Waltham Forest: Teach or Quit! Schoolgirls protest teachers striking while their exams are at stake.

I have been researching this on and off since this morning, and while I had to go out for an hour the Express has picked it up.

School children ‘demand striking teachers waving Palestine flag go back to work’
Teachers have walked out on their students during exam time.

Union members at Connaught School for Girls, London, have been on strike for three weeks since April 21 during the GCSE and Mock Exam period, over what it called “unfair management practices and increased workload”. The National Education Union said members also feel they were targeted for redundancy.

Socialist Worker has a different slant on it

Strikers battle bosses and scabs at east London school

Education workers at Connaught School for Girls in east London began their second week of strikes on Tuesday.

The NEU union members walked out last Thursday and plan to stay out till 8 May over unfair managerial practices and workload.

Bosses have now ramped up those attacks. On Wednesday of last week the school began bringing in agency staff from Tradewind Recruitment to cover for workers out on strike.

From what I can see of the behaviour and disgraceful manners of the striking teachers caught on video outside the school yesterday redundancy isn’t good enough; instant dismissal for misconduct might be.

I can’t embed videos here but you can follow this link to it. 

Sixty years ago I knew girls who went to Connaught School. It was one of the several girls Secondary Modern schools I might have attended had I not passed my 11 plus and gone to the borough Girls Grammar school. When the borough went to comprehensive education in 1968 the grammar schools became Senior High Schools (age 14-18) and we were fed by Junior High schools (11-13) one of which was Connaught. Much has changed but it remains a single sex school.

These are some screenshots from the video. Right is Pablo/Paul Philips, known politely as Mr Philips, sporting a rather fetching keffiyeh and an unidentified football strip. He teaches CPSHE (Citizenship, Personal, Social, Health and Economics) and is the joint district and branch secretary for the NEU union (Waltham Forest) responsible for co-ordinating these strikes which according to some parents have been happening on and off for the best part of 10 years. Note the girl (below) with the megaphone respectfully stating their case, that teachers have the right to strike but they have a right to education; she still politely calls him “Mr Phillips” even as another girl (or woman, maybe a parent) is telling him (about his hand gestures) “Don’t be rude”

Other teachers turned aside with distain. Note above the Palestinian flag worn as a shawl. Because Palestine is directly affected by English schools academy status (or not status) and council redundancies. It’s a burning issue on the streets of Gaza. Also the anti-racism banner.

This teacher turns with a nasty sneer. She slow claps her pupils and their parents. A slow clap is a very insulting gesture in English society. She turns away and raises her fingers in the air (also insulting) as another teacher (in brown) gestures to whoever is filming to stop filming. I hope it is a parent. If we find that those girls have been sanctioned on Monday it will be a disgrace.

Somebody else took some still photographs of the rest of the girls demonstrating and posted them on Instagram. A couple are below. Note that they are in correct smart traditional school uniform, unlike the informal teachers.  As minors the photographs have been correctly posted with their facial features covered.

Some of the comments on social media are pertinent

I’ve had some embarrassing exchanges on picket lines over the years, but having your own students addressing you as ‘Mr Phillips’ over a megaphone, in uniform, while you’re wearing, a clown costume has to hurt…
“Teach or Quit” – brilliant especially when shouted at teachers BY PUPILS. These teachers careers are finished. There is no way they can enforce discipline, expect respect in class or have any attention paid to them

Not sure which is worse. That these people are teaching your kids. Or that these people are not teaching your kids.

ON ONE HAND, THESE TEACHERS SHOULD BE IN THE CLASSROOM TEACHING THOSE CHILDREN, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR OUR KIDS.

Update – the Telegraph has managed to interview some of the parents. You can read it here.

The strike will continue into June. GCSE and A-level exams started in some subjects this week; they continue through May and usually end late June. Miss Sneer of the slow handclap is the Spanish teacher. The other teachers with their backs turned to the girls are the Heads of Science, Maths and English. A single teacher has been managing to conduct classes of 60-80  girls at a time in the school hall. Their behaviour through this, according to that teacher, has been impecable.

The cry is teach or quit. Quit and let better teachers, not political activists take your place.