‘Standing up for our children’: parents divided over London teachers’ strikes

The gates to South Grove primary school in Walthamstow were closed to pupils last week. Teachers were on strike as part of a disparate wave of industrial action by members of the National Education Union (NEU) in schools across the borough of Waltham Forest in east London . Nearby Henry Maynard primary school has been affected, as have South Chingford foundation school, Connaught school for girls, Leytonstone, and Belmont Park school, which caters for pupils with special educational needs. Next week, South Grove will be closed for a further five days of strike action, leaving working parents scrambling for childcare once again. And yet parents joined staff on a sunny, breezy picket line last Wednesday, keen to show their support in response to a school-wide restructure that will lead to job losses and less support for children with special educational needs. The successful and sought-after school has been running a deficit for years – locked into an expensive private finance initiative, with rising costs associated with special needs provision and a new catering deal that will cost an additional £50,000 to £60,000 every year. South Grove school is facing job losses and cuts to special educational needs support. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian “We’re here because we love our teachers,” said Stephanie Cobb, a mother of two South Grove pupils. …