NEU East Midlands

Privilege to be with Leicestershire @NEUnion reps today building the #SaveEducation campaign! ✊ ​The passion for our schools is inspiring, but with education running on empty, now it’s time for action. ​🗳️ Our indicative ballot opens 28 February. Check your details on myNEU today!

🚨 THE SEND CRISIS NEEDS REAL INVESTMENT, NOT JUST AMBITION 🚨 ​The Government says they want to reshape the SEND landscape. We’ve been clear: all children deserve support without the bureaucratic nightmare. ​While we welcome the new Inclusion Grant, let’s be real about the numbers. Funding that only covers a part-time TA for a primary school isn’t a solution. You cannot fix a system running on empty with spare change. ​Here is what we have been demanding: - ​End the Profiteering: We’re glad the DfE is finally tackling independent special schools draining the system with exorbitant fees. That money belongs in frontline education. - ​Fix the MAT System: It’s time for collaboration, not competition. We need reform that allows schools to leave trusts, caps CEO pay, and stops high staff turnover. - ​Respect for Women: Increasing maternity pay is a vital win for our members, but it’s just the start. We still have a long way to go to secure maternity rights comparable with other public sector workers. 75% of our profession are women - working conditions must reflect that. ​Bridget Phillipson says she values the profession. If that’s true, she needs to listen to the experts: the teachers and support staff. Ambition is great. Funding is vital. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c309…

In the coming White Paper, we need to see real improvement in maternity pay and rights for teachers. With a workforce that is 75% female, failing to address this is a failure on retention and equality. Supporting teachers at key life stages is essential to retaining talent, promoting equality, and strengthening our schools for the long term. Improving maternity provision would send a powerful signal that the profession is valued and that the government is prepared to act on the recruitment and retention crisis.

Great to stand on the picket line at Tewksbury Academy this morning. NEU members, alongside colleagues in NASUWT, are taking strike action over serious concerns. Staffing cuts and the inconsistent application of the behaviour policy by the senior leadership team have created an unsafe learning environment. Parents are strongly supportive of our action because the community wants a safe, stable school for every child. It is now up to the leadership team to do the hard work needed to rebuild trust and put things right.

Such an amazing vibrant rally outside the DfE today by members from Arthur Terry Learning Trust. Over 100 members left their strike pickets across the West Midlands this morning to hand in a letter to @bphillipsonMP at the Department for Education this afternoon. Members here aren’t just standing up for themselves, their children or their communities. They’re standing up for education itself - because academisation has failed, public money has been mismanaged, and it’s time for failing trusts to be brought back into democratic public control where they belong.