The UK's biggest education union says "virtually every school" in Nottinghamshire will be affected in some way by upcoming teachers' strikes. Members of the National Education Union (NEU) recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action as part of its campaign for a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise.
Teachers who are NEU members at state-funded schools and sixth-form colleges across England will be able to strike when the first nationwide walk-out takes place on February 1. Nick Raine, the regional organiser for the NEU in the East Midlands, said: "In Nottinghamshire we have around 4,500 members and in Nottingham alone we have at least a couple of thousand members, plus we're getting thousands more joining the union.
"School leaders will have to make the call on whether they are going to open or not, but we are calling on them not to do so for the safety of the pupils. Particularly in primary schools, if we're looking at the safe ratio of staff to pupils and the number of members we have, they can't open those schools in a safe way.
