TEACHERS from South Bromsgrove High formed a picket line outside the school entrance as part of nationwide strike action.

Fed-up teachers gathered outside the school on Charford Road from 7am to make their voices heard on Wednesday (February 1).

The picket line was organised by the National Education Union (NEU) whose members voted ‘overwhelmingly’ to take strike action.

Andrew Sprouting, the NEU branch secretary and workplace representative at South Bromsgrove High said the strike action has generated a lot of support.

Bromsgrove Advertiser: Teachers formed a picket line outside South Bromsgrove High.Teachers formed a picket line outside South Bromsgrove High. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

“We have a recruitment and retention crisis,” said Andrew.

“The government missed their target by 41 per cent and for the first time ever they also missed their recruitment target for primary schools.

“Pay is a big factor in this.”

READ MORE: More than £100k damage after warehouse break in

Andrew who has been teaching for 28 years said the NEU has 56 members at the school and only six of them crossed the picket line.

“There has been a huge change in my years of teaching - we had the impact of Covid, but it was before that,” added Andrew.

“We are massively underfunded, there’s too much pressure on staff and no one can get done what they need to in the amount of time they have.”

Chris Sugars who is also a teacher at South Bromsgrove said things have really deteriorated in the last 12 years.

“One of the big problems is recruitment as we don’t have enough teachers.

“We are also losing teachers as the job is too big and not paid well.

“We end up picking up the pieces.

READ MORE: 'Selfless' Bromsgrove primary school teacher nominated for award

“Our issue is not with the school or staff it’s with the government as they don’t recognise there is a crisis.”

The Department for Education (DfE) has offered a 5 per cent pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully funded above-inflation pay rise for teachers.

The NEU has announced seven days of strikes in England and Wales in February and March but is hopeful that the government can make an offer to teachers to prevent further planned walkouts.