A mother from the Midlands has voiced her profound distress as ongoing school strikes mean her children are spending significantly more time at home than in the classroom, with pupils across the region facing up to 18 days of industrial action over a two-month period.
Industrial Action Escalates Over Job Loss Fears
The dispute centres on the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, a multi-academy trust operating 24 schools across Birmingham, Coventry, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire. The trust is grappling with severe financial difficulties that have placed over 100 teaching and support staff roles under threat of redundancy.
Members of the National Education Union have scheduled nine days of strike action for next month, following nine days already taking place this month. This industrial action directly impacts approximately 20 schools in the Midlands, including St Michael's Primary School in Lichfield, which Faye Allen's children attend.
Parental Concerns Over Educational Disruption
Faye Allen described the situation as "pretty awful" for her family, stating: "As parents, we stand with teachers in the strike but the impact this will have long-term is much worse." She revealed the stark reality facing her children: "If these strikes go ahead my eldest will have been in school for 12 days this term with 18 strike days and my son will have been in for 14 days with 16 strike days."
She expressed particular concern for Year 6 pupils, for whom this period represents crucial learning time ahead of secondary transition. Allen emphasised the strain on family support networks, noting: "If this continues, the strike isn't sustainable and I don't know how we're going to last without the goodwill of grandparents and friends. That can't go on forever."
Children's Confusion and Learning Gaps
The mother highlighted the emotional impact on her children, explaining: "My children don't know what's going on. They are confused about why they aren't in school and why they can't see their friends." While schools have provided home-learning materials for Years 1 to 6, Allen believes these resources "won't touch sides of the fantastic work the teachers do in class."
She praised the support from afterschool clubs, describing them as "absolutely incredible" for providing social opportunities, but emphasised the challenge for working parents: "With two parents working and doing the best they can, it's been pretty awful for our children."
Union and Trust Perspectives on the Crisis
The National Education Union, which claims parental support for its action, attributes the proposed redundancies to "financial mistakes" at the trust. In a statement announcing the initial strikes, the union expressed "huge concern" that large-scale job losses would damage students' education through larger class sizes, increased staff workload, and reduced support for children.
The NEU has raised particular concerns about financial management, noting: "Schools pay a whopping 20 per cent of their total budget, the money that comes into the school for each child, to the Trust for the central running of services, called a 'top slice'. The NEU understands the average 'top slice' for academies across the country is around five per cent, yet last year the ATLP central spend was closer to 28 per cent."
Trust's Response to Financial Challenges
A spokeswoman for the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership previously stated: "We are committed to tackling the financial challenges we face so that we bring stability to the trust and schools as quickly as possible, while at the same time maintaining the high standards of education and care that our pupils and their families deserve and expect."
She acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, adding: "Returning to a financially sustainable position means taking some difficult decisions. We continue to explore every area of expenditure and have identified numerous savings."
The ongoing dispute highlights the tension between financial sustainability in the education sector and the immediate impact on children's learning, with families across the Midlands caught in the middle of an industrial action that shows no immediate signs of resolution.
