Nottinghamshire school votes in favour of strike action

Teachers at a Nottinghamshire secondary school have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over plans to turn it into an academy. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) balloted its members at The Kimberley School, and 79% voted in favour of a walkout.

The NUT says the first walkout will be on 29th May. It's planning further strikes on 13th and 14th June. Union officials insist the action will not disrupt pupils' GCSE exams, which began this week and are due to go on for another month.

In February, governors at The Kimberley School decided against academy status. But last month they had a change of heart after it emerged that the school could benefit financially from conversion. The move would take the school out of local authority control, but the headteacher has assured teachers that there will be no changes to their terms and conditions.

The NUT claims the school will be less accountable as an academy and will end up financially worse off as it will have to pay more to buy in services that it currently gets from Nottinghamshire County Council.