Teachers' strike ballot over hour

Teachers at Nailsea School in North Somerset have held a ballot for strike action after being asked to teach an extra hour a week from September.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is concerned about the workload with more teaching and less time to plan lessons.

The head teacher, David New, said a fall in pupil numbers meant less government funding, so the school had to make the best use of its resources.

He said teachers would still receive the statutory 10% planning time.

'Very angry'

Anne Lemon, secretary of North Somerset NUT said: "Our members are very concerned that with more time teaching and less time to prepare lessons, educational standards at the school will drop.

"Teachers in Nailsea are very angry about this. There have been falling roles in Nailsea primaries for a number of years.

"The local authority has insisted that numbers in Nailsea School would remain steady, so no long-term tightening of budgets happened. The situation has been appallingly managed."

The head teacher of Nailsea School, David New said: "We are very sorry that the NUT have taken this action as we have been in consultation with staff and unions since the beginning of the year about the change.

"We recognise that this is a change for staff, but the school does have a duty to make the best use of the available resources and to balance its books.

"We will continue our dialogue with the staff and unions in order to try to avert any disruption to learning for our students."

The ballot opened on Monday and the result will be known next Tuesday.