson for NPCAT said the trust's board and leadership team were trying to "avert the need" for strike action.

"Concerns around workload have been cited by the unions as the basis for this action," a spokesperson added.

"After further discussions yesterday (Monday June 23), a number of actions to review the issues raised by the NEU were agreed, alongside the sharing of additional information to demonstrate the trust's commitment to transparency in these areas."

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