Teachers' strike affects 3,000 pupils

More than 3,000 children across Maidenhead will miss school today due to the first teacher strikes in two decades.

Dozens of members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) had planned to take action in protest over pay.

Five schools in and around Maidenhead were set to close, with an extra five being partially closed. Just two Windsor schools were set to close, while one was listed for partial closure.
 
There were about 500 NUT members eligible for strike action in the borough.

Dr David Wills, secretary of the Windsor and Maidenhead NUT, said the Government pay rise of 2.45 per cent amounts to a pay cut in real terms, as inflation and average pay rises are above four per cent. He said: “Young teachers in particular simply cannot afford the housing costs necessary to work in Windsor and Maidenhead. Teachers are, therefore, going on strike not merely to preserve the standard of living for their own families, but also to safeguard the future of their profession.”

For the rest of the Royal Borough’s 63 schools, serving 19,000 pupils, it is lessons as usual today.