Parents, teachers, students and politicians gathered outside Western Road Community Primary School in Lewes on Wednesday morning for the first day of strike action.
The National Education Union (NEU) has called for five more days of strikes due to the proposed reduction of teachers and teaching assistant positions in the school.
Strike days coming up include: March 18, March 20, March 25, March 26, and March 27.
The school, which according to parents is already “oversubscribed and highly regarded”, faces cuts that threaten the “quality of education” and the support available for its “most vulnerable students”.
Irena Wooler said that there will be “no redundancies to teaching staff” following a resignation.
The letter read: “There will be six teaching assistants and higher level teaching assistant posts rather than seven, so a reduction of one and we will look at ways to make adjustments through reduction in hours to avoid the need for redundancy.
“We have been in regular discussions with the union over the staffing restructure proposals, which are necessary for the school to set a balanced budget.”
As a “consequence” to the strike action, Western Road Community School has made the decision to close on all the days the NEU has marked for striking.
The letter continued: “I do recognise the impact this has on parents, carers and the pupils however in reaching this decision, the governing board and I have fully considered the Health and Safety of the pupils which is our highest priority.”
“We also had great backing from the people of Lewes, honking their horns in support, and cheering us on as we marched through the town.
“It shows how much everyone at the school values the community part of Western Road Community Primary School.”
An open letter from National Education Union members at the school said there had been a 100 per cent vote for strike action, following proposals to cut teaching staff numbers taken in January.
The letter said that the school intended to cut teaching posts from 8.7 to 7, and teaching assistant positions from seven to three.
Bronwen Ferber, a reception teacher and NEU representative, said on the day of the strike: “First and foremost we would like to thank our school community for the support they have shown in our campaign.
“The children and families have made banners, signed petitions, written to MP’s and of course turned up today on the picket line – thank you.
“It is never easy to take the decision to strike but when the decision not to would mean redundancy for colleagues, less support for our pupils and increased workload for teachers, it is not such a difficult decision to make.
“We care passionately about our children, families, colleagues and school and we are asking our employer to find a way to avoid compulsory redundancies.
“We also have concerns over staff well being and workload because four members of support staff are not having their contracts renewed for September. This, including the redundancy means support staff reducing from 11 to 6 in September.
“This will inevitably increase staff workload and reduce the time and support children will be able to access during the school day.
“Our main goal, as members of the NEU, is that no one is left behind so we will continue to strike to ensure there are no compulsory redundancies.”
He said that as a father he knows the importance of a “well-resourced” school to children.
He said: “Slashing staff numbers at a thriving and oversubscribed school is short-sighted and damaging.
“Pushing problems down the chain to secondary schools by reducing early-years support will cost more in the long run and harm children’s future success.
“Schools should be nurturing children at the start of their education journey, not stripping away the very resources that help them thrive.
“This approach won’t save money — it will simply create bigger challenges and higher costs later on.
“As a dad, I know how important a well-resourced school is to my children, and every child deserves that same support and opportunity.”
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