NEU and NASUWT members at Darland High School are today (23/06/2026) taking their first day of strike action, with two days of action planned for next week.
Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of action due to the detrimental changes the employer has made to staffing levels. The cuts in staffing will further exacerbate the already serious challenges around behaviour, with little to no support from Senior Leaders. Meetings have taken place between the unions and the employer, and there has been recognition that the issues raised are fair and reasonable. The school leadership need to convince and reassure members that urgent action is being taken to address the long-standing concerns of members to avoid further action. Staff will need reassurances about class sizes, timetables, genuine and visible SLT support for behaviour and action on workload.
Nicola Fitzpatrick Wales Secretary for the National Education Union Cymru, said:
“NEU members care deeply about their school. Today, they are standing alongside colleagues to demand better for both staff and pupils. Staff have consistently raised concerns about the negative impact that staffing cuts are having, and will continue to have, on workload, behaviour and pupils' education.
“The enthusiastic staff at Darland High School want to do the best possible job they can for the pupils. They are currently being prevented from doing so. Leadership of the school need to prove to staff that they can act quickly to ensure that class sizes are not too big, that SLT are present to support challenging behaviour and that workload issues do not prevent them from doing what they want to do more than anything, which is teach”.