Teachers strike for first time in school's history

Teachers at a school in Surrey are going on strike for the first time in its 99-year history, a union has said.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) who work at Ewell Castle School have planned walkouts on Thursday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then on 7-9 May.

The strike action at the co-educational day school comes following a dispute about teacher pension arrangements, according to the NEU.

Silas Edmonds, Ewell Castle School's principal, said: "The school has made good progress in its discussions with the NEU and we hope matters will be quickly resolved."

Picket lines will be formed between 08:00 BST and 09:00 in front of the school entrance in Church Street and in the staff car park.

The union said teachers at the school are members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), a government-run scheme which guarantees benefits based on career length and salary.

The school's governors have proposed leaving the defined benefit scheme and replacing this with an "inferior, privately-operated defined contribution scheme", the NEU added.

Nick Childs, the NEU's senior regional officer, said: "We are calling for the governors to withdraw the current proposals and to suspend further consideration of changes to teachers' pension provision."

Mr Childs added: "The governors' current proposal represents a materially adverse change to existing staff contracts.

"NEU members do not engage in this action lightly, but it is clear to them that industrial action is their only resort in this situation."

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