Bilborough College Nottingham strike Action over five-term years

On 25 April, NUT staff at Bilborough College Nottingham took strike action against cuts to frontline teaching services.

This is the latest in a string of strikes by teachers in Nottingham because the city council wants to move to a five-term year. Teachers have been striking for one day each week for the last three weeks, with large protests in the city centre.

I interviewed local NUT rep Diane Fletcher. She said that last year the teachers had agreed to a temporary increase of 10% in workload. This was the equivalent of half an A-Level group extra. This took time away from supporting students and one-to-one contact time.

Now the 10% increase in workload is being made permanent and management are refusing to negotiate.

Diane hoped they wouldn’t have to take more strike action in the future but also said that they needed to win the fight against these cuts which would be damaging to both teachers and students.

They will be escalating their action to two days. Parents meetings are also being planned across the city to support the teachers.

Helen Pattison